Jordan De Goey reveals North Melbourne offered him $5 million to leave Collingwood
Jordan De Goey was a man in high demand last season before eventually signing with Collingwood. But there was one moment the superstar forward genuinely thought about leaving the black and white.
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Jordan De Goey has revealed he knocked back a $5 million offer from North Melbourne last season.
The Collingwood superstar re-signed at the Pies, but recalled the time he received a call from his manager Ben Niall with a blockbuster deal from the Roos earlier last year.
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“Probably the only time I thought (about considering a move) was when my manager on the phone said ‘North have upped their offer and (said) it was $1 million,” De Goey said on the Jock and Journo podcast.
“And I said ‘$1 million (in total)?’
“And he said ‘$1 million-a-year for five years’, and that’s when I was like, ‘Oh s**t’.
“In terms of money, what was I, 22?
“Everyone wants to be a millionaire, don’t you?
“To hear that, it’s cool and I appreciate that they (Kangaroos) could have that thought about me, that I could become (worth) something like that.”
De Goey, 23, said it was the strength of his relationships with his teammates and coaches at Collingwood which was the key factor in his decision to stay.
“For me it was pretty simple in the end,” he said.
“I’m a people person, I get really comfortable around the boys and the people we have brought in and I think all the people we’ve got at the footy club are awesome people, they’re just genuine.
“They care about you as a person and not just as a footballer, and for me that’s all I want because when I’m happy and enjoying what I’m doing, when I’ve got good relationship with the people around me — that’s when I’m going to be happy.
“And when I’m happy that’s when I’m playing my best footy.”
De Goey was in hot water with the club in 2017 when he lied about breaking his hand in a pub and then again early last year when he was caught drink driving.
He faced a grilling from club bosses and the team’s senior leaders, saying it felt like “the worst thing in the world”.
But the superstar forward stopped drinking alcohol and began working with the Salvation Army as part of his punishment and said he has matured over the past year.
“It hits home, when they (club leaders) are all in a room, they’ve all been called in on Sunday because I have stuffed up again,” he said.
“It’s those moments when you think ‘Oh s**t, was that really worth it?’
“But they supported me through it, and I always say I’m better for it.
“I’m still a youngster at heart and I think it takes time (to mature).
“I never wanted to hurt anybody. I never did anything to hurt the people around me. But as you get older you realise how much it affects the people you work with.
“I think that was the hardest part when you start getting older and the leaders have to pull me in and have meetings with all the people you have looked up to and have given you the opportunity to be there.
“That was the realisation for me, that I’m not just affecting myself, I’m affecting everyone around me.
“So it’s tough, especially seeing people upset, especially my family. For me it was probably one of those light bulb moments.”