Outgoing Collingwood president Jeff Browne’s parting shot at Pies’ critics
Jeff Browne said he would never leave Collingwood until he was satisfied the tools were in place for the club to remain strong. He gives a parting pot-shot to those who believe the Pies are fading.
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Jeff Browne has fired a parting shot at the critics who “want to throw rocks” at Collingwood, insisting the Magpies are perfectly poised to attack next season on and off the field.
The outgoing president, who will leave the role at the club’s annual general meeting on December 16, says he is immensely proud of the Magpies’ growth as a club since he took over in late 2021.
In that time, the Magpies won their 16th VFL-AFL premiership, enacted all the recommendations of the Do Better Report and underwent record membership pushing to more than 110,000 this year as well as record attendance figures.
And while Collingwood endured a challenging 2024 season, missing the finals amid Graham Wright’s season-long sabbatical and ultimate defection to Carlton, Browne is adamant the Magpies will bounce back.
Asked if he had heard industry scuttlebutt about tensions within Collingwood, Browne said: “Yeah I’ve heard it … in relation to the season just gone.
“A lot of that was linked to Graham Wright’s sabbatical … but that is a lazy, incorrect observation.
“When you win the premiership and then the next season you are battling to make the eight (the Pies finished ninth), people are going to throw rocks at you.
“But the fact is the structure, the people, the culture that won that premiership is still in place.
“What I say to the people who have been pretty quick to pick up the rocks and throw them at Collingwood is that for a club without a footy manager, we did pretty well in the free agency period, and we did pretty well in the trade period.
“We got what we wanted and it proved we are still capable of recruiting the best players to come to Collingwood.”
Collingwood was able to secure dual All-Australian half back Dan Houston in a complex three-way trade, while bringing in Harry Perryman as a free agent and Tim Membrey as a delisted free agent, boosting the club’s immediate prospect for next year.
Browne said injuries played a part in the club’s inconsistencies this year.
“If you look at our playing list last season, there were reasons why we didn’t perform as well,” he said. “I am not stating them as excuses, but the fact is we had a pretty good run with injuries the year before.”
“We copped a fair whack of injuries this year in a competition where it evened up dramatically. There were 14 teams playing for eight spots.
“So what we have now is a fresh list … Dan McStay is back for a full season, Tommy (Mitchell) is back after his foot injury, Jamie (Elliott) will be a lot fresher as he had to play tall and small.
“We struggled to get a set forward line, which was very frustrating for the coach.”
DEPARTING THE PIES
Browne always said he would never leave Collingwood unless he was sure all the systems were in place for future success.
He said this week he was certain that was the case as he prepares to take on a new challenge of becoming chairperson of Myeloma Australia.
“I have loved every minute of my time here. I am a lifelong Collingwood supporter, but it is only in the last three years that I have immersed myself in it.
“To see the change around the business and to see the playing performance and the program has been very rewarding, not just for me, but for 110,672 members.”
Browne was diagnosed with myeloma – an incurable blood cancer – in August 2023, but is now in remission, having responded well to treatment.
He will never forget the moment he spoke to the entire men’s and women’s programs, telling them about his diagnosis.
“I told them not because I wanted them to try harder or for them to feel sorry for me,” he recalled. “I told them because we share that (sort of) shit. It is a part of who we are.
“When people ask about culture, and it is an overused word, when people come in here, I would say to them ‘I want you to do a PB (personal best) and I want you to get the person next to you to do a PB’. In other words, let’s be collegiate. We are all in it together.”
FALLING FOR FLY
Craig McRae had already been appointed coach when Browne and his ticket swept onto the board in late 2021.
But it took only 10 minutes for the new president to realise McRae was the right man to lead the Magpies’ footy program.
“I sat down and had a 40-minute conversation with him and 10 minutes into the conversation, I already knew he was the right guy,” Browne said.
“There are some very good coaches at other clubs who have different styles, but I think he has actually changed the face of coaching.
“He presented as a considered family man, very interested in bringing past players back to the club, having mums’ come in on Mother’s Day, and having the players bring their children into the song.
“In the past we’ve seen coaches roar at the players from time to time and flog them on the track. But we have a coach who really cares. He is sensitive and sensible.”
CLOSE EYE ON CONCUSSION
Browne lived every part of Nathan Murphy’s concussion battles and he is keen for the industry as a whole to be more conservative in allowing players to return from head knocks.
He said one of the most important things he had to do was to help secure concussion indemnity for the AFL clubs.
“I was a part of a group of presidents who agitated for that in a very respectful way and we were able to secure that,” he said.
“I lived Nathan Murphy’s story … the agonising decision of ‘I want to play … is it the right thing to do?’
“I don’t want players to feel like that.
“I think there is more work to be done in relation to the preventative protection of players’ health.
“I don’t want anyone to come to Collingwood and play football and struggle later in their lives. We’ve seen that in the past. We need to work hard (as an industry) in this space.”
Murphy suffered his last concussion in the 2023 premiership success and while he tried to play on, he ended up calling time on his career in April this year after an AFL medical concussion panel assessment.
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