Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has thrown his voice behind calls for the AFL to scrap draws altogether.
The Demons and Hawthorn were left deadlocked after Luke Breust’s late goal tied the scores on Saturday night, reigniting public debate about whether all matches should end with a winner and loser.
The shock 11.13 (79) to 12.7 (79) result was the second draw this year after North Melbourne and GWS finished all-square in round 13.
The AFL has used extra time to decide drawn finals matches for almost three decades and abolished the grand final draw and replay five years ago.
“I like to see a result, you know, we play the game to win,” Goodwin said.
“If you looked at the last centre bounce of the game, we were setting up to try and win the game.
“That’s the way I like our team to think and how we want them to operate and I think our supporters and fans would love that as well, to be able to see a result at the end of the day.
“However that may take place, I think as a competition we should look at it.”
Some fans and commentators have suggested extra time or golden point as methods to settle drawn games during the home-and-away season.
Even goal-kicking contests based on soccer’s penalty shootouts have been thrown up as a possible left-field option.
Goodwin was asked for his preference during his post-match press conference but said he had not had enough time to think about it.
The 44-year-old former Adelaide star and Australian Football Hall of Fame member described a “flat” feeling at the MCG after his first draw in 379 AFL games as a player and senior coach.
The Demons-Hawks game was played in front of empty stands because of Victoria’s latest COVID-19 lockdown.
“A drawn game with no crowd, it was a pretty flat sort of atmosphere,” Goodwin said.
“I haven’t had too many flatter atmospheres, it was certainly a very weird atmosphere, there’s no question, without playing in front of a crowd for our home game.
“Our supporters and fans give us so much and obviously with a drawn game that just made it even a bit flatter at the end.”
Goodwin took nothing away from Hawthorn’s performance, declaring the 17th-placed side were hungrier and worked harder than his players.
The result was all the more disappointing for Melbourne, given the flag contenders had come off one of their best wins of the season against Port Adelaide the previous week.
“It’s another lesson for us in terms of what’s required to continually win all the time, and this is really about building a winning culture,” Goodwin said.
“That’s something we’ve been trying to develop and we just weren’t ruthless enough tonight in the areas that we really value.”
Despite Goodwin’s obvious frustration, the draw was enough to send Melbourne back to the top of the ladder – two points clear of the Western Bulldogs.
AAP
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