Retired #9: Brendon Goddard - Retires a winner - Thanks for everything BJ

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Cooney's take.

AS we enter the third day of outrage on Brendon Goddard’s latest on-field faux pas (aka #spraygate), I thought I may as well chuck in my two bob’s worth considering I spent two seasons with the pretzel-flicker himself.

I didn’t have a lot to do with the man I nicknamed “Godzilla” (partly because of the GODZ9 emblem in his Nike boots, and partly because he stomps around, baring his teeth and scaring the life out of kids) before I was traded to Essendon at the end of the 2014 season, apart from bumping into him at the odd function or wedding of a mutual friend here and there.

I, like many of us, had already formed a view of what sort of bloke he was.

I admit, he was one character I thought I would clash with at the Bombers.

Our personalities and the way we went about our footy were very different.

To my surprise, I got along well with him from day one at the club.

I found him easy to talk to, have a laugh with in the locker room and, most importantly, if I gave him shit about something he would usually take it well and fire something back.

I only played with him for a short period, smack bang in the middle of the biggest team crisis in AFL history, but I respected how hard he worked, how he stuck up for his teammates and the club every time he fronted the media during the clubs darkest times.

I also respected and understood his personality and why he’s wired the way he is.

He might be the most competitive player I’ve seen in my time in footy (Scott West, Matt Boyd and Daniel Cross are all in the conversation).

A lot of people, and I’m sure a few past and current teammates, take offence at the way he communicates on the field.

I never did.

No doubt I have had feedback from him, and vice versa, but I always understood why and where it was coming from.

The aim is always to help try and win or improve.

Is he demonstrative? Yes.

Does he go too far? Maybe.

But I was always able to strip out the initial thoughts in my head when he was yelling and think, ‘He’s not doing this because he hates us, he’s yelling because he wants improvement and hates losing (and maybe because he’s a lunatic)’.

AFL footy is an uncompromising game.

If a teammate can’t speak to you directly in the heat of a match, maybe the game is not for you.

The most important thing when there’s a blow-up like Wednesday is to follow up post-game or at training.

If there was a Godzilla moment, I liked the fact he always followed it up when tensions had eased, getting to the bottom of the issue — listening to both sides, disagreeing with the final outcome believing he was right and moving on straight away.

Brendon Goddard and Adam Cooney after a St Kilda-Bulldogs preliminary final. The clubs met in prelims in 2009 and 2010.

I love seeing David Zaharakis, who was on the end of a classic Godz9 spray on Anzac Day, stretching down in the rooms after the game with little Billie (BJ’s daughter) sitting next to him, address the issue and move forward.

Sure, he’s frustrating, he clips his toenails in the middle of the locker room and always sits nude on a crate, shaving his legs with a pink female razor in the team showers.

But above all he cares about the club, his teammates and wants so desperately to achieve the ultimate success.

He was also chief organiser of the team’s footy trip in my time at the club. Young players love that.

Love him or loathe him, you have to respect him and what he’s achieved in the game.

To come so close to a flag and play so well on Grand Final day must burn inside and is no doubt one of the reasons why he is so passionate.

We are by no means best mates and only catch up by chance, but the hysteria surrounding the aftermath of Anzac Day has been way out of proportion.

My advice to BJ: Maybe, just maybe try to tone it down a touch, and clip your nails and shave your legs at home.

But keep organising the footy trips and make sure you’re always first there and last to leave.

Your teammates respect that as much as a pinpoint drop punt coming off halfback.
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Goddard could have handled that different. To be a great leader, you need to have wisdom. The footy field in front of 91K and over a million watching is not the best time. There's more of a chance that it causes disharmony
 
mayhem20202 said:
Hang on, too many nice guys? But aren’t we complaining about Goddard not being nice enough???


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Maybe we need more Goddard’s then?

Sure he’s past his best, but at least you know he wants to win. Seeing some of that level of competitiveness amongst other senior players would be nice, instead of sometimes having them looking like they’re happy to run around at 95% and call it a day.

The competition is too even to succeed at 95% now, you’ve got to be willing to do all those little ‘extras’ no matter who the opposition is.

I’m interested to see whether BJ put in a big one following the criticism of him this week.
 
JayJ20 said:
Goddard could have handled that different. To be a great leader, you need to have wisdom. The footy field in front of 91K and over a million watching is not the best time. There's more of a chance that it causes disharmony
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That is all good and well but not everyone is wired the same way. Some people have a short fuse and no amount of advice / action can stop it coming to the surface . Yes they can work on it but it never goes away. People who are not prone to having a short fuse will never understand as they do not think that way. No doubt it is a trait that stops Goddard from being a great leader but that is how it is.
20 years ago it was the norm for a coach. Now days it is old school and young players do not cop it.
 
mayhem20202 said:
Hang on, too many nice guys? But aren’t we complaining about Goddard not being nice enough???


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Im not. Leadership group is full of players who are on the too nice side.
 
Yoda_ said:
Half way through the second quarter he was having a stinker. Turnt it over, didn't put his head in the contest, etc. etc.

May have turnt it around but by that stage the game was over.
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Disagree wholeheartedly. Was consistent with his effort over the four quarters IMO.
 
At the game it was noticeable the amount of stuff he does to assist teammates, plenty of blocks and doing his best at stoppages to sit infront of Oliver, couldn’t work in the centre clearnaces though with the more open space but still liked how selfless he was at times
 

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Lore said:
If it's such a common, normal sort of thing, how come Goddard is the only one who sends the media into the stratosphere over it?

Why don't I ever hear about Joel Selwood or Trent Cotchin (or any other captain or leader at any club) and their passionate and direct leadership styles?

Maybe I just live in a bubble idk. The temper tantrums I hear about in the media are foolish young players in bars and nightclubs, not 'leaders'.
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I suspect there is a media vendetta against Goddard - Remember that incident from two years ago when the ground microphone 'mysteriously' picked up Goddard swearing to the game - Players swear every game, yet strangely I've never another player picked up by the ground microphone.
 
D_P_S said:
At the game it was noticeable the amount of stuff he does to assist teammates, plenty of blocks and doing his best at stoppages to sit infront of Oliver, couldn’t work in the centre clearnaces though with the more open space but still liked how selfless he was at times
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Thought he had a solid game today playing mainly wing and some inside mid - It was disappointing that he handballed so much and the bigger disappiontment was he had to switch to an inside mid role in the second half to help quell Jones - He used to much to plug gaps for under-performing team-mates.
 
Yoda_ said:
Half way through the second quarter he was having a stinker. Turnt it over, didn't put his head in the contest, etc. etc.

May have turnt it around but by that stage the game was over.
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We were in front half way through the second quarter, not sure how the game was over??


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Good people do bad things. It’s not binary..
 
There is zero reason why we need to play this bloke anymore this year. Looks like my dad playing with the grandkids out there.

He is not going on after this year and we need to get more run and drive in the side. If the club is serious about premierships it needs to make hard decisions and bring in a kid that can run and tackle.

No more being nice guys and playing favourites. Lets see if this club has any balls.

Redman, Ridley, Guelfi and a host of others should be getting games instead.
 
I think he needs to put his money where his mouth is and head back to the midfield.

We've got a patrolling defence co-ordinator in Hurley, we don't need 2 of them.

At ~33 he'll probably fall apart but this is his last year in a year thats already gone, may as well get our money's worth.

He physical may be long past it but im sure upstairs he still knows how to play inside.
 
This is crap. Goddard is the only player we have that can see a step of ahead of "see ball, get back, kick ball."

Much maligned, and unfairly.

He'll put a kick or handball into open space for a player to run on to, but he rarely has support or anyone coming past. Most of the team are flat-footed and are waiting for someone else to make something happen. This makes him look bad and an easy target, but he's the only player we have who's trying to get something going, right now.

He does tend to have one horrible clanger per game, but I'll take that over the majority of our efforts these days.
 
Rumple Foreskin said:
I think he needs to put his money where his mouth is and head back to the midfield.

We've got a patrolling defence co-ordinator in Hurley, we don't need 2 of them.

At ~33 he'll probably fall apart but this is his last year in a year thats already gone, may as well get our money's worth.

He physical may be long past it but im sure upstairs he still knows how to play inside.
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Goddard is way too slow for a midfield role. Hurley needs to pick up an opponent and stop playing like an 800k princess.
 

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Retired #9: Brendon Goddard - Retires a winner - Thanks for everything BJ

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