All smiles:Simon Goodwin.Credit:AAP
But with one of the league's best midfields and a defence stiffened by the signing of Steven May from Gold Coast,they are among the leading fancies this year to win what would be a first flag since 1964.
"It's great for the club to announce,prior to the season starting,that Simon Goodwin has signed on for the next four years,"said Demons CEO Gary Pert.
"It is certainly a show of confidence from the board,(general manager of football operations) Josh Mahoney and myself in Simon as a coach and what he is producing out on field,but also the culture that he is building in our football department.
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"This is the board signing off that these are the people,this is the leadership,this is the program and this is the culture that we believe will take the Melbourne Football Club to where we want to go over the next four years."
Goodwin first joined the Demons in 2015 after a stint as an assistant coach at Essendon.