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After being dismissed last August as Melbourne senior coach, Goodwin joined the Swans a month later as their new director of coaching and performance. <\/p>\n
But while the 2021 premiership mentor aids in the individual development of the club\u2019s coaches, his prints are all over its offence, with multiple players lauding his influence in his first year at Moore Park. <\/p>\n
After last Saturday\u2019s hard-fought eight-point win over North Melbourne, Swans tagging specialist and previous Goodwin disciple James Jordon gave an insight into how Goodwin has assimilated, and the influence he\u2019s having. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been awesome – obviously, I\u2019ve had a fair bit to do with him,\u201d Jordon told Foxfooty.com.au. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s come in, and he\u2019s sort of taken over our offence as well (as his director role), and the way we want to move the ball has been awesome this year. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe just provides a calm head on the bench, and he\u2019s got such a good footy brain. Obviously, being a senior premiership-winning coach for so long, just to bounce ideas off him on the bench. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe gets a really good feel for the group and how we\u2019re going, so he delivers a really clear message.\u201d<\/p>\n
It comes after Sydney\u2019s Round 7 win over the Bulldogs, when defender Tom McCartin also credited the 49-year-old for the club\u2019s offensive brilliance. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re playing a bit quicker. I think Simon Goodwin has been a great addition for us. He runs the offence \u2026 he just instils a lot of confidence in everyone,\u201d he told Fox Footy. <\/p>\n
This is not to say that Goodwin is necessarily making all the difference, but there was evidence to suggest that in the latter stages of his Demons tenure, he had his side moving the ball more freely. <\/p>\n
Despite a 7-13 record in 20 games before his sacking last year, Goodwin\u2019s Melbourne ranked sixth for chain-to-score rate and eighth for ball movement. <\/p>\n
Simon Goodwin has been a significant contributing factor to the success of Sydney\u2019s offence. (Photo by Daniel Pockett\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
This year, supercharged Sydney, propelled by its scoring dominance, has won eight of its first nine games heading into a favourable matchup against Collingwood on Friday night. <\/p>\n
Dean Cox\u2019s side ranks first in the competition for scoring, points from turnover differential, points from clearance differential, inside-50 differential, and forward-half intercepts. <\/p>\n
According to Champion Data\u2019s archives, the Swans\u2019 117 points per game, +28 points from turnover differential, and +9.3 superiority in inside-50s are all bests since 1999, when tracking started. <\/p>\n
In the win over the Kangaroos – who, like a growing chorus of AFL sides, have been pulling their hair out trying to find ways to stop the scintillating Swans – their devastating slingshot transition was on full display. <\/p>\n
Against the Roos, Sydney scored 38 points from its defensive 50 – the club\u2019s third-best result across Cox\u2019s 32 games in charge. Its ball movement success rate of 33 per cent was the seventh-best over the same period, per Champion Data. <\/p>\n
North Melbourne looked to force the Swans out of the corridor last Saturday, but they still found roundabout ways to get the ball moving the way they wanted to. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe know how we want to move the footy \u2014 we\u2019ve seen, over the last couple of weeks, teams have tried to take away the corridor,\u201d Jordon said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been training different ways that we can move the ball \u2014 at times (against North Melbourne), we were able to use the corridor, and other times we were able to go around that. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019ve got \u2018Lizard\u2019 (Nick Blakey), \u2018Bicey\u2019 (Riley Bice) and \u2018Millsy\u2019 (Callum Mills) back there starting up those chains, it\u2019s pretty hard to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Specifically, the Swans love to handball. This is no secret, far-and-away ranking first for handball metres gained this year with 707 per game, at an average of four metres per handball. <\/p>\n
Damien Hardwick\u2019s Suns, at 572 metres per game, also love to go by hands – just like 2009 Essendon (544 metres per game) and 2009 Brisbane (523) – but none do it better than the Bloods. <\/p>\n
On whether there\u2019s such a thing as overhandballing, Jordon said: \u201cThat\u2019s the balance; when to handball. We\u2019ve got such good aerial players forward of the ball \u2026 it\u2019s all about balance, and you can overhandball too much and get burnt the other way, but I think we can find the balance of when to go long and when to handball.\u201d<\/p>\n
And this year, if there\u2019s one thing we\u2019re learning, it\u2019s that high-handball is conducive to fruitful ball movement. <\/p>\n
Of this season\u2019s top six handballing sides, four of them – Sydney, Gold Coast, Collingwood and GWS – also rank in the top six for ball movement success rate. <\/p>\n
Dean Cox consults with Simon Goodwin during Sydney\u2019s Round 9 match against North Melbourne. (Photo by Daniel Pockett\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
An underrated aspect of Goodwin\u2019s addition is his role on gameday – where he takes his place on the Swans\u2019 bench, throws on a headset, and relays messages from the coaches\u2019 box to the players. <\/p>\n
He\u2019s also a composed presence – offering words of encouragement and constructive criticism – particularly in close contests such as last Saturday at Docklands. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a premiership coach, so (we) basically have two senior coaches and one on the bench,\u201d Jordon said, in a telling indication of how Goodwin is rated. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe last 10 minutes there (against the Roos) was getting really tight, and I was on the bench there for a little bit, and (he\u2019s) just a calm head, providing a message that he wants to get across. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe boys absolutely love having him at the club.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordon said Goodwin has \u201cabsolutely\u201d brought his own offensive ideologies to the Swans. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019ve got a senior coach there who\u2019s done it for so long and won a premiership, so to pick his brain (is great),\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been very good at – we\u2019ve got lots of weapons across the ground, and in our offence – putting them in places that they can impact, and it\u2019s felt like we\u2019ve been able to do that to start the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goodwin catches up with old mate Christian Petracca before the Swans and Suns clashed in Gather Round. (Photo by Michael Willson\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Goodwin has been one of several bright footy minds to lighten Cox\u2019s load this year, with Jeremy Laidler returning to the club after spending three years with the Giants, while the likes of John Longmire, Matthew Pavlich, Leon Cameron and Wayne Campbell are all at Swans HQ. <\/p>\n
Jordon added: \u201cWe\u2019ve brought in a number of coaches compared to last year, to bounce more ideas off, and they\u2019ve been awesome this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Goodwin always intended on remaining in the coaching ranks after departing the Dees, telling the Sydney Morning Herald<\/a> in April that he\u2019s \u201csure that urge (to be a senior coach again) will come at some stage\u201d. <\/p>\n