AFL: Eddie McGuire and Matthew Lloyd square off as footy world reacts to Steele Sidebottom case

Eddie McGuire lashed out after AFL great Matthew Lloyd accused him of being a hypocrite during a fiery confrontation on live TV.

Eddie McGuire and Matthew Lloyd went toe-to-toe.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire and Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd have squared off in a tense TV clash over the reaction to Steele Sidebottom’s COVID-19 breach.

The Magpies vice-captain was banned for four matches yesterday after being found guilty of breaking the code’s strict biosecurity protocols following a two-point loss to GWS on Saturday night.

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Sidebottom visited injured teammate Jeremy Howe at his house with fellow Pie Lynden Dunn, shared an Uber with Dunn then went drinking at the house of Collingwood employee Daniel Wells, who is not part of the team’s “bubble” that players are allowed contact with.

Police took Sidebottom home on Sunday morning after he was found “half naked” on the street, as coach Nathan Buckley revealed the midfielder was so drunk he can’t remember specific details about how he found himself in that situation.

McGuire said while Sidebottom’s behaviour was “disappointing”, he praised the 29-year-old for immediately reporting the incident to the club and choosing not to appeal his four-match suspension.

Speaking on Channel 9’s Footy Classified last night, McGuire was adamant there’s no way he’ll consider stripping Sidebottom of his leadership position even if Buckley recommends it — sparking a heated clash with Lloyd, who said it’s untenable for Sidebottom to remain as vice-captain.

“You love these guys, you absolutely love them and adore them but again, (what happens) when the next player (to find himself in trouble) walks in and Steele and (captain) Scott Pendlebury are sitting there going, ‘What do we do?’” Lloyd said.

“I’d be embarrassed if I was Steele, in this period of time, adjudicating on someone else.”

RELATED: Eddie roasted, told to ‘tell the whole story’

Steele Sidebottom has been rubbed out for a month.

Here’s how Lloyd and McGuire’s clash, which you can watch in the video player at the top of this article, played out.

McGuire: “These days, the media’s very much, you could cure cancer and then get a parking ticket on Monday and the lead will be the parking ticket.”

Lloyd: “I can speak from my situation, and that’s how I feel. You are very close to the situation, Ed.”

McGuire: “Of course it’s a massive story … I’m just saying to Matthew, there’s only been one person allegedly without sin and they put him on the cross. You’ve got to forgive and have empathy.”

Lloyd: “You’re too close to this situation.”

McGuire: “No I’m not!”

Lloyd: “Ed, you’ve got a love for this guy, which is fine. I heard you three weeks ago, Ed, you said, ‘How are these guys doing it (breaching protocols)?’ (Port Adelaide star) Ollie Wines it might have been. I said, ‘You know what, someone else will make a mistake Ed’ and you’re going, ‘These players, how can they do it?’”

McGuire: “I think you’re over-dramatising what I said.”

Lloyd: “I’d love to get it up if we could because that’s exactly what you said.”

McGuire: “Hang on, why are you going on the prosecution line here, mate? We’re saying the guy has accepted his situation.”

Lloyd: “Exactly, and he’s made a mistake and we get on with it.”

McGuire: “Yeah, OK, that’s what I just said. I was asked if I was going to sack him as vice-captain of the club and I said no.”

Lloyd: “It will be a consideration. I’d be shocked if it wasn’t.”

McGuire: “Well, you can ask me because I’m the president. I said no.”

Lloyd: “It will come down to Bucks (Nathan Buckley), I would have thought.”

McGuire: “Well, it will still come back, but it comes back to the board, and the answer at the moment is no.”

McGuire says there’s no way he’ll consider axing Sidebottom from the leadership group, even if Nathan Buckley recommends it.

AFL greats Garry Lyon and Tim Watson both weighed in on the spat on SEN Breakfast this morning, and Lyon said it was clear McGuire was irked by Lloyd’s confrontation.

“I didn’t mind Matthew Lloyd there, stood his ground. Eddie ‘mated’ him twice. Did you notice that?” Lyon said. “That means that he’s touched a nerve.”

Watson said Sidebottom should consider stepping down as vice-captain, taking the decision out of McGuire’s and the Collingwood board’s hands.

“If I was Sidebottom, a consideration for me would be to stand down from the leadership group … until the end of the year” Watson said.

“I would think the same criteria applies to the vice-captain as the captain. If this had been Scott Pendlebury, would you have expected Scott Pendlebury to stand down as the leader of Collingwood? I would think so.”

McGuire told Nine News Sidebottom “just had a bad night, it’s as simple as that” and “drank too much of a liquor that he probably wasn’t used to and became disorientated from there”.

The Pies president also said he was “proud” of how Sidebottom reacted to his controversy in immediately reporting it to Collingwood and copping the AFL's punishment on the chin.