Eddie McGuire goes scorched Earth on Sydney Swans president

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has taken the gloves off over recent comments made about the AFL Grand Final.

Eddie McGuire goes after Swans president

Eddie McGuire has delivered a scathing clip on Sydney president Andrew Pridham.

The former Collingwood boss took the gloves off and took aim at recent remarks made regarding the AFL Grand Final.

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Pridham reignited the debate around turning the showcase Grand Final into a best-of-three series, arguing the league is missing out on a monster payday.

McGuire however wasn’t hearing it and did not pull his punches when responding to the comments made by the Swans boss.

“My old mate Andrew Pridham [wants] three Grand Finals. He says, ‘It’s a no-brainer’,” McGuire said on the Eddie and Jimmy podcast.

“It is if you have no brain.

“I went to the basketball on the weekend, which is a three-game final series, and five minutes into the last quarter everyone was talking about when players should start being rested and asking when the game will be over rather than it being a Grand Final with a drive to the finish,” McGuire said.

Eddie rubbished the suggestion. Picture: Mark Stewart

Pridham wants a GF series. Picture: Valeriu Campan

“They can get away with it in basketball because that’s what they do, but could you imagine three AFL Grand Finals?”

McGuire then pointed to the 2010 AFL Grand Final when Collingwood and St Kilda played out a draw and had to play again a week later.

“Now, correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t everyone have a conniption in 2010 when we had a replayed Grand Final for the third time ever — for the third time ever,” he said.

“That made the competition $25 million, that’s what the AFL has said but I reckon it was more than that.

“But also, the Grand Final should be played until you have a winner — now we’ve gone down the road of extra time.

“Suddenly, we can’t have a grand final with a replay — for the three times it has happened in 125 years — but we can have three every year!”

Don’t change the Grand Final. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Jimmy Bartel, a three-time premiership winner for Geelong, agreed with McGuire and said a best-of-three series would be a detriment to the league.

“If you’ve got no concerns for the quality of the product, yeah, play three [Grand Finals],” he said.

“[The quality] would be absolutely trash.

“It’s the most physically but also mentally draining week of your life because it is the biggest moment you’ve built towards and you’ve played the game over in your head a million times.

“When they win, the players get this adrenaline rush, but if you ask them a couple of days after they are absolutely out on their feet. They’re exhausted, especially the losing team.”

The AFL Grand Final is set to take place at the MCG until 2057 as part of a $500m deal with the Victorian Government.