Collingwood face Jordan De Goey dilemma as he faces court on assault charges, nears free agency
Jordan De Goey is liked by his teammates though his “lone wolf” behaviour is growing heavily at odds with the New Age Pies’ culture quest. Is he now at an inescapable crossroads?
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It lasted just under two weeks. That was the time frame where the football world was engulfed in the De Goey glow.
And it wasn’t just Collingwood fans who were seduced by the images of Jordan De Goey training in the US.
There was a collective nod of the head because everyone had been waiting for a penny-drop moment and the sight of him slugging it out with renowned American fitness coach Johnny Louch in California ticked a number of boxes.
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In recent times the likes of Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli had organised similar overseas fitness camps in their own time and the results had been stunning.
The dedication and sacrifice of focusing on fitness instead of drinking beers on a beach during their holidays had become a proven formula for success.
Everyone had been waiting for De Goey’s mindset to catch up with his undoubted on-field ability and this appeared to be the moment.
He’d taken up an opportunity to get to the States through his personal sponsor Monster Energy and when a Melbourne radio station managed to get hold of Louch during a session with the Pies star, he was glowing about his new pupil.
The phone was then briefly passed to De Goey who was asked whether he‘d been inspired by Melbourne star Christian Petracca’s Norm Smith Medal performance given the pair were drafted on the same night — three spots apart — back in 2014.
What he said next was nirvana for anyone with black and white in their veins.
“I think definitely this will be the best shape I’ve come back in. I think mentally, as well, I’ll be in a really good headspace, and obviously physically I’m sure I’ll be fit, too,“ De Goey told SEN.
”He (Petracca) took his game to a whole new level which was really exciting to see, and it was great to watch him do that. That’s definitely something I want to do.”
Signs of trouble
The alarm bells started sounding when the first Instagram post lobbed.
It was on the account of Luke Dyson, a New York-based tattoo artist, and had vision of a clearly happy De Goey in a dressing gown slugging down vodka.
This was 12 days after the radio interview and the Magpies star had abandoned his California fitness camp for the bright lights of New York City which was buzzing given it was Halloween weekend.
The social media posts suggested the pair were getting ready to hit the town with the dressing gown to remain as De Goey‘s Halloween costume.
Six hours later De Goey was behind bars.
What happened at 2.20am inside the PHD Rooftop Lounge at the Dream Downtown Hotel in Chelsea is still unknown.
The first version, and one which resulted in De Goey being instantly stood down by Collingwood, had him being arrested for allegedly groping a woman on the dancefloor and then assaulting her friend.
He was arrested at the scene with the charge sheet not good reading for the AFL star. The NYPD alleged he‘d “grabbed buttocks and vagina outside clothing without permission or authority to do so of a 35-year-old female”.
The assault charge claimed he‘d allegedly “punched with a closed fist and kicked a 37-year-old male causing pain and swelling”.
Word quickly filtered out from the Big Apple about the arrest and TV cameras were waiting for De Goey, who faced the court still in the bathrobe, when he was released on bail.
By the end of the day he was persona non grata at Collingwood.
The Pies released the statement on Sunday evening saying they would continue to pay him but he was being removed from the AFL program, which meant he wasn’t allowed to train at the Holden Centre or use any of its facilities.
It seemed the Pies had run out of patience given this wasn’t De Goey’s first brush with the law.
In 2017 he’d been suspended and fined after lying about being involved in a bar fight which broke his hand.
De Goey told club officials he suffered the injury playing with his dog. He copped a three-week ban for that effort.
The following year he was suspended and fined for drink driving as a P-plater.
This time he was told to train away from the Pies for four weeks while fined $10,000 and forced to make a $10,000 donation to charity.
In August this year he had assault charges from a 2015 incident withdrawn by prosecutors with De Goey awarded legal costs.
He had written an apology to the woman involved in an altercation at the Harp of Erin in Kew.
He was also fined $2075 for a string of driving offences including driving 93km/h in an 80km/h zone in Brighton East on December 28, 2020.
He also admitted texting while at the traffic lights and failing to display P-plates on a Harley-Davidson motorbike.
Trouble and De Goey never seemed to be too far apart and many saw the New York incident as the last straw.
The consensus back home in Melbourne was that he was cooked with the AFL and Collingwood was both keen to get out the big stick. The Pies were all about a fresh start with new coach Craig McCrae and for cultural standards it was quickly assumed that De Goey had to be sacrificed.
Forty-eight hours later the narrative changed abruptly.
De Goey, 25, had hired high-powered celebrity law firm Brafman & Associates, who’d defended rapper P Diddy and Hollywood sex offender Harvey Weinstein, with the groping charge quickly dropped.
And more details of the incident started to leak out.
De Goey‘s version was dramatically different with him claiming the woman and her friend had entered the private both he had with Dyson and stolen drinks.
When confronted about it, there was an altercation and a scuffle broke out. Security removed them all with the woman then ringing the police.
The dropping of the groping charge was a game-changer for many and left Collingwood in an awkward position.
Everyone was all chips in on sending him to Coventry if he’d laid his hands on a woman but with that no longer the case the whole incident had become a he-said they-said scenario.
The Pies hadn’t afforded him the benefit of doubt initially as they were clearly still fuming that he’d found himself on the wrong side of the law again.
Last week De Goey arrived home and when his court case was adjourned on Thursday — he appeared from videolink — until January 18 the saga took another turn.
Ongoing puzzle
How do you solve a problem like De Goey?
We’re not sure if the Collingwood hierarchy are Sound of Music fans but the famous tune from the nuns in the Swiss Alps should be on repeat at the Holden Centre.
There are many options on the table but after a meeting earlier in week between new coach Craig McCrae, football boss Graham Wright and De Goey, the ban remains in place.
Wright has said the club was weighing up a decision about the midfield star’s history of misdemeanours rather than focusing on the New York incident.
There is a new board and president set to come in next week so they’re likely to want to have a say on the matter also. If Eddie McGuire was still in charge, De Goey would be safe but the world has changed.
Club legend Mick McGuane is critical of how the Pies have allowed one of their prized assets to be hung out to dry.
“They can‘t afford to let him go, match winners don’t fall out of trees and he is that,” McGuane said.
“Have they jumped the gun Collingwood with what they have done with him this time around?
“I reckon they have, I just don’t know why they wouldn’t support him, let the court case play out and make a decision post court case.
“Over there they charge first and investigate later. Collingwood went with the charge not knowing the facts and now they‘ve put themselves in a corner to appease media and corporate partners to be seen doing something.
“So there is a fair bit of tokenism I thought involved in the stand down as opposed to the support I thought the guy needed at the time.”
McGuane believes De Goey is about to come into his prime and wouldn’t be the first bad boy to turn his career around.
“He’s still young, you have to continually have strong welfare discussions with him and eventually the penny might drop at 26, 27 or 28 and then he might have eight years of good footy in his body,” he said.
“Over the history of time there have been blokes with rap sheets, they become important because you work with them not against them.
“Have a look at Jake Stringer, he left the Bulldogs to become a player in All-Australian discussions, it took two or three years for the penny to drop.
“And Stevie J (Johnson) what a star he became with good strong discipline. Every individual is different and you have got to tailor it to suit what your club needs but also the person himself.”
Johnson is the obvious case study for De Goey. Geelong became fed up with a string of discipline issues and booted him from the AFL program for half a season, forcing him to train and play in the VFL.
The result was stunning. Johnson came back a different player and ended up winning the Norm Smith Medal in a record-breaking Geelong premiership victory.
Collingwood isn’t going to win the flag next year so they have to think more long-term as one industry figure pointed out, cutting De Goey, who is out of contract at the end of next season, now makes no sense.
“They can fatten him up next year and get a first-round pick from somewhere else for him,” he said. ”They’re a chance to finish bottom four so then they’d have two first-round picks up the pointy end of the draft which is a position you can quickly rebuild from.”
De Goey has been described as a bit of a “lone wolf” in the playing ranks. He’s liked but isn’t extremely close to many of his teammates, preferring to hang with his own crowd.
The fact he doesn’t have a manager is another concern with his brother-in-law currently in charge of affairs.
De Goey needs a strong voice in his corner and former Collingwood assistant coach Garry Hocking is certainly a fan and was more than happy to help him out when he rang looking for somewhere to train.
Hocking has taken over the reins at GFL club Leopold and on Wednesday night De Goey made the trip down the highway to have a run.
Some are hoping the experience of training among tradies who have been on the tools all day before putting the boots on for a kick a couple of nights a week gives him an insight into what his future might look like if he doesn’t change.
He is already more than $50,000 out of pocket in legal fees and what transpires over the next month could decide whether he signs the contract of a lifetime worth millions or is remembered as the wannabe bad boy who sadly never had that penny-drop moment.
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