PLENTY of things could have been said in early 2007 about where Simon Goodwin's life was going.
Eventually becoming the senior coach of an AFL Grand Final team would not have been among them.
But how the Melbourne coach behaved 14 years ago when he went through his self-inflicted hell gave a glimpse of what was to come.
It left a lasting impression on Neil Craig, then Goodwin's coach at the Crows.
The saga is well-documented - the AFL fined Goodwin $40,000, half of it suspended, for betting on an AFL game in 2006.
The dual Crows premiership player and gun midfielder had been exposed as a gambling addict.
Part of the AFL penalty also involved Goodwin undergoing rehabilitation.
Anyone who has had close contact with an addict will attest that they are master manipulators.
And Goodwin could have been just another cosseted AFL star, saying what he knew everyone wanted to hear.
Instead, he asked for help.
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"The key thing ... is that Simon took ownership of his situation and took accountability for it," Craig told AAP.
"He was happy - and sought - to get help.
"Now that sounds pretty simple, but very few people will do that.
"In other words they'll play the blame game or 'woe is me'.
"But I remember really clearly one particular meeting where Simon had a discussion with me and he said 'Craigy, I need some help with this and I want to be able to change my behaviours and ways for a whole range of reasons'."
The next season, Goodwin was appointed Crows captain.
Craig said it is enormous credit to Goodwin for his courage - and also is proud of the support Adelaide gave the player.
"It was the reason he was allowed to stay in the football club ... he was accepting ownership of it and he was accepting the fact that he needed to change," Craig said.
"That can become very tiring, that sort of situation, for any organisation - it chews up a lot of resource and a lot of time.
"It's not just a matter of Simon saying 'this is what I want to do' - he had to get the support of the club."
Craig also has no doubt that what Goodwin went through then stood him in good stead for becoming a senior coach.
"In terms of the extension of that into coaching, he'll have great empathy for other players he'll get exposed to in his coaching journey," Craig said.
"It's not a smooth path, that people can change; the role and the importance of people accepting responsibility and asking for help.
"He'll be able to walk in their shoes because he's been in their shoes in those sorts of situations."
In the last couple of years of Goodwin's illustrious playing career at Adelaide, Craig could see the first signs of a coach.
Goodwin was showing a curiosity, "rather than just show up and be spoon-fed as a player".
Then, once he retired, Goodwin uprooted his family and moved to an assistant coaching role at Essendon.
"Whether it be good, bad or indifferent, the environment doesn't matter. The fact is, you get to see a different way of doing things, which is a great learning experience in itself," Craig said.
Of course, things got very bad at Essendon - Goodwin was an assistant under James Hird at the time of the drugs scandal.
Goodwin was investigated, but the AFL had no objections when Melbourne wanted him as Paul Roos' deputy in their coaching succession plan.
Craig remains heavily involved in high performance and coaching development, now with the English rugby union team.
He was caretaker coach at Melbourne for half a season before Roos was appointed and consulted this season at Gold Coast.
Craig and Goodwin are friends and the Demons coach called him only a couple of weeks ago for a chat.
"One of the traits of the best coaches is that they are curious and they have a humility about them - they understand they don't know it all," Craig said.
"A lot of coaches won't do that because 'I need to know it all' or to be seen to know it all.
"One of Simon's greatest strengths is his capacity to go and look in other areas, ask for a different point of view, a different opinion."
