Melbourne defender Jake Bowey says the Demons love playing for coach Simon Goodwin and will continue to “back him in every week” as pressure eases after a breakthrough win on Saturday.
Bowey was among Melbourne’s best in its first win of 2025, playing a pivotal role as the Demons’ tweaked game plan finally delivered.
Goodwin has repeatedly backed the style adjustment as well as his own credentials and, according to Bowey, he has the full support of the playing group.
“Oh, he’s unreal, he backs us all in, he loves our strengths and is just as competitive as we all are,” Bowey said.
“We love going out there for ‘Goody’, we’ll back him in every week.”
The Demons came away 10-point winners courtesy of a best-on-ground effort from excitement machine Kysaiah Pickett.
Pickett kicked five goals and had 24 possessions to steer the Demons over Fremantle – the side which is trying to lure him west at season’s end.
Bowey sees what Pickett can do first-hand and hopes president Brad Green has upped his lofty pre-season request of three first-round picks in exchange.
“I am glad he’s (Pickett) on our team, I play on him at training a fair few times during the week and he’d be a handful for defenders up there,” he said.
“It goes to show how good he is today, not just kicking the goals but when he goes into the midfield he plays his role, puts on pressure – he’s an unreal player.
“Might be about 10 (first-round picks), I am hoping ‘Kozzie’ stays because we love him, he loves the club and he’s a vital part of our team.”
Bowey played 17 games for the Dees – including the 2021 premiership – before he endured his first loss.
The 22-year-old admits the early-season results have hurt but is confident they showed the competition how “powerful” the new-look Demons can be.
“We’ve been really defensive the last few years, so in the off season we trained a bit faster, getting us half backs involved, just to be a bit faster,” he said.
“We’ve taken a while to adapt but everyone saw today how powerful it is, so we’ll keep going with that.
“There’s no better feeling than winning on the ‘G, we’ve had a slow start to the year but this one proves how resilient we are.
“I think everyone is upset, everyone shows their emotion in different ways, we have trained so hard, to not get that reward the last couple weeks hurts.
“We’ve had a tough review, we trained really well during the week and today just goes to show what we can do.”
https://thewest.com.au/news/afl-2025-melbourne-defender-jake-bowey-has-thrown-his-support-behind-unreal-simon-goodwin-c-18439863
