Demons defend star’s UK trip
Players that are “happy and content” ply better footy according to Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin who says the club will always let players put family first with Ed Langdon set to take on St Kilda days after arriving home from a whirlwind trip to the UK for his sister’s wedding.
Langdon returned to Australia on Tuesday and trained on Wednesday and again on Thursday morning having missed last Sunday’s shock loss to West Coast in Perth after an absence that had been planned since the pre-season.
Goodwin said that Melbourne and other club were now mature enough to realise the important of things outside the game and the impact it can have on a player’s ability to be at his best.
West Coast sensation Harley Reid, who tore up the Demons last weekend, has flourished after being allowed to return to visit his family in Melbourne, also missing a match, and Goodwin said happiness was undeniably a factor all clubs now actively pursued.
“That was something we are really passionate about – about family being a priority – we won’t compromise on that,“ Goodwin said on Thursday.
Demons defend star’s UK trip
“For Ed, it was a really important process for him to be there for his sister. They’ve got a really close relationship. She lives in London. We were really supportive of his journey back there.
“What people realise now is that it’s a game. Yeah it’s an important game and people are really passionate about it, but there are bigger things in life as well and family is one of those. We won’t compromise on what family means to players.
“We realise that if they are happy and content they will play their hearts our for your footy club. For Ed, this was something he’s really passionate about, he came to us really early on to have that conversation about the love os his sister and how much it would mean to her and his family and we were rally accommodating.
“We wanted Ed to go.”
Goodwin confirmed he wouldn’t be calling on swingman Harrison Petty to fill the defensive void left by injured star Jake Lever when the Demons take on the Saints at Marvel Stadium.
“I’m fixed on him being a forward,” he said.
“What we’ve seen last year and parts of our pre-season this year, he is a really important person for us in our forward half of the ground from a leadership perspective and also from an aerial perspective. He is not playing his best footy but we are really confident with some continuity we will get that.”
Adam Tomlinson looms as the likely replacement with Jacob Van Rooyen also set to exit concussion protocols and be available to play.