Saying sorry, board review, coach patience should all be on new Collingwood president’s agenda

The Magpies need to start life after Eddie McGuire with one simple proclamation - sorry! From there, the new president must stay proactive in setting the club’s course for the future.

The football world will sit up and take notice when the new president of Collingwood is appointed in the coming days and then makes their first speech.

Many believe the Magpies figurehead’s first word should be “sorry”.

While it won’t wash away the pain from the past, it could be a significant step in setting a course for the future.

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Giving Nathan Buckley every chance to earn a new contract should be a Pies priority.

Collingwood’s players made a statement with their own statement, apologising to anyone who has been “marginalised, hurt or discriminated against due to their race” due to their association with the club across its history; the past players too urged the board to adopt the 18 recommendations of the ‘Do Better’ report.

Collingwood has already said it will implement the recommendations. That should happen as a matter of course ASAP.

And ‘Sorry’ should be the first word uttered by the new president, and from the board as a whole, knowing the positive impact it can have going forward.

REVIEW THE BOARD

Collingwood past players president Paul Tuddenham believes Eddie McGuire’s departure marks a moment in time, allowing the club to review its operations, including the composition and make-up of its board.

Tuddenham, a former Magpie who has recently been touted as a future president, wants the club’s players, past players and supporters to be at the forefront of the board’s decision-making.

“This is an opportunity to look at everything, to take a step back, and ask whether our present board model is the best model moving forward,” Tuddenham said.

“What sort of skill set do we need on the board to best achieve what all areas of the club needs? That’s not just the footy department, that’s also the women’s team, our culture and everything that goes on outside footy, including the Holden Centre precinct redevelopment.”

Eddie McGuire’s departure presents the Magpies with a big chance for restructure.

“That means having a look at the board. Are the numbers right? Is the personnel right? How can we make it better?

McGuire’s resignation as president on Tuesday after more than two decades leaves a board consisting of long-time vice presidents Mark Korda and Alex Waislitz, Peter Murphy, Christine Holgate, Jodie Sizer, Paul Licuria and chief executive Mark Anderson.

“I don’t know the board members all that well,” Tuddenham said.

“I know some of them reasonably well. I know Peter Murphy really well. I don’t know Jodie Sizer, but she seems to be a very impressive person and looks to tick plenty of boxes.”

Tuddenham said Graham Wright’s recent appointment as general manager of football “ties in perfectly” for a fresh look at the overall operations.

“We have had some issues, but it is not like it (the club) is broken,” he said.

“We just have to get better ... everyone has to get better.”

One senior industry figure suggested David Emerson, Collingwood’s director of community and stadia, could play a role in helping to reshape the club.

“While there are a whole lot of good candidates, one option I think they should throw into the mix is David Emerson, because he is both imbued with Collingwood’s history and its future,” the figure said.

“He has been Collingwood through and through for decades, and has led their community programs.

“He has a more astute focus on those programs, the importance of them and alignment between them. He could be a healing force.”

One person close to the club hoped the board understood the players’ motivation in releasing their “sorry” statement.

“The function of the board is important to the players,” he said.

“I really think with people such as Graham Wright, Nick Maxwell and Paul Licuria, we should be creating an even better connection between the board and the playing group.”

Nathan Buckley is entering his 10th season as Collingwood coach.

DON’T RUSH THE BUCKLEY DECISION

Nathan Buckley will coach his 10th AFL season this year - his first without long-time ally and friend Eddie McGuire as president.

One of the club’s key narratives of 2021 will centre on whether Buckley — who boasts a 55.61% winning record but no flags in that time — wins a new deal or not.

Wright will play a big role in that decision, but so too will the new president and the board.

Collingwood’s 1990 premiership star Mick McGuane said the best policy is to let the season “play out” before making any decision on the coach’s future.

“After the tenure Nathan has had, logic says to let it all play out, they don’t have to give him a two-year extension now,” McGuane said.

“The incumbent board will maintain the party line and say Nathan has had a fair rub of the green (since 2012).

“He is in the last year of his contract and there is no need to jump at shadows.”

McGuane said Buckley would be aware of the situation, having spent his adult life in elite football programs, and wouldn’t want sentiment to intervene.

“He is a mature football person and has never wanted handouts. As a footballer, he earned the right to get what he got through performance and it’s the same thing for him as a coach.

“He understands that only performance (in 2021) will dictate a contract extension.”

The Magpies should be trying to mend fences with Heritier Lumumba.

KEEP TRYING TO RE-ENGAGE WITH HERITIER LUMUMBA

Lumumba has a life membership honour waiting for at Collingwood, but at this stage has no intention of claiming it.

That doesn’t mean the club shouldn’t stop trying to re-engage with Lumumba - who lives in Los Angeles - even if a rapprochement won’t happen anytime soon.

News Corp understands several Collingwood people - including former teammates and friends - have reached out in recent times without success.

Those close to the club hope that will change in the coming years.

One said: “The club has just got to get better, we know that, and hopefully (for) the people who are looking from the outside in, once they start seeing that change take place, it will preempt even more change.”

SELLING THE MESSAGE TO FANS

Collingwood’s ability to sell its message to its fans - its greatest strength not all that long ago - has been challenged in recent months, dating back to its disastrous trade period last year.

The decision to trade three key players to avert the club’s lopsided salary cap brought ire from large sections of the fan-base.

The loss of Adam Treloar. Jayden Stephenson and Tom Phillips wasn’t solely about salary cap pressure - it was part strategic to aid the chase for future free agents - but the manner in which it was explained to its members stung many.

In a letter to members at the time, the club’s CEO Mark Anderson tried to ease tensions, saying the message could have been sold better to fans.

Some of that angst eased with the club’s impressive draft haul.

But the club failed to release the ‘Do Better’ report into historic racism on its own terms when it received the findings prior to Christmas.

The loss of Adam Treloar left a sour taste in many fans’ mouth.

Instead, the club was forced to stage a hastily-arranged press conference last week after the News Corp exclusively revealed the report’s contents.

We all know what happened next.

If the club is more open and transparent with the good, the bad and the ugly, fans at least will feel a part of that messaging.

Tuddenham said the power of the Magpie army was something he never took for granted in his 40 games as a player from 1987 to 1991.

“I just wonder if there could be an even greater level of engagement between the club and the supporters,” he said.

“The message from the club needs to continually reiterate ‘the club is yours’. Everything the club does should be done with that view with the fans, the players and the past players at the forefront of all decisions.”

HOPE THE TEAM STARTS WINNING

Onfield success eases most footy tensions, and McGuire’s replacement will be hoping beyond hope Collingwood can make a flying start to 2021.

It won’t be easy.

The Magpies meet the Bulldogs - and Treloar - in Round 1, before taking on old rivals Carlton, Brisbane, Greater Western Sydney and West Coast in the first five weeks ahead of an Anzac Day clash with Essendon.

By the end of Round 6, we’ll have a better handle on Collingwood’s 2021 fortunes, and potentially whether Buckley will secure a new coaching deal.