Collingwood president Eddie McGuire laughs off fitness and behavioural concerns around star Jordan De Goey
Collingwood star Jordan De Goey reported to Pies’ pre-season training overweight and unfit, falling out with and sacking his manager in the process. Here’s what president Eddie McGuire had to say about the issue.
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Collingwood president Eddie McGuire says Jordan De Goey has plenty of time to reach peak fitness, responding to reports the star forward had returned to pre-season training out of shape.
De Goey sacked his manager Ben Niall last month after the pair fell out when, for a second straight year, he reported to the Pies in a less-than-satisfactory state.
But, while McGuire said he was unaware of any problems with the 23-year-old, he acknowledged there could be issues with players reporting back from leave below required fitness standards.
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“We don’t want people coming back looking like Mick Nolan (nicknamed the Galloping Gasometer in the 1970s for his rotund physique),” McGuire said on his radio show, Triple M’s Hot Breakfast.
“Is it that big a deal when you’ve got three months of full-time training to get yourself right at 24 years of age?
“(Melbourne defender) Steven May last year turned up looking more like me than you (former Western Bulldogs ruckman and co-host Luke Darcy) and it didn’t help his cause last year, did it?”
May’s 2019 season never quite took off, the tall backman reporting to Demons’ training overweight after a high profile move from Gold Coast and managing just eight games.
McGuire laughed off behavioural issues and De Goey’s snub of Jeremy Howe’s buck’s party, where he reportedly told the defender he had a family gathering, but ended up at a nightclub.
When in full flight, De Goey is one of the most electrifying players in the game, able to pick apart an opponent in the air or on the ground.
Last year, Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said “everyone expects that he (De Goey) will become a midfielder at some point”.
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Originally published as Collingwood president Eddie McGuire laughs off fitness and behavioural concerns around star Jordan De Goey