Wayward Collingwood star Jordan De Goey’s punishment decided

COLLINGWOOD president Eddie McGuire weighed in before Jordan De Goey’s punishment was finalised for another off-field lapse.

COLLINGWOOD’S Jordan De Goey will likely miss the start of another AFL season for off-field issues after being caught drink driving.

De Goey informed the club he returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.095 per cent — nearly double the legal limit — after a random breath test in Port Melbourne on Saturday night.

His licence was immediately suspended and he was disqualified from driving for six months.

Police confirmed to the Herald Sun that De Goey is still currently a P-plate driver.

Club officials met on Monday where it was decided he would be suspended indefinitely from AFL selection. He was also fined $10,000 and he will donate $10,000 to charity.

In a statement Collingwood said De Goey had agreed not to touch alcohol until the end of the 2018 season and will be seeking the advice of medical professionals to help improve his decision making.

De Goey’s suspension will be lifted when he “has convinced his peers and coaches that meaningful change has occurred, and that his standards have risen to those of the group”.

The 21-year-old will also train at night with the VFL squad and is required to seek outside employment as well as undertake work with a charitable organisation.

The Pies’ general manager of football Geoff Walsh said “the time for talking is over”.

“Jordan can have a long career with Collingwood if he commits himself wholly to his football but he could also have a very short career if he doesn’t,” Walsh said.

“The club, and particularly his teammates, want to see behavioural change. They need to be able to trust him and believe in him.

“Jordan can win back the faith he has lost over a period of time and have a very good career if he honours all that he has agreed to today. He is telling us he wants to change. The time for talking is over.”

Big whack for De Goey, at this stage and certainly, strong language from the Pies. But all most people will care about really, is how many games he misses. The rest is window dressing.

— Ashley Browne (@hashbrowne) February 19, 2018

Speaking on Triple M Melbourne’s Hot Breakfast before De Goey’s punishment was decided on Monday, Collingwood president Eddie McGuire said the star’s lapse in judgment was “unacceptable”.

“You’ve got to be careful with these things not to overreact but at the same time get the right result for society, for our club, for everybody associated and for Jordan,” McGuire said.

“That’s unacceptable behaviour from anybody.

“Jordan’s got great family and we hope he gets himself right and gets the absolute potential out of his career.”

Former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon implored De Goey to speak to the family of Collingwood’s 1990 premiership player Darren Millane, who died while driving six times over the legal alcohol limit. Lyon said if that didn’t cause De Goey to change his behaviour, he would sack the talented youngster.

De Goey is back in the bad books.

“Get him to sit down with the Millane family,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.

“I’m sure they would do that, and if that doesn’t have a profound affect on him, I would sack him.

“If sitting down with the Millane family to talk through that whole circumstance, and if he didn’t walk away a changed man, I would sack him.”

De Goey’s latest indiscretion comes a year after he was suspended for three games for lying to the club when he claimed a broken hand suffered in a bar fight in St Kilda was incurred while playing with his dog.

Having initially told the club he sustained the injury in an incident throwing a toy to his dog, he came clean a few days later about the bar incident.

De Goey was fined $5000 and banned for three weeks, and was also handed 10 weeks of community service.

Jordan DeGoey out of contract at season's end. 50 games, 3 seasons, one club imposed suspension for lying, one licence suspension for O.09. 21 years old.

— peter ryan (@petryan) February 18, 2018

He missed the first three matches of the season while he recovered from the injury and then served his club-imposed suspension.

The Pies laboured to a 2-4 start in his absence and their season never fully recovered, Nathan Buckley’s side finishing 13th with a 9-12-1 record.

The 21-year-old’s latest indiscretion comes just weeks after veteran teammate Tyson Goldsack publicly took him to task over his fitness levels.

“He’s definitely not as fit as he could be, but he is learning himself how fit he can be,” Goldsack said.

“In another four or five weeks, he’ll be ready to go.”

De Goey’s 2017 season was cut short after round 21 when he underwent hip flexor surgery.

He suffered a setback in December when the injury flared after a knock at training.

The No.5 pick at the 2014 draft has played 50 games in three seasons with the club.

— with AAP