Stevo's Sting - Why Simon Goodwin has footy's best job

Simon Goodwin has the best job in footy.

Essendon has been left bedraggled and deflated after the high of beating ASADA and the crushing low of being haunted by WADA ... and he is out of there.

He has been transported to a land of opportunity.

Disregard all your bad thoughts about Melbourne, a brand stained by a recent history of botch-ups. Strip the stigma and take a long hard look at a list loaded with talent.

The Demons are coming and "Goody" is about to sit snugly into the driver's seat.

Already steering many of the serious training sessions down at Gosch's Paddock, with an increasingly proactive Brendan McCartney barking instructions, Goodwin officially takes over from Paul Roos at the end of the 2016 season.

Don't listen to the doubters. The coach in waiting will be taking over a side with the weaponry to play finals, then push higher.

Rival club scouts and analysts are still shaking their heads at the hard, clinical one-on-one dismantling of Geelong down at the Cattery 10 days ago.

Angus Brayshaw, Jack Viney, Nathan Jones, Bernie Vince, Christian Salem and Dom Tyson. Handy midfield.

A bloke named Christian Petracca is in the warehouse waiting, Aaron Vandenberg is a beast and Jack Trengove should not be seen as a lost cause.

I'm a big believer in Jimmy Toumpas' outside creativity and poise. Imagine him at age 25. A gun. We saw it against the Dogs at the MCG.

The foundations are there, with key bookends Tom McDonald and Jesse Hogan certain to be All-Australians at some time in their careers. For McDonald, it's coming this year.

The Demons probably need another rebounding defender capable of breaking the lines and delivering with precision, and another mid-sized forward with some real flair would be handy, but there aren't too many holes.

Jeremy Howe could be gone given contract talks are on hold, but the Dees shouldn't over pay him. He's probably worth $400-450,000, but could command upwards of $650,000 on the open market. Howe's a human highlight reel who would beautifully complement the young forwards gathered at GWS, but the Dees can take a pick and cover him.

It is the midfield grunt and depth that will get it done and Goodwin, so important pulling the strings in Mark Thompson's eventful fill-in year at Essendon, has all the tools to cash in an in increased role in 2016 and beyond.

There are no excuses, given the talent stockpiled. The Demons should make the eight next season and win at least one final with Goodwin officially at the helm in 2017.

At 4-8, you could mount an argument the Demons are underachieving this season. Their best, including the Cats win and mature defeats of the Tigers and Dogs at the MCG, has been of top eight quality.

The Dees have won 20 quarters, already matching the total quarters won for the entire 2013 season. It should always been seen as a genuine gauge of competitiveness. But the drop offs have been poor at times. It is an indictment and embarrassment that the club has not won back to back matches since Rounds 13-14 in 2011.

West Coast in Darwin this week is not an easy assignment. Coming off a bye, will the Dees still be comfortable after the shock win against Geelong? We will know in the first 20 minutes.

If they don't deliver, it will be a significant step backwards, because no one can argue there's still a lack of cattle.

Talk of players being hung up by the Demons of the past is surely dead, to. You have to question whether it was ever real anyway.
Melbourne's time is now. The fixture from here until the end of the season is favourable and a total of nine wins should be seen as par.

Next year, anything less than 11 wins would be a failure.

A perfect platform for the bloke with the best job in footy.