Eddie McGuire outlines two major gripes ahead of blockbuster Collingwood clash

Eddie McGuire is cheering the Pies towards a premiership but the Collingwood supremo has issues with a couple of AFL sticking points.

Eddie McGuire is hoping for a few more Collingwood wins.

White shorts and the centre bounce were on Eddie McGuire’s hit list when he picked up the phone this morning.

The Collingwood president is on cloud nine after his beloved Magpies snatched a dramatic one-point win over West Coast on Saturday in one of the club’s greatest ever finals performances.

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The victory, which came after many pundits wrote the Pies off in Perth, sets up a blockbuster semi-final against Geelong this weekend.

Collingwood, with its black-and-white vertical stripes, and the Cats with their navy hoops on white guernseys, wear similar strips and McGuire said if the AFL makes his club wear white shorts instead of black bottoms, then a potential jumper clash will be made even worse.

“There is (a possible strip clash), but I thought we sorted this out in about 2000 when there was a massive jumper clash and we said, ‘We’ll wear the dark outfit, you wear the white shorts’,” McGuire told SEN SA Breakfast.

“Then last year I couldn’t believe it, in the final they (Geelong) ran out in blue shorts for about the first time in 15 years.

“I’ll leave it to the AFL to sort out, it’s up to them but if they make us wear white shorts it will be a debacle.

“What people can’t get through their thick heads is the white shorts — it’s the white in the various jumpers that causes the clash.

“It’s when they (the AFL) stick us in white, when they (Geelong) are wearing a predominantly white outfit that the problems have been.”

Scott Pendlebury wouldn’t want to kick the ball to Tom Hawkins after mistaking him for a teammate.

There’s a real danger players from both teams could become confused given the similarity of their strips.

The customary centre bounce to restart play after a goal and at the beginning of quarters is on the agenda after a wobbly night in Adelaide last Thursday when Port beat Geelong by 16 points in their qualification final, consigning the Cats to a do-or-die game against Collingwood while the Power enjoy a week off in preparation for their preliminary final.

Geelong coach Chris Scott’s mood was soured by umpire “Razor” Ray Chamberlain’s struggles to bounce the ball high and straight in the centre square. The Sherrin behaved erratically and Scott told Chamberlain to sort things out when he stormed onto the field at halftime.

McGuire wants the bounce scrapped altogether, saying officials should just throw the ball up in the air so momentum and the theatre of the moment isn’t put on hold when the ritual goes wrong.

“I think we just chuck it up and get on with it now,” McGuire said. “Maybe you might have one ceremonial bounce but there’s nothing more — it is the greatest cold spoon in the world when you’re getting ready for the opening bounce or a big play and suddenly you’re calling it back and starting again.

“It’s ridiculous.

“I don’t think there’s any other sport in the world that requires your officiating umpires or referees to do a party trick as well as umpire the game.

“It’s hard enough we make them have to run like Olympic athletes … I’d take the theatrics out of it.”

Former umpires boss Wayne Campbell defended Chamberlain, telling SEN it’s hard to get the bounce right when the turf in the centre of the ground is too soft, while Richmond legend Kevin Bartlett called on footy fans to stop overreacting.

“In Australian rules football the centre bounce should be retained and not be replaced with a tip off,” Bartlett tweeted.

“The game never had a recall rule for 112 years in VFL/AFL. The umpire bounces the ball and game on, be ready, for it’s an oval ball. No more recall anxiety for umpires.”

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Should the centre bounce be scrapped?

Meanwhile, McGuire had the last laugh over Kane Cornes after the Port Adelaide champion turned media personality gave Collingwood no chance against West Coast, saying publicly the Pies were merely “making up the numbers” in the finals.

Collingwood star Jeremy Howe took a dig at Cornes on Twitter after the miraculous win in the west and the Channel 9 star has eaten humble pie as his comments came back to haunt him.

But McGuire wasn’t too harsh on his Nine colleague, who also co-hosts SEN SA Breakfast.

“I sent Kane a text after the game, just mucking around,” McGuire told the program. “Everyone’s getting a bit too worked up about this sort of stuff.

“It’s good fun, that’s alright. I don’t think Kane was the only one who didn’t think the Pies had much of a chance going over.

“I love the fact that Kane comes out with these outlandish statements and gees people up and carries on. It’s all good fun, it’s hilarious — that’s what the game’s about.”

Speaking on the Sunday Footy Show, Cornes said he replied to McGuire’s text by saying “I’m an idiot”, but warned Collingwood fans against becoming too “cocky” because they’ve still got three more games to win to hold up the premiership trophy.