Jordan De Goey fuels return date speculation after resuming training
Collingwood star Jordan De Goey returned to training for the first time since his controversial mid-year Bali trip, fuelling speculation around his return date.
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Collingwood midfielder Jordan De Goey has returned to the club for the first time since his controversial mid-year Bali escapades, fuelling speculation he could make his AFL return against Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.
De Goey stepped out for Magpies training at the AIA Centre on Tuesday afternoon, which was his first public appearance since being handed a suspended $25,000 fine and apologising for his Bali behaviour on the club’s website.
The 26-year-old missed last week’s clash with Greater Western Sydney for personal reasons but his teammates have backed him to make a successful return to the senior team, potentially as early as this weekend.
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Midfielder Jack Crisp said he was confident De Goey could slot straight back into the Magpies’ line-up and make a difference as the club looks to keep its five-game winning streak alive.
“It’s obviously been a tough time for him, (but) he knows he has done the wrong thing and has apologised for it,” Crisp said at the ‘Collingwood Cares’ fundraiser aimed at raising $500,000 for the club’s community programs. “We will put our arms around him.”
“We do have strong values at the club and we will be moving forward when he comes back in, he will slot back into the program and get back into football where he belongs.”
Crisp said Collingwood’s ability to shut-out the off-field distractions of the past fortnight and focus on the on-field task at hand has fuelled their charge towards a possible finals berth.
Jordy pic.twitter.com/4671uaLmqH
— Jen 🖤🤠(@Jen2310) June 28, 2022
“We obviously had a bit of a tough week last week,” he said. “I think what we have been able to do as a club is block out the outside noise.”
“To be able to put in the performance (like) we did on the weekend with another win is awesome, to show what we can do as a team.
“We will just back ourselves in. We are not going to let the outside noise take us off track.
“We love what we are building at the football club and we are keen to keep it on track for the rest of the year.”
Crisp said the block of five straight wins - Fremantle, Carlton, Hawthorn, Melbourne and Greater Western Sydney - boosted the confidence of the group and he was eagerly looking forward to the next block of games.
“What we have been able to do the last five weeks has been good with the excitement levels, and our next five or six weeks are going to be great as well to hopefully set us up for the rest of the year.”
“(Gold Coast) on their home deck will be pretty tough. It’s going to be tight and contested footy … they are a strong inside mid team. We can’t wait to get stuck in on Saturday night.”
Crisp and many of the Magpie AFL and AFLW teams were on hand on Tuesday as part of the ‘Collingwood Cares’ fundraiser for its community programs through its Magpie Nest and other programs.
PIES STAR SAYS ‘THE SYSTEM’ WILL TAKE THEM FAR
- Jay Clark
Collingwood star defender Brayden Maynard says the Magpies’ relentless game style can take them “deep” into September as he urged the football world not to write-off close mate Jordan De Goey.
The Magpies are back in the eight after posting their fifth-straight win over GWS Giants on Sunday, armed with a high-pressure game style and intense bond off the field which has driven their surge up the ladder.
Maynard, who was outstanding in his 150th game playing on Toby Greene, said the Magpies were capable of pushing every team at the pointy end of the year as he implored De Goey to make his return to the club.
Maynard said it was “devastating” to observe the intense fallout over his Bali nightclub video but was adamant the star ballwinner could bounce back from another off-field indiscretion.
Maynard said he hoped the football world would give De Goey the space he needs to return to training and show the club he is worth another chance with a contract extension beyond this season.
“It is pretty devastating, I just feel for him because he is obviously struggling at the moment, and I’m not going to blame the media for it, but the media has just been on it and on it and on it,” Maynard told News Corp.
“I really feel for him, and I have reached out to him multiple times because I just want him back at the club.
“He has obviously had to take some time away, but I love him very much.
“He has got such a good heart, ‘Jord’. He is such a loving, caring selfless man.
“It just feels like sometimes he can get caught up in situations where he probably doesn’t want to be in, but he has got such a profile and people want to film him and do all that.
“So I do really feel for him in that sense because it is relentless for him and I think everyone just needs to back off.
“I want to get him back at the club because I really miss him.”
De Goey was not at the club on Monday with players given the day off after Sunday’s win over the Giants.
Players are expected back at the AIA centre on Tuesday but it remains uncertain whether the 26-year-old will be in attendance.
Maynard was at his best in the 11-point win over the Giants and has continued to show the on and off-field leadership which has underlined his importance to the defensive set up and team fabric at Collingwood.
A strong contender for All-Australian selection, Maynard is ranked third in the competition for winning one-on-one contests (45 per cent success rate), and is ranked elite for intercept possessions (seven a game) and tackles (three), according to Champion Data.
Likened to Luke Hodge for his physical game style, Maynard said Collingwood had total faith in the brand of football which had surprised the competition in 2022 after finishing second last last year.
“The boys are seriously building one big family, and a relentless game style and we have the right people at the club,” he said.
“I feel like, seriously, we are going to go deep. And give everyone a real run for their money, especially with the way we play.
“Everyone has full trust in the system.”
Collingwood wants to welcome back De Goey for Saturday night’s clash against Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium if he can meet coach Craig McRae to map out a plan and train this week.
Maynard said it was pleasing to hold on against the Giants on Sunday despite some nervous moments late, and relished another battle against Greene.
“I rate him as one of the best players in the competition and he is playing some really good footy and he is a really good guy as well,” he said.
“I have become mates with him off the field because we have a few mutual friends, so when we play against each other, it is amazing to watch how he plays.
“It’s time to step up when it’s a big game.”
De Goey ‘feeling better’: McRae’s plan for star Pie’s return
McRae said there was a positive shift in De Goey’s mood in recent days as the Magpies chalked up their fifth-straight win with a thrilling 11-point victory over GWS on Sunday.
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It leaves the seventh-placed Magpies needing to win four of their last eight games to make finals in a remarkable slingshot up the ladder after sinking to second-last spot last year.
Darcy Cameron starred again on the day the club announced a new three-year deal for the much-improved tall, leaving McRae with a big man conundrum when superstar ruckman Brodie Grundy nears his return from injury.
McRae said he was proud of the way Collingwood handled the attention on the club in the wake of De Goey’s Bali antics, and admitted he wanted to meet him at the start of the week.
“Based on the conversations I had I think there’s some movement in terms of feeling better and, I don’t know what that equates to yet,” McRae said.
“But there’s definitely a slight shift in his mood, and hopefully I will get to catch up with him tomorrow (Monday) at some stage, and see where that takes us.
“I will dig deeper when I get a chance to sit down with him. We want Jordy back. He makes us better, at the right time.”
He would be a massive boost for the Pies as they look to upset Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium with a high-pressure game style which has caught the competition by surprise this year in McRae’s first campaign in charge.
McRae said De Goey would have to commit to the standards expected of him to be selected against the Suns, after apologising for his lewd gestures in a Bali nightclub in a club video on Friday.
“We hope that he can get himself in a place where he is comfortable to step in and be a professional footballer again,” McRae said.
“We are hoping that is as early as next week, but time will tell.”
McRae lauded Cameron’s marking power in wet conditions against the Giants, with the former Swan snagging two goals from 17 possessions, eight marks and 23 hit-outs.
St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt said the Magpies faced a conundrum with the rucks when Grundy, who is on a $900,000-a year contract, returns form a knee problem.
“You are getting Darcy Cameron’s output at about one third of the cost (of Grundy’s),” Riewoldt said on Triple M.
And McRae, who also praised Mason Cox for his aerial contest work against GWS, said the selection situation may not be straightforward.
“Not many guys were marking the ball in the air like he (Cameron) was today,’ McRae said.
“Futuristically, we don’t know (what to do with the rucks), it’s too early to tell.
“I just hope when Brodie is available we don’t have to stress about the decision we have to make, but that is getting closer to have to be made.
“Mason is still playing well and we are happy with how he is playing.
“He (Grundy) is back in about four or five weeks, so there is still a bit of time.”
Wayward Pies survive Giant scare to frank finals hopes
—Ronny Lerner
An inaccurate Collingwood have survived a stunning last-quarter fightback from Greater Western Sydney to hold on for a nerve-racking 11-point win at the MCG on Sunday and re-enter the top eight.
The Magpies seemed to be cruising towards a huge victory at three-quarter time as they led by a game-high 37 points, but the margin should have been a lot greater considering they were almost tripling GWS for scoring shots at that point of the game (26-9).
It meant the door was left ajar for the visitors, and they came charging through, kicking seven goals to two in the final term to get within 10 points with just under five minutes remaining.
However, after a tense finish, the hosts were able to keep GWS at bay and the 11.22 (88) to 12.5 (77) result saw them put a drama-filled week behind them.
The Pies went into the clash without Jordan De Goey, who was on personal leave after copping a suspended $25,000 fine from the club for his behaviour while on holiday in Bali during the bye.
But even without De Goey, the Magpies managed to string five wins in a row for the first time since 2019, when they made it all the way to a preliminary final.
The Magpies finished with decisive victories in contested possessions (137-123), clearances (36-28), inside 50s (62-50) and scoring shots (33-17).
Collingwood veteran Steele Sidebottom turned the clock back, and played one of his best games of the season to finish with 26 touches, eight score involvements and a goal, while Darcy Cameron produced another huge performance in the ruck with 17 disposals, eight marks, 23 hit-outs, five clearances and two goals.
Magpies youngster Nick Daicos (25 touches) also did a good job of negating the influence of GWS danger man Toby Greene. Jesse Hogan was the visitors’ best with 17 touches (nine contested), six marks (two), four goals, nine score involvements and a goal assist.
Wasteful Pies
The Pies had plenty of chances to open up a massive lead in the third period on the back of their transition footy and domination of territory, but wayward goalkicking (4.8), especially from Josh Daicos (0.3), saw them settle for a 37-point buffer at three-quarter time.
Moore controversy
There was a bit of controversy early in the last quarter, when Collingwood defender Darcy Moore was penalised for rushing a behind deliberately. The star backman toe-poked it from outside the 9m area while under pressure from Jake Riccardi, but then got a desperate, diving hand on it just before it crossed the goal line, yet was still pinged by the umpire. It allowed Riccardi to kick the Giants’ third goal in five minutes to trim the deficit to 20 points.
Giants’ juice runs dry
GWS were averaging 62 points in first halves under Mark McVeigh, but they were kept to their lowest halftime score of the year by the Pies (2.4.16), and their lowest since Round 2 last year (1.9.15 against Fremantle).
Clever assist from Hoskin-Elliott
Early in the second quarter, after Ollie Henry dropped the contested mark on the boundary in Collingwood’s forward line, the quick-thinking Will Hoskin-Elliott forcefully soccered the ball past another pair of players in the pocket and into the goalsquare where Mihocek collected the bouncing pill and kicked the easy goal to extend Collingwood’s lead to 13 points.
SCOREBOARD
COLLINGWOOD 3.4, 5.9, 9.17, 11.22 (88)
def
GWS 2.4, 2.4, 5.4, 12.5 (77)
GOALS
Magpies: Elliott 2, Mihocek 2, Cameron 2, Henry 2, Sidebottom, Ginnivan, McCreery
Giants: Hogan 4, Riccardi 2, Whitfield, Green, Coniglio, Kelly, Ash, Greene.
RONNY LERNER’S BEST
Magpies: Sidebottom, Cameron, N.Daicos, Hoskin-Elliott, Maynard, Elliott, Noble
Giants: Hogan, Himmelberg, Coniglio, Green, Cumming, Whitfield, Kelly
RONNY LERNER’S VOTES
3 — Steele Sidebottom (Coll)
2 — Darcy Cameron (Coll)
1 — Jesse Hogan (GWS)
Umpires: Brown, Gianfagna, Mollison
Venue: MCG
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