The Melbourne Demons won’t be re-watching their West Coast preliminary final

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin is so determined to see his club move on from last year’s preliminary final humiliation at the hands of eventual premiers West Coast that he hasn’t even watched the full replay.

The 42-year-old former Adelaide champion has only briefly touched on the experience with his players, instead opting to focus on 2019 and the Demons’ next tilt at a drought-breaking flag.

“It’s been a pretty simple one for me,” Goodwin told SEN on Tuesday.

“You look at your year in total and you try to keep perspective about where you’ve come from as a footy club and where you’re going.

“I certainly haven’t looked back. I’ve been more inclined to look forward.

“I haven’t dealt with it with the players. I actually haven’t really watched it again.”

But that’s not to say Melbourne players and coaches won’t take valuable lessons out of the club’s first finals appearance in 12 years.

“There were some great learnings for us individually and collectively about how we (could have) handled the moment better and that’s been an ongoing process for the club for the last three or four years,” Goodwin said.

“I’m certainly a person that looks more at the opportunity moving forward.”

Melbourne beat Geelong and Hawthorn in knockout finals matches but hit a road block at Optus Stadium, where West Coast kicked 10 unanswered goals in the first half to whip a raucous home crowd into a frenzy.

The Demons never recovered, posting their second-lowest score of the season in a 66-point defeat as the Eagles marched into the grand final at their expense.

Goodwin opted against sitting for a full review of the match with his players.

“We touched on it really briefly,” Goodwin said.

“But once again, I think, from we’ve been and where we’ve come from and where we’re going, we’ve used those experiences.

“We were lucky enough to play in three finals (last) year... two really positive experiences and one where we know we need to handle moments better.

“We needed to handle the situation better (but) I don’t need to sit there and tell them where we went wrong. The players know that.”

Goodwin is entering his third year as Melbourne coach following a successful handover from Paul Roos and confirmed reports he had opened talks with the club hierarchy over a new contract.

“Discussions have been pretty healthy between management and the club and working through the specifics of what that’s going to look like,” Goodwin said.

“It’s in a good place and obviously both parties are keen to keep moving it forward.”