Roffey reiterated that the review of the football program “reaffirmed” Goodwin as the right man to lead the club into the 2021 season - which ultimately delivered their drought-breaking premiership - and beyond.

“On behalf of the current board, I would like to make it incredibly clear that Simon Goodwin, as the current reigning premiership coach and AFL coach of the year, is an exceptional leader of our football club,” she said.

“Simon, along with other club leaders Gary Pert and Alan Richardson, have driven a high-performance culture that has led to a premiership and made my board and all Melbourne supporters proud of this club.

“I want to make this very clear, I look forward to Simon continuing to evolve as a coach and leader at the Melbourne Football Club for many more years to come.”

Dr Arain received a six-figure payout as part of a settlement in November of the same year, as part of which he was required to co-operate with a board investigation into the bullying allegations.

The report says former president Glen Bartlett and chief executive Gary Pert confronted Goodwin about his alleged behaviour at Casey Fields on February 10. The coach was adamant there was no problem.

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According to the report, issues raised at the emergency board meeting just before Christmas 2020 included Goodwin’s alleged conduct at Sorrento Hotel, workplace bullying, a health episode during a fan forum, and gambling in public.

On the day of Melbourne’s drought-breaking premiership, The Age’s Caroline Wilson wrote that during the 2021 pre-season, Goodwin’s management was concerned enough about their client’s job security at the Demons that they sounded out other clubs about possible coaching roles, and that the board was concerned that Bartlett had stopped supporting Goodwin.