Jordan De Goey: Collingwood star speaks out as AFL left fuming over Bali nightclub video
Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said he wouldn’t have allowed De Goey to travel to Bali as his playing future remains up in the air.
Jordan De Goey’s playing future will be decided in a face-to-face meeting with frustrated Collingwood officials on Monday.
The AFL is fuming about how the Magpies bad boy has again found himself in trouble overseas, this time after a video surfaced of an alcohol-fuelled bender in Bali where he made lewd gestures and attempted to expose a woman’s breast.
There is pressure on Collingwood to come down hard on the out-of-contract star following a long list of indiscretions, including being jailed in New York last year after a bar fight.
The measures being talked about include standing down the 26-year-old for several weeks, with the AFL closely monitoring actions taken by the Magpies.
De Goey is scheduled to fly home from Bali on Sunday.
New president Jeff Browne stuck his neck out for De Goey following the New York incident but there are some at the club, including prominent board members, who have had enough of his bad behaviour.
Triple premiership star Cameron Mooney lashed out at Collingwood for allowing De Goey to travel to Bali, branding the club “idiots” and labelling it the “stupidest decision I’ve ever seen a football club make.”
“I am staggered that the club let him go,” Mooney said. “Whatever happens from here, Collingwood, it’s on you. It’s the stupidest decision I’ve ever seen a football club make.”
Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said he wouldn’t have allowed De Goey to travel to Bali in the mid-season break.
“I don’t think it was a good decision to go to Bali,” Buckley said on Fox Footy. “I know that the club has been criticised for that but you don’t hold your players hands like they’re pre-school kids, you have got to treat them like adults when they are adults.
“And at 26 years of age you are an adult so Jordy has to take responsibility for the decision to go over, he has to take responsibility for the position he has put himself in and the club in.
“There has been a whole heap that has come from it and there is a whole heap that will come from it unfortunately.”
Former St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt said De Goey’s actions were unprofessional.
“I think you always get a pretty good indication of someone‘s professionalism and how much they care about their careers when you look at the choices they make,” Riewoldt said.
“Every player is entitled to go overseas if they want during the break, but it’s a choice. I think in this case Jordan has chosen indulgence over discipline.”
Melbourne great Garry Lyon said De Goey’s behaviour has to be “stamped out”.
“There is an issue with the female involved, and we’re not suggesting this is not consensual, but that’s entitled behaviour that’s not acceptable in any way, shape or form,” Lyon said on Fox Footy.
“The public grabbing of someone’s top in a public environment like that, that is entitled behaviour that has to be stamped out. That’s the behaviour that should get players into more trouble.”
The woman captured in the video, Sydney’s Remy Jackson, came out on Saturday morning in support of De Goey.
“Hey everyone, I can’t believe the backlash towards Jordy & Myself over here in Bali … nothing to see here,” she posted on Instagram.
De Goey posted his own message thanking his family and friends for supporting him.
“I want to openly address the relentless pursuit and persecution of athletes by the media to create an uneducated, biased and ill-informed narrative that has gone too far.
“I am one of the lucky ones with amazing support, however not all athletes are so lucky. This will end in tragedy if no one speaks up. It’s time for change. #enoughisenough”
Domestic violence advocacy group Full Stop Australia chief executive Hayley Foster described De Goey’s behaviour as “disgraceful”.
“We cannot tolerate these sexist and misogynistic actions,” Foster said. “This sends a dangerous message that this kind of behaviour and attitudes towards women are OK.
“AFL players are role models in the community and it is absolutely critical that the AFL takes a stand to condemn Mr De Goey.”
De Goey speaks out following Bali scandal
Jordan De Goey has opened up about his struggles following another alcohol-fuelled overseas bender.
The Collingwood star, who last year was arrested in New York after a bar fight, was featured in a video making crude gestures and attempting to grab a woman’s breast inside a Bali nightclub this week.
De Goey released a statement on Instagram on Saturday afternoon thanking his friends and family for supporting him as the fall-out from his Bali bender continued.
“I want to take the opportunity to thank my family, friends and supporters who have checked in or sent messages of support in the past 24 hours,” he posted.
In an attempt to turn the narrative away from his tequila swilling nightclub antics, De Goey posted a plea for support on Instagram.
“I want to openly address the relentless pursuit and persecution of athletes by the media to create an uneducated, bias and ill-informed narrative that has gone too far.
“I am one of the lucky ones with amazing support, however not all athletes are so lucky.
“This will end in tragedy if no one speaks up. It’s time for change. #enoughisenough”
Collingwood was unaware De Goey was going to make a statement given they are remaining tight-lipped until he returns home on Sunday.
The Pies are planning to meet with him on Monday before making a statement. At this stage the AFL is leaving it to Collingwood to handle the matter.
De Goey has told friends he has been cleared of any wrongdoing after his Bali bender.
The Collingwood star was lying low on the Indonesian party island on Saturday as the fall-out from his latest alcohol-fuelled nightclub incident continued back home.
“He says he’s been given the all clear by the AFL and Collingwood, everything’s all fine,” one associate said.
De Goey was filmed partying with an Aussie blonde and a friend at Motel Mexicola in Seminyak, dancing and downing alcoholic throwbacks.
The video, which also showed the Pies star attempting to expose the woman’s breast, has since been deleted.
Collingwood released a short statement saying they were aware of the video and weren’t “in a position” to comment yet.
The AFL is closely monitoring the situation.
On Saturday, Remy Jackson, one of the women who featured in the video, posted to Instagram a message of support to De Goey.
“Hey everyone, I can’t believe the backlash towards Jordy & Myself over here in Bali … nothing to see here”, the 25-year-old, who has over 15,000 followers, posted.
De Goey is expected to fly back to Melbourne on Sunday with the Pies resuming training after their mid-season break on Monday.
The latest controversy follows his off-season incident in New York where he was arrested by police.
Collingwood has surged on field with four consecutive victories, with De Goey playing a leading role.
But now his off-field antics have, again, muddied the waters for the off-contract star.
The latest controversy follows his off-season incident in New York where he was arrested by police.
Four million reasons why De Goey’s Bali nightclub visit was silly
- Jon Ralph
Jordan De Goey has four million reasons not to be in a packed Bali nightclub this week.
Four million reasons to be the “model citizen” that Collingwood president Jeff Browne professed him to be earlier this season.
On face value almost any other player in the AFL has every right to spend their 12-day break in Bali relaxing.
But De Goey has so much at stake and should know more than anyone about putting himself in dangerous places.
De Goey is entering the most important few months of his career from a contract perspective as he closes in on a free agency contract that at minimum would pay him $800,000 per season over a five-year deal.
Instead he was tripping the light fantastic in a female’s Instagram video that showed De Goey at his worst.
Dragging aside a woman’s top before she narrowly ensured it was not exposed in a crowded nightclub.
Making lewd gestures of a sexualised nature and flipping the bird.
The female in question didn’t seem to have concerns given she posted it on her Instagram.
AFL players might just suggest that is what happens at nightclubs around the nation — and the world.
Yet De Goey knows more than anyone else that when you are boozed up and laughing it up in an international nightclub, your behaviour is open to interpretation.
Eventually after his stint in that New York jail justice was served and he was found guilty of harassment in the second degree after forcible touching and assault charges were dropped.
De Goey agreed to undergo 10 counselling sessions for alcohol treatment and anger management and agreed under an AFL sanction to donate $10,000 to charity.
At the very least might De Goey have told his friend not to post the interaction on social media given on face value they appeared to be the very best of friends.
Collingwood’s view on Friday was that officially De Goey had done nothing wrong.
But surely red flags had to be flying at some stage given the increased risk of Covid, given the likelihood he would find himself in a Bali nightclub, given Collingwood has everything to play for.
The senior leadership group might counter that they need to trust De Goey to behave, that they cannot babysit him at every opportunity.
His list of transgressions and near-misses would suggest he is not yet at that stage.
Coach Craig McRae has talked about creating a winning culture that repeatedly reinforces winning habits, saying over summer of De Goey: “He is certainly a player that we want to be the best version of himself so there’s two parts. For me, one, the choices he wants to make to be that player, which ultimately it’s up to him to decide, but then it’s the environment we create to allow him to be.”
De Goey said this month he wanted to be at Collingwood as talks progress in the right direction, and him behaving like a prize goose in a nightclub might not change that.
Still, he doesn’t need to remind clubs like St Kilda and Essendon that are wondering if he is worth $1 million a year about his form off the field.
De Goey is on the verge of a deal that will set him and his family up for the rest of their lives.
If he wants he can buy a Bali nightclub after that.
So it is his choice as he weighs up his personal responsibilities.
But a quiet massage and a few Bintangs before an early night in a Seminyak villa would surely have been the smarter play.
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