Guerra refused to buy into the culture discussions and said conversations about Goodwin’s future were premature. He said the coach, who is contracted until the end of 2026, deserved respect as a premiership coach with Melbourne and player with Adelaide.
“I think we have to respect the fact that Simon is a premiership coach, and is a premiership player as well. This is a blip in time where the footy club is at,” Guerra said. “They are conversations [about his future] that I will have in time with the board and with Simon himself.”
He also indicated it would be business as usual until he had the chance to spend time inside the club, which has bounced back in the past fortnight with two wins after a slow start to the season as they struggled to adapt to a new system of playing.
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“I am really confident we have the right people inside the football club now and we can add the right people as we need to,” Guerra said.
Guerra said it was yet to be determined when he would formally begin the role as he still hopes to oversee the World Chambers Congress being held in Melbourne in the first week of September.
He expressed confidence that interim CEO David Chippindall, who was overlooked for the role in preference to Guerra, and president Brad Green could manage until the exact arrangements were finalised.
The new CEO has not worked in the AFL before although he has engaged with clubs through sponsorship arrangements when working at Motorola and Vodafone.
He is also on Racing Victoria’s board, with a decision on whether he will continue as a director to be determined.
Guerra said he was confident he could get up to speed on football matters to perform effectively in his role.
“We need to start looking at football clubs a little bit differently,” Guerra said.
“There is no CEO that knows absolutely everything about every part of an organisation. To do that effectively you need to have the right people in each of the right areas and that’s what I will bring to the football club.
“I’ll get across the football. I am no stranger to elite sport through racing.”
He also said he was not yet across the details as to how the club’s desire to build a training and administration base at Caulfield was progressing. The desire to complete that project will be one of his biggest priorities with Guerra saying it would be a place for the club to gather but its ultimate role would be “to drive high performance”.
“We want to be a destination football club and we will be a destination football club,” Guerra said.
Three-game ban stands for Kangaroo
By Angus Delaney
North Melbourne’s appeal against Paul Curtis’ three-match ban for rough conduct has failed, the AFL tribunal ruling the Kangaroo made no attempt to reduce the impact on his concussed opponent.
The Roos forward applied a heavy tackle from behind on Port Adelaide’s Josh Sinn at Adelaide Oval last Saturday, propelling his opponent into the turf and pinning his arms.
Tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson said the impact was severe, as categorised by the match review officer and said, “tackling a player from behind with momentum carries a risk”.
Josh Sinn is tackled by Paul Curtis of the Kangaroos.Credit: AFL Photos
“Curtis wrapped both arms around Sinn and propelled forward,” said Gleeson.
“Curtis pinned both of Sinn’s arms and made no attempt to release his arms.”
The Kangaroos however had argued that Curtis had tried to roll Sinn during the tackle so he’d land side-on, instead of head first.
North Melbourne’s lawyer Justin Graham, KC, Graham said that it was because Sinn’s knees plugged into the turf and that saw him forcefully strike the ground and Curtis was not at fault.
“There is care being taken here,” said Graham of how Curtis tried to turn Sinn sideways during the tackle.
“That is a technique that is designed to avoid the head injury.”
This was a similar argument made by former Geelong player Jimmy Bartel, who told Nine’s Footy Furnace that Sinn’s knees were “going to the ground” and Curtis “doesn’t land on his back”.
“What else could Paul Curtis do?” said Bartel.
But Gleeson was not convinced.
“In our view this [rolling sideways] occurs too late. Curtis could have, but did not, made a significant attempt to roll to the side.”
Gleeson also said Curtis had made no attempt to pull Sinn up during the tackle and prevent his head striking the ground.
“Prudent players are today as well aware tackling a player from behind with momentum carries a risk,” he said.
The AFL’s lawyer Sally Flynn said Curtis breached his duty of care and by pinning Sinn’s arms it left him in “a highly vulnerable position” and with “no opportunity to protect himself”.
Flynn argued the grading of severe was appropriate because Sinn was concussed and a medical report from the Port Adelaide club doctor showed the tackle left him with bruised ribs.
Sinn will be subject to ongoing treatment under concussion protocols and will miss the Power’s Saturday game against the Western Bulldogs.
But despite Sinn’s concussion, Graham argued the impact should be reduced from severe to medium because Curtis had tried to reduce the impact.
Graham said the injury was a result of how Sinn fell after his knees hit the ground and jolted him down with momentum. Curtis’ contact was “not a forceful tackle”.
But he was overruled by tribunal chair.
“We have no hesitation in classifying the impact as severe,” said Gleeson.
Carlton to challenge Cerra suspension
By Andrew Wu
Carlton will challenge Adam Cerra’s suspension in a bid to have him free for the Blues’ important clash with Adelaide on Saturday.
The in-form Cerra was given a one-match ban for striking Jack Bowes in the Blues’ victory over Geelong on Sunday. The hit was graded as intentional, low impact and high contact.
To overturn the ban, the Blues will need to convince the tribunal the strike should have been assessed as careless rather than intentional or that the contact was made to the body and not high. Either scenario would result in a fine.
The Blues have had considerable success in appealing bans over the last four seasons, headlined by the famous Patrick Cripps case in 2022 which cleared the way for the Blues captain to win that year’s Brownlow Medal.
Nic Newman, Harry McKay, Jordan Boyd and Cerra himself have all had suspensions thrown out. The Blues also had a two-game suspension for forward Jack Martin’s reduced to one during the 2023 finals series.
Cerra has played an important part in the Blues’ revival, polling coaches votes in two of the past three games.
The AFL tribunal will hear the case on Wednesday morning.
