Melbourne have reported an online threat made against coach Simon Goodwin to the AFL Integrity Unit following the Demons’ ‘devastating’ defeat to St Kilda on Sunday.
Leading by 46 points at the final change, Melbourne lost following a remarkable Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera goal after the siren to give the Saints the biggest three-quarter-time comeback in AFL history.
A post from an anonymous account on X, formerly Twitter, implied someone was waiting near Goodwin’s car ready to harm him and showed a picture of the coach’s vehicle parked in an underground garage.
The Demons are aware of the post and have reported it to the AFL integrity unit, declining to comment further.
It comes just two weeks after a Collingwood supporter was banned from the MCG for five years for making threats against Carlton coach Michael Voss.
The image was posted by an anonymous account named Kozzy Owns You, referring to Melbourne forward Kysaiah Pickett.
The chilling image and threat was posted by a Melbourne Demons fan account called Kozzy Owns You after Melbourne forward Kysaiah Pickett.
The Demons coach has come under heavy fire after a lacklustre season and throwing away a sure win against the Saints
Footy fans were quick to condemn the post and have also called for the identity of the Demons supporter behind it to be revealed.
‘I know passionate supporters can get upset sometimes, but this isn’t acceptable,’ one posted.
‘This is a terrible look mate it’s just a game no need to say that,’ added another.
Another commented: ‘Delete this mate, terrible take’.
The post surfaced during Goodwin’s press conference, where the shattered 2021 premiership coach was trying to piece together how Melbourne blew their seventh win of the season.
‘Sometimes in your darkest moments can be your biggest growth,’ Goodwin said.
‘When you have a last quarter like that, it’s a pretty devastated group in there.
‘It’s a pretty devastated group of coaches, because we’re here to win.’
Goodwin hopes growth can come from the pain of surrendering the greatest third-quarter comeback in VFL/AFL history
Carlton boss Voss opened up about the dark side of footy after the threat to kill him was made earlier this month.
It came after vandals targeted the team’s headquarters with graffiti in May during the team’s tumble down the ladder.
‘I always felt like football made you feel like you belong – and that’s what football clubs are all about,’ Voss said.
‘You have a sense of belonging, it’s about families, about communities. It’s about bringing people together.
‘I also remember as a 12-year-old at Morningside Football Club and having a brand a new footy … it was like the best gift I ever got, it was my first brand-new Sherrin.
‘I used to smell it and always have it in my hands. It sort of really inspired me to ultimately follow my dreams – and that was really impactful on me.
‘And then I’ve also seen the dark side of football, where we blame, we become victims and it’s this environment where things are quite toxic. We think showing passion is about anger – and it’s not about that at all.
‘There’s a way we need to behave and there’s a way we need to go about it – and when things are tough, you’ve got to show that support the right way. Not the wrong way.’
The Demons were left shell-shocked after leading by 46 points at three-quarter time and losing after the siren
Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan described the threats directed at Voss as an unfortunate constant of AFL coaching.
‘We’ve all been through that,’ Fagan said of Voss’s predicament.
‘It’s tough. I see there was some death threats … that’s pretty average.
‘I’ve got no doubt he’d be doing the best job that he can, but that’s just the world AFL coaches live in.
‘Faceless people, lack of courage. As coaches, we try to brush those things off, to be honest.’
Fans divided when the exact wording of the threat to Voss was revealed, with the full 15-word message reading, ”I’d like to report 23 missing persons and pre-emptively report the murder of Michael Voss.’
While the use of the word ‘murder’ clearly crosses a line, many fans went online to say the punishment was far too harsh because to them, the statement sounded like a very poor joke.
‘This is very clearly a joke in reference to fed up Carlton fans who literally vandalised their own footy club and caused Michael Voss to require personal security at his own teams VFL match the week prior,’ one wrote.
‘Even Carlton supporters on 3AW are saying the reaction to Michael Voss being the subject of a death threat are false and a media beat up, they believe it was a very poor attempt at humour and at no time was Voss threatened at all,’ added another.
‘AFL need to reconsider the penalty, this is outrageous, so out of touch,’ a third wrote.
‘5 year ban for that is way overs, pretty stiff imo…Rioli got 1 week for threatening violence on another player,’ another fan commented, referring to the scandal surrounding Port Adelaide star Willie Rioli earlier this year.
‘A huge overreaction to what was a poorly worded joke. Tired of these disingenuous reactions and fake narratives to things that everyone knows wasn’t the intention. What’s with that???’ said another supporter.
