Collingwood president Eddie McGuire opens up on his biggest moments at the Magpies
FROM the drama of the Mick Malthouse to Nathan Buckley handover to the Adam Goodes controversy and the ‘greatest day of my life’, Eddie McGuire opens up on the highs and lows of his 20 years as Collingwood president.
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THIS month marks 20 years since Eddie McGuire decided he wanted to be Collingwood’s president. In this exclusive interview with GLENN McFARLANE, McGuire details the highs, lows and controversies of his time at the helm.
FAMILY MATTERS: EDDIE’S SON TOLD HIM TO STAY ON
MICK MALTHOUSE: MY TAKE ON FINALS COACHES
BYE WEEK: IS THIS THE TIME FOR STATE OF ORIGIN?
OLD MATES: WHY DUSTY HAD TO BLOCK BEN’S CALLS
THE DECISION TO CHASE THE PRESIDENCY
IT was Round 21, 1998, and McGuire was calling for Triple M — through gnashed teeth — as Carlton trounced his beloved but ailing Collingwood.
His frustration mirrored a Magpie fan he observed outside the radio box, who yelled out: ‘F--- Collingwood’.
“He wasn’t a fair-weathered supporter; he was one of us,” McGuire recalled. “I was thinking ‘I know how you feel mate’.
“Absolute patriots of the club such as Kevin Rose were doing everything possible for the club.
“This might sound melodramatic, but the AFL was looking to put teams out of business or merge them at the time. I’d broken some of the big merger stories. The game was moving at hyper-speed. At that stage, every year you were going backwards seemed to be worth five.
“I thought if this ever happened to Collingwood, if I hadn’t done anything to help, I would never forgive myself. I thought, ‘if I ever have boys, and they asked me who I barracked for, and I said ‘Collingwood had gone the same way as Fitzroy and University’, I would never forgive myself.”
On the night of his 34th birthday — October 29, 1998 — McGuire was elevated to the presidency in a bloodless coup.
GRAND FINALS LOSSES, 2002-03
AGAINST the odds, after winning a wooden spoon in McGuire’s first season as president, Collingwood played off in successive Grand Finals in new coach Mick Malthouse’s third and fourth seasons, losing to Brisbane by nine and 50 points.
“We didn’t win the flag (in 2002), but we were so unlucky,” McGuire said. “I still have nightmares about (Anthony) Rocca’s goal (which was called a behind). I was right behind it, and it was a goal. One of the Scott brothers broke (US 1968 Olympic gold medallist) Bob Beamon’s long jump record jumping over the mark to touch Chris Tarrant’s goal … that would have been one of the greatest Grand Final wins in history (if Collingwood had won).
“In 2003, the boys played out of their skins to get to the Grand Final, and Brisbane said they had syringes in the medical room up to their knees, all that sort of stuff.”
THE MOVE, 2004
COLLINGWOOD played its final AFL game at Victoria Park in 1999, but remained at its traditional home until 2004 before shifting to the state-of-the-art Olympic Park complex, now known as the Holden Centre.
“Ultimately, we’ve been able to have three wonderful pillars of the club,” he said.
“There’s Victoria Park, which Collingwood did a deal with the Federal Government for $10 million to fix it up. We’ve helped make it a grassroots community centre, and it will hopefully be used for women’s games and under 18s/16s games.
“There’s the Holden Centre which has become the No. 1 centre for excellence, and we have some really big plans for the future.
“Then, there’s the MCG, the best ground in the world to play on with the best facilities for our supporters.”
GOING TO WAR WITH THE AFL
McGUIRE was the most vocal opponent of the salary cap concessions for Brisbane and cost of living allowances for Sydney, declaring himself at “war” with the AFL in the early 2000s.
“I did that to my own detriment,” he said. “There might be a couple of chapters for a (future) book I am not prepared to talk about yet.
“There were big threats … not death threats. Certainly, there were people going flat out to get me. But that’s OK. You play a hard game, we’re not shrinking violets.”
OFF-FIELD PLAYER INDISCRETIONS
“WHEN I first started, I thought we were trying to build utopia, then you realise life in a footy club is a microcosm for the wider society,” McGuire said. “I learnt that in trying to turn back the tide, you can only do the best you can to help.
“It doesn’t mean you don’t give them a good beating every now and then. I am father of two, but it feels like I am a father of 200.”
But he insists there are “mitigating circumstances these days.”
“You can’t get at your players (much) these days. I think the AFL and the AFLPA do a reasonable job on that, but I think we need to have a look at it again.”
COACHING SUCCESSION DEAL, 2009
FEW off-field moments in Collingwood’s history have caused as much debate as the 2009 coaching succession plan.
McGuire negotiated two more years for Malthouse in 2009, then three more as director of coaching. Buckley was to be an assistant for two years before assuming the coaching mantle in 2012.
The only problem was Malthouse changed his mind, quitting after the 2011 Grand Final.
“People seem to forget the first conversation was with Mick Malthouse’s manager Peter Sidwell,” he said. “Both of us had Mick’s best interests and his family’s best interests at heart. Later on … they believed (it) wasn’t in their best interests, but at the time it was, because of numerous things.”
“It was all go, until it wasn’t. We didn’t air our dirty laundry, which was unusual for a footy club. Mick was a great servant of the Collingwood Football Club.
“Bucks at one stage considered standing out for a year (in 2012), I said ‘No’. We had made the decision.”
DID IT WORK?
“IN some ways, it panned out beautifully,” he said. “We played in a preliminary final (2009), won a Grand Final (2010), and we were 20 minutes off winning back-to-back flags (in 2011). People forget about this.
“The whole idea was for Mick to stay and bring through (Buckley), while we still had a good list, who could be coach for the next 10 years.
“Remembering we don’t have an academy, we don’t cheat the salary cap, and we don’t get (AFL) advantages, you are going to get into a cycle where it goes down. But we made a preliminary final (in 2012) after the boys had to attend John McCarthy’s funeral. The next year we had shocking injuries but still made the finals.
“We fell out (of contention) after that, but we were in a rebuild. Nathan Buckley acquiesced to the board’s call to cut deep. He did what we knew we had to. So when the time came for Bucks to look for a bit of support, I am glad to say I was there to back him up.”
‘THE GREATEST DAY OF MY LIFE’, 2010
McGUIRE describes the day Collingwood won the 2010 premiership as the “greatest” of his life.
The reason — his family was there to see it.
Part of it was how difficult the week before had been. As the third draw in Grand Final history was played out, McGuire had to orchestrate a psyche change to convince the players and fans the ghosts of Grand Finals past hadn’t come back to haunt Collingwood.
“When (Brendon) Goddard took that mark and kicked that goal (in the draw), I don’t think I would have had anything more to give.”
But swinging into spruiker-mode he and coach Mick Malthouse sold an idea to the group that the draw meant it was “only half time”. He ensured the team went to the dinner that night — St Kilda didn’t — and the tide turned.
The 2010 replay proved Collingwood’s biggest Grand Final win, and McGuire’s “greatest day” experienced with his wife Karla and sons, Joseph and Alexander.
CULTURE ISSUE?
McGUIRE insists Collingwood doesn’t have a culture issue in the wake of Sam Murray’s recent positive drugs test, following the 2015 drugs ban for Josh Thomas and Lachlan Keeffe. “We know what is going on in society,” he said.
“(Drugs) are a society issue. It is difficult when you are talking about young men. If you are going to be around a footy club for 20 years, some things are going to happen.”
SIDE BY SIDE
McGUIRE is a believer in the club’s ‘side-by-side’ mantra.
He says the club’s philanthropic endeavours are as important as the on-field wins.
“In many ways, that’s the reason why I have stayed (as president).”
That comes in the form of Magpie Nest Salvation Army Cafe in Melbourne, where the aim is to provide over 4000 meals per week, as well as the accommodation of more than 300 homeless people in over 100 homes.
There are also the indigenous and Community projects, expansion into women’s football, wheelchair teams, and the club’s decision to sell its lucrative pokies.
The other side of the equation is the people who have worked alongside the president.
“Ian McMullin and Alex Waislitz have been there every step of the way,” he said. “Mark Korda and Peter Leeds have been great, but so have all of the board members in my time.
“Peter Murphy’s contribution in the past 12 months has been epic, Chris Thomas in analysing the board without fear or favour was important, and Geoff Walsh is an incomparable footy boss.”
THE GOODES/CAROLINE WILSON CONTROVERSIES
McGUIRE said: “The Adam Goodes thing (in 2013) was something that happened when I was exhausted. My reputation and my history stands before that, and stands since that. If people are going to (criticise) for what was a complete slip of the tongue, that’s not my issue.
“I’ve been well embraced by indigenous Australians and they understand what my role has been, and will continue to be.
“The Caroline Wilson thing (in 2016) was a joke that had been done all day and every day, and continues to be, including (at the MND game) this year. In hearing it back, I felt I was out of line.”
RECONTRACTING BUCKLEY, 2017
HE maintained faith in Nathan Buckley last year, but felt he had to play “Devil’s advocate” during the review.
“I believed (Buckley) was the guy, in my heart,” he says. “But I wasn’t going to say that because I didn’t want to sway the vote.
“I went Devil’s advocate without telling anyone. I said to Walshy: ‘The decision isn’t to keep or get rid of Nathan Buckley, it’s who is the best coach for us going forward’.
“I told him he had clear space to come up with his findings. When Walshy came back, he said: ‘I have gone through this and the right decision is to keep Nathan.’
McGuire said: “The easiest thing would have been to let the coach go, that’s what has traditionally happened.”
“Everyone would have said ‘Fair enough … he has had his time. (But) would I in my heart of hearts believed he had his time … I don’t think he had.”
The president couldn’t be happier to be back in the finals.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” he said. “We have made the eight, which was the first thing. The second thing was to make the top four, which we have done now. Now we are into the next phase … that’s to try and win it.”
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