Inside the Pies Part II: The ill-fated succession plan and what finally led to the fall of Eddie

When Eddie McGuire made his infamous comments about Collingwood’s ‘Do Better’ report he backed himself into a corner not even he could escape from.

The rift between Eddie McGuire and Michael Malthouse lasted for the better part of a decade.

But this year a common thread brought them back together again — they had both been pushed out of Collingwood.

Malthouse made the move to reconciliation. The three-time premiership coach reached out to McGuire not long after his former president had resigned and organised a catch up over a coffee at an East Melbourne cafe.

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They had agreed to meet for 30 minutes and ended up talking for two and a half hours, with Malthouse’s wife, Nanette, also joining at one point.

At the time, McGuire had all but retreated from public life after his forced departure at Collingwood.

It was a sad end for McGuire who, like Malthouse and many before him in football, was unable to go out on his own terms.

Mick Malthouse and Eddie McGuire during their reign at Collingwood. Picture: Colleen Petch

Covid Nightmares

McGuire had sensed the end to his own reign was near.

Off the field the club was in A-grade shape.

On the field Buckley’s side was showing signs of wear and tear – following the heartbreaking 2018 grand final loss they had blown a preliminary final against Greater Western Sydney in 2019 and then been thrashed in a first semi-final by Geelong at The Gabba in 2020.

Hub life and Covid-19 had taken a toll.

McGuire, as he always did, went in to bat for Steele Sidebottom after he was found by police half naked in a Williamstown Street having breached strict AFL Covid-19 protocols in July 1, 2020.

“The old fashioned was asleep on the couch and got up to go to the bathroom and walked out the wrong door,” McGuire said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.

“It has happened plenty of times to a lot of big names, it happened to someone at the Logies not that long ago and a very famous AFL person on a state trip. That’s what happened, he was totally disorientated on the grog.

“He drank scotch that he doesn’t normally drink and it affected him.”

The Pies found themselves at the centre of another 2020 Covid-19 controversy when Buckley and assistant coach Brenton Sanderson played tennis with two people from outside the club’s travel bubble — including Australia’s Fed Cup captain and former women’s world No.8 Alicia Molik — in Perth.

Collingwood was fined $50,000, with $25,000 of that suspended.

“As Bucks said, the rules are clear and that’s why he’s copped his whack,” McGuire said.

Collingwood legend Peter McKenna congratulates Mick Malthouse and Nick Maxwell after the 2010 grand final replay.

The president was front and centre in the case for the defence again at the end of 2020 when the Collingwood football department incensed fans and stunned opposition supporters during a disastrous trade period.

Sinking under the weight of salary cap pressure, they off-loaded Adam Treloar, Jaidyn Stephenson, Tom Phillips and Atu Bosenavulagi in a no-win fire sale.

“There’s a new dynamic now and it’s trade radio, it’s great for people who love the footy and are following it all the time, great for the media, the AFL, it’s not great for the people involved in it — bad luck,” McGuire said.

“But what also happened was after a month of ‘will Jeremy Cameron get to Geelong?’ there came a new story (Treloar) there that was pretty big, it was a big story and it took off from there.

“The guys were trying to protect confidentiality that was given to different players but also try to do the deal that we needed to get done in difficult circumstances so it was a bit of a perfect storm this year.”

McGuire later said the Covid-19 pandemic and border closures were the big reason he pushed for Treloar to move to Queensland to be with his netballing partner Kim Ravaillon and young child.

“Originally that was the whole philosophy of moving Adam on and then it fell over,” McGuire said on Footy Classified.

By this time McGuire had decided that even bigger changes were needed.

A month later, at Collingwood’s 2020 annual general meeting in December 2020, he dropped a bombshell in front of members — and staff — by announcing he’d be standing down at the end of 2021 after almost 23 years of service.

McGuire did not divulge his plan to the board or executive before making the announcement, discussing it only with his wife Carla and their two sons.

“I had planned to make this announcement at the end of the year but Covid put paid to many finally laid plans, in conjunction with the change in direction of my media life and the timing of my son’s schooling ending, the time was right and future strong for our club for me to make this call,” McGuire said.

The president also declared he would begin the hunt for his successor.

It was one Magpies project that McGuire never had the chance to start or finish.

Nathan Buckley at Pies training way back in 1994.

Time for change

When the Herald Sun revealed on February 1 that the club’s secret ‘Do Better’ report had found Collingwood guilty of systemic racism, the landscape had shifted dramatically.

McGuire fronted a disastrous media conference in which he said the ‘Do Better’ report was a “historic and proud day for the Collingwood Football Club”.

Less than two weeks later, unable to ride out the storm, McGuire resigned.

Collingwood legend Tony Shaw said this week the time was probably right for McGuire to depart the club.

“I think 20-odd years as a president is a long time,” Shaw said.

“Ed would never do it for the wrong reasons, but I just think you do need to refresh after awhile and maybe it could have happened a bit earlier.

“But I don’t think anybody who’s a Collingwood person says Eddie doesn’t deserve respect.

“He’s a life member, he saved the club, he’s got a passion for the club and no one I know who has most of their senses wouldn’t say Eddie was fantastic for the club.

“In the end, it probably didn’t happen the way he would have liked it, but he’s a big enough boy for it not to let that worry him and go on to other things.”

McGuire was approached by the Herald Sun this week but declined to comment.

Despite the nature of his exit, many Collingwood fans still loved him to the bitter end and still do.

“Eddie was an outstanding president, and everyone I ever ran in to would always say ‘I wish we had Eddie as president of our club,’” Magpies great Peter McKenna said.

In his final public uttering as Magpies president, McGuire told all where his heart would always lie, despite the forced departure.

His passion still as strong as the day McKenna put on a show at Victoria Park in front of him and stole his heart.

“I’m with you all side-by-side, black and white forever,” he said.

Mick Malthouse, Eddie McGuire and Nathan Buckley at the infamous succession plan media conference.

Succession trouble

While it was the release of the ‘Do Better’ report that led to the end, the first cracks in McGuire’s seemingly impenetrable veneer as the head of Collingwood began to appear when he announced the club would implement a coaching succession plan in 2011.

Amid the euphoria and celebrations of the Magpies 2010 premiership – its first flag in 20 years – coach Mick Malthouse delivered his onstage speech and referred to his players as the “boys”.

In doing so, he either deliberately or unwittingly, made a subtle reference to the story that was to dominate the AFL news cycle for the next 12 months.

“To the playing group, I can say this now because I’ve only got one more year, Ed, (that) they are my boys and I love them dearly and they’ve been outstanding,” Malthouse said on stage to thunderous applause.

It was the subtle reminder that the succession plan, which once seemed a long way away, was now ticking down to its conclusion.

It was also the realisation that the situation had just become more complicated.

The deal was done, but will they really move on an esteemed premiership coach at the peak of his powers with the youngest premiership team in almost 40 years?

The plan was hatched in 2009, where it was agreed Malthouse would coach the Magpies in 2010 and 2011 before handing the coaching reins over to Nathan Buckley.

Malthouse would then move to a ‘director of coaching’ role for the next three seasons.

It sounded feasible on paper, but in reality it was to be a clumsy and complicated handover.

“He (Malthouse) didn’t lose his job,” McGuire said in 2013. “Mick signed up to be coach for two years and then be the director of football for three. Let’s get that 100 per cent right.

“There was no ‘sign this or else you’re out the door’.

“All the negotiations were with Peter Sidwell and Mick long before we’d even spoken to Nathan Buckley.

“It was predicated solely on where Mick was at that stage and where his health was and some things he’d said to me along the way.

“We thought he was starting to really blow himself up and it was affecting him and his family.”

Years later, then skipper Nick Maxwell spoke of the delicate situation the club found itself in as the exit date loomed.

“It wasn’t until later on when you dig deeper that maybe they weren’t all convinced, but there’s a lot of different versions of that story,” Maxwell said.

Those cracks in McGuire’s power base widened in 2013 following his Adam Goodes King Kong radio comments – a moment he will forever regret.

Then Collingwood’s inability to reconcile with 2010 premiership star Heritier Lumumba over his treatment at the club would play a large part in the board’s decision to commission an independent report.

The ‘Do Better’ document was McGuire’s death knell at the club.

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire leaves Collingwood. Picture: Alex Coppel

Casualty list

McGuire’s resignation left a leadership vacuum at Collingwood that still has not been properly filled.

Former Channel 9 boss Jeff Browne will most likely emerge as the new president at the Magpies AGM on Thursday night and lead the Magpies going forward.

But there were a host of casualties left in the wake of the Magpies year from hell.

List manager Ned Guy quit in May, board member Alex Waislitz also walked away, Bridie O’Donnell came and went as a director, while long-time board member Peter Murphy announced this would be his final year.

Football boss Graham Wright was appointed to the role in January this year after Geoff Walsh retired and Mark Korda’s dream of being president began in April and will effectively end on Thursday night.

But the biggest name to fall after McGuire was his long-time ally Nathan Buckley. A decade after the infamous succession plan, and months after Malthouse and McGuire shared a coffee, Buckley was gone.

Originally published as Inside the Pies Part II: The ill-fated succession plan and what finally led to the fall of Eddie