Inside the Pies part IV: Will the emergence of a Browne presidency signal the end of the year from hell?

Collingwood had a united board for weeks after Eddie McGuire resigned. But with power up for grabs, it all went downhill very quickly. Here’s what happened.

For weeks after Eddie McGuire’s sudden resignation in early February, Collingwood had a united board.

McGuire’s teary demise after a 23-year reign as president blindsided the club’s six remaining directors: Mark Korda, Peter Murphy, Christine Holgate, Alex Waislitz, Jodie Sizer and Paul Licuria.

It was Licuria who picked up the phone minutes before McGuire’s farewell press conference in a desperate attempt to change his mind.

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“When I got wind of it, I rang Ed because no one knew (he was about to quit), I rang him 15 minutes beforehand and literally begged him not to do it,” Licuria told the Herald Sun in June.

McGuire followed through on his decision to walk away and the initial mood around the Magpies board table was one of solidarity.

Their focus was on riding out the “Do Better” racism storm and identifying a new board member.

But as the days dragged on the resolve of the unified board was tested as an internal power play emerged for the presidency — a position shared for nine weeks by Korda and Murphy.

It took until April 21 for Korda to claim the Pies’ top job outright, the same month VRC chairman Neil Wilson was quietly appointed into McGuire’s vacant seat.

Eddie McGuire held an emotional press conference for his resignation. Picture: Collingwood FC

Deeper divisions emerged in May, when billionaire vice-president and long-time McGuire ally Waislitz quit.

The Pies acted swiftly by parachuting bureaucrat and former professional cyclist Bridie O’Donnell onto the board, but within hours photographs began circulating on social media showing her wearing a Western Bulldogs jumper.

Embarrassment turned to despair when the club was forced to admit that O’Donnell was ineligible to vote on board decisions because she had not been a paid-up Collingwood member for the mandatory 24 months.

Lawyer turned businessman Francis Galbally, the club’s long-time honorary solicitor, who had been agitating for change since the club’s disastrous 2020 trade period, likened Collingwood’s governance failings to the spectacular downfall of Crown Resorts.

“There has been no proper corporate governance at the Collingwood Football Club and this just illustrates it,” Galbally declared.

Galbally’s brother, David, the former Pies director who ingeniously helped entice the great Tommy Hafey to Victoria Park in 1977 by couriering an expensive mink jacket to his wife Maureen, was the first to call on McGuire to walk away from the presidency last November.

But the view from some inside and outside the club was that Korda was too much of an introvert to step into McGuire’s giant shoes and be the frontman of Australia’s biggest sporting club.

Korda leaves in his car after Nathan Buckley announced his retirement. Picture: David Crosling

KORDA’S MESSY REIGN

Korda stumbled before a ball was even bounced in season 2021 when he mistakenly referred to Licuria as a member of the Magpies’ 2010 premiership team while delivering the presidential pre-game address in the MCG Olympic Room prior to the Round 1 clash against the Bulldogs. A member of the audience picked him up on his mistake.

Eyebrows were raised again when Korda opted not to front the press conference announcing the departure of coach and favourite son Nathan Buckley.

His board had a win in June when it convinced Magpies member and ringleader David Hatley to withdraw from a campaign for an extraordinary general meeting, but Francis Galbally took carriage of the move for a spill and sent the boardroom challenge into overdrive.

Through a series of backroom manoeuvres, the assembling of a formidable legal team and a Supreme Court application, Galbally cleared the way for former Channel 9 boss Jeff Browne to emerge as the alternative presidential candidate.

The court fight and surrender of the club’s register of members exposed another calamity — the revelation that Wilson, too, was not a qualified voting member of the club but rather a Melbourne Cricket Club member who nominated Collingwood as his AFL club of choice.

Fingers were pointed internally over how the club had somehow managed to select two ineligible directors from a field of 90 candidates. A club spokesman had insisted in April that there were no issues regarding Wilson’s eligibility.

The Pies continued to rebuild amidst the board drama. Picture: Getty Images

Browne was publicly endorsed by powerful player agent and 1990 Collingwood premiership player Craig Kelly (and Peter Moore, the father of star defender Darcy Moore) and raised the stakes when he declared that a litany of mistakes by the Korda-led board had “devalued” the Collingwood brand. He fingered Korda directly, blaming him as chairman of the club’s finance committee for overseeing the botched miscalculation of the salary cap.

“I think Jeff Browne would be an outstanding president,” Kelly told the Herald Sun.

“He knows footy, he sits on multiple boards and it’s a good balance after Ed (McGuire) and would be well received.”

Browne initially sought to negotiate a peaceful handover of power, offering to allow three directors to stay on and sit alongside four of his own candidates, but Korda, Sizer, Murphy, Holgate, Licuria, Wilson and O’Donnell responded with a joint declaration vowing not to be splintered by his demands.

“The board of the Collingwood Football Club stands for unity, not division, and will therefore stand against coups driven by personal ambition,” they said.

Sizer declared that she would not even consider serving on a board led by Browne, whom she described as a member of the game’s “old boys’ club”, but in truth the Collingwood board had fractured with several privately favouring a Browne takeover.

Former Magpies player and current board member Paul Licuria at a Collingwood training session. Picture: AAP Image/Michael Dodge

BOARDROOM TURNS INTO SURVIVOR

Korda — a Pies director since 2007 — made his own move in early September by announcing his intention to serve as president until the end of 2022 before O’Donnell quit just a few weeks later (after just four months on the board) citing a work promotion.

The board debacle became like a game of Survivor with deals and counterdeals and a steady flow of press releases offering conflicting messages on whether Korda or Murphy would stay or go or take a stand against Browne.

Galbally preferred to compare it to a skit from a different TV show - Monty Python’s ‘Dead Parrot Sketch’.

“Korda is the dead parrot and the board is the shop keeper saying, ‘No, he’s not dead. He’s just asleep’,” Galbally said.

With the benefit of hindsight, some believe Galbally should have been invited inside the tent to talk to the board at the very start. They had underestimated his resolve.

“The fight was unnecessary,” Galbally later said.

“I have had private conversations that resulted in nothing. No courtesy was shown in coming back to me to address my issues.”

Mark Korda made his move in September.

Murphy was again linked to the presidency in October but eventually chose to walk away when the club announced it would be holding its first contested election in more than 20 years with 11 candidates running for four positions.

Browne publicly aligned himself with Holgate when he urged members to vote for himself, Barry Carp, Renee Roberts and the former Australia Post CEO as a block of four.

The AFL’s long-time legal adviser and a close friend of McGuire, Browne has hit the hustings since voting opened, flagging a willingness to take on the suits at AFL House and fight for Collingwood’s right to millions of dollars in funds if elected into the top job in stark contrast to Korda’s low-key leadership style.

A new era beckons at the Magpies although Korda, Licuria and Sizer (who has since met and made up with Browne) are staying on as directors in 2022, while Wilson is also seeking reappointment but faces the further complication of having to convince the members to confirm his appointment and ignore the two-year constitutional membership requirement.

Some believe Korda should have gone by now or at the very least stood for re-election, giving members the chance to pass judgement on his directorship.

“One thing is certain,” Galbally said this week.

“There is a lot of work to be done at Collingwood after its worst season since 2004, 17 years ago.

“And all the members and insiders I have spoken to say that only with a change at the top can the club start rebuilding and regain its status as a feared competitor.”

Should Browne emerge, as expected, as the next president of Collingwood at Thursday’s annual general meeting, Magpies fans will be hoping the brawling in coming years is restricted to the footy field and not the boardroom.

Expected next president Jeff Browne could end the year from hell for Collingwood. Picture: Michael Klein

By the end of this week, Collingwood will have had one of the biggest cleanouts in the club’s history.

In the space of twelve months they will have appointed a new footy boss, a new coach, two high-profile assistants, a new list manager and on Thursday night members will elect a new president as well as three new board members. Then they have a problem called Jordan De Goey.

The changes have taken a heavy toll. Players, staff, members and supporters need closure on a year from hell and its high casualty list.

Collingwood legend Peter McKenna, who is an active Collingwood supporter through the Woodsmen coterie group, told the Herald Sun this week Browne was the right person for thejob.

“I think he’s outstanding and will be a perfect fit for Collingwood as president,” said the former goalkicking great who is also an active Magpies supporter through the Woodsmen coterie group.

“He’s a very intelligent guy, he’s passionate about the club and he’s a very likeable person.

“I think he’ll get the numbers.

“I don’t think he’ll be the same as Eddie, but he has a lot of personality and he’s extremely likeable person.

“Jeff is a person that could work with people from all walks of life.

“He’s a very down to earth and he’ll be perfect for the job, and I think the supporters will love him. “