But Goodwin had come close to giving it all away.

“I certainly questioned myself at the end of 2019,” Goodwin said.

“I could feel the game that was getting hold of me ... the pressure and stress. I was investing a lot and it was wearing me down emotionally.”

Goodwin spoke of the mentors he sought out away from football who helped challenge his thinking and his attitude.

“They were just different. They worked with me about my energy. What to give energy to,what to let go. And just to be me,that’s the most important part. I wasn’t being me.

“We made some significant shifts last year as a footy club. We won six of our last nine on the way home and that’s just transferred into this year.

“I got back to smiling,I got back to loving the game and having fun;enjoying what I do. Yeah,you’re under pressure,but I wanted to do it the way I wanted to do it.”

Watching Goodwin close-up on Saturday night and listening to him speak,it was difficult not to draw comparisons to his former Collingwood counterpart Nathan Buckley.

The Magpies great has spoken openly about his journey of self discovery and a change in attitude that ultimately lead to his club being within seconds of a premiership in 2018.

And while Goodwin’s story is yet to be fully explored,what became clear in the final hours of Saturday was how close the former Adelaide champion came to giving it all away.

As he pointed out after the game,this is the same side that finished 17th two seasons ago. The same side that missed the finals after a COVID-19 interrupted 2020 season.

The same side that 12 months later won its three finals by a combined total of 190 points.

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