Collingwood greats Mick Malthouse, Tony Shaw reflect on lasting legacy of departing president Eddie McGuire

Mick Malthouse was set on joining Richmond before deciding to coach Collingwood. And he says Eddie McGuire played a big role in changing his mind.

Collingwood President Eddie McGuire

Collingwood’s most recent premiership coach, Mick Malthouse, has paid warm tribute to Eddie McGuire, revealing his grand vision convinced the Eagles coach to move to the Pies over his former club Richmond.

Malthouse admits he and McGuire have little to do with each other nearly a decade after he was forced out of the club due to the president’s contentious succession plan.

But Malthouse said even McGuire’s most begrudging critics would admit he had left the club in vastly improved circumstances to those when he took over in 1988.

Malthouse said yesterday he remembered his time at Collingwood as a fantastic journey, even if “didn’t end the way I wanted it, or some of the way my players wanted it to”.

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Malthouse categorically denies he agreed to coach Collingwood before his Eagles tenure ended, but when he did arrive back in Melbourne his heart was set on coaching Richmond.

“I was interviewed by three or four clubs and went through a process with my friend Peter Sidewell and at the end of the day I had my heart set on Richmond, quite frankly,” he told the Herald Sun.

“Danny Frawley eventually took that job, but when you analyse a pitch I have always been a windscreen more than rear vision person.

Eddie McGuire and Mick Malthouse in 2011.

“McGuire came up with his plan for Collingwood, about going to this new premises, and at no stage did he refer back to Collingwood’s premierships.

“For six or seven years Collingwood hadn’t done anything. But he had a vision and that vision just outweighed the thought of going anywhere else.

“He had a vision and was prepared to do something about it and Collingwood is where they are because of it.

“I have had my differences with Eddie over various things, but the one thing Eddie McGuire has given Collingwood is a future.

“One of the things you have to remember is the place when you arrived and the place when you go.

“You are on a football carousel but Collinwood has more members, more financial stability, a far better home base and many other things than when McGuire started. It’s a massive shift to the positive.”

In 2018, Malthouse told the Herald Sun he was nearly sacked several times along the way by McGuire and his board before the contentious succession plan orchestrated by McGuire in 2009.

Malthouse said like many players and coaches McGuire had not been able to choose his own departure date but the triple premiership coach has few regrets about his time at the club.

“I had a fantastic time at Collingwood. I didn’t end the way I wanted it to, or some of my players wanted it to,” he said.

“But we were in a Grand Final in my third year and counting the pre-season competition we were in eight Grand Finals.

“The 2002 (Grand Final) is a greater memory than 2002.

“The funny thing about football clubs is very few coaches in history go when they think they should.

“I dare say we have seen it with CEOs, they don’t end their tenure in the manner they would like and board members and presidents are the same.

“It doesn’t end the way the script could have been written.”

‘CLASS ACT’: EX-PIES SKIPPER LAUDS EDDIE’S EXIT

Collingwood premiership captain Tony Shaw is among the Magpie greats to say they felt sorry for Eddie McGuire and praised him for transforming a club on its knees into an AFL powerhouse.

Shaw said he thought McGuire was a “class act” on Tuesday as he fronted a press conference tearfully announced he would immediately step down as club president.

“He’s been great for the game – not just the Collingwood Football Club, but a lot of other clubs with his support of the AFL,” he said.

Shaw and goalkicking great Peter McKenna felt McGuire had been “worn down” in the wake of the explosive ‘Do Better’ racism report.

“I feel sorry for him,” Shaw said.

“If you don’t like Eddie – or you don’t like anybody – you still don’t want to see anybody go through that.

“Having gone through it a little bit in the past, I understand the pressure on the family because people come at them and they’re horrible people. They’re only people with hatred.

“It’s worn him down, but I thought he was just a class act today.”

McGuire and Tony Shaw.

McKenna said the man who had led Collingwood for 22 seasons as president “doesn’t have a racist bone in his body”.

Two-time Coleman medallist McKenna sent McGuire a message a few days ago telling him to “keep the chin up” and was very surprised he did not see out the season.

“I said to my wife this morning, ‘Eddie will tough it out’ but I think he’s just been worn down by the whole thing,” McKenna told The Herald Sun.

“Eddie’s done a magnificent job at Collingwood. He’s been very unfairly treated and doesn’t have a racist bone in his body — I know that for a fact.

“It’s totally overblown that Collingwood is a racist club.”

McKenna, who presented the premiership cup to the Magpies in 2010, said McGuire would have wanted to take pressure off the club by stepping down now.

“He’d be thinking of the club and thinking he could take some of the heat off,” he said.

Shaw said McGuire’s legacy will be that he made turned the Magpies into “a very successful on-field” club.

“He got the one premiership – probably wanted more, and we all did want more, but that’s what it is.

“He’s made some mistakes but he’s been there for 25 years.

“People who are in front of a microphone or in front of a TV like he is for so long, you’re going to make mistakes. Even the greats make mistakes.

“If people take joy out of seeing someone like that, all the best to you. You’ve got the wrong attitude in life.

“If someone labels you something like this, you can’t prove that you’re not guilty of it. That’s what he’s had to live with.

“I know Eddie and what’s he’s done with Indigenous people. His list of achievements, he should have got up there and said them. Because that’s what he’s done.”

Collingwood champion Peter McKenna (left) talks with Eddie McGuire during a Magpies training session.

Retired 2010 premiership player Dayne Beams called on footy fans to “remember the amazing work this bloke has done for the club and football in general”.

“Is Ed racist? Absolutely not. Has Ed made some mistakes? Absolutely. Have you? Yes,

you have,” Beams posted on Instagram.

“This bloke has always cared about me and my welfare and I have nothing but respect for him.

“He and I have been victim of absolute bullshit rumours like he paid off debts I had etc etc. “He’s never paid off anything for me, however, he has been a friend when I needed one and always cared for me and is one of the first to check in.”

Beams said he never felt Collingwood was a racist club in his time in the Magpie colours.

“I cannot speak for reports or anyone else’s experience but my own I was always comfortable and my observations of all my teammates they were the same,” Beams wrote.

Former player Dayne Beams has defended McGuire. Picture: Michael Klein

Former Collingwood captain Peter Moore also hailed Eddie McGuire’s contribution to the club and his role in rebuilding it from when it was “on its knees”.

Reflecting on McGuire’s tenure as president after his immediate resignation from the role, Moore recalled his own part in encouraging the media man to initially take a run at the role in the late 1990s.

“I’m processing it a little bit like everyone else. It was a huge day and in some sense really disappointing that Eddie’s tenure had to end like that because he has done a great job with the club and look at where the club is now compared to when he took over when it was on its knees,” Moore said on SEN.

“It’s a pretty remarkable effort. I remember early days when he spoke to me and some other senior players about us running for president to oust the (Allan) McAlister administration and we all didn’t want to do it and suggested he do it and encouraged him to do it, and he did it and had a tremendous impact.

“I think he brought great enthusiasm and passion and a real belief that he could build the club and he managed to do that.

“It’s a shame that this latest issue has really brought him down.”

Eddie McGuire with Peter Moore in 2004.

Moore said McGuire was a “catalyst for change” when the club was struggling financially and was able to unite a divided club at the time when he came in.

“Eddie stepped in as a 34-year-old to what was an absolute disaster financially. The club was blown apart, it was very divisive there and all sorts of factions fighting and he managed to pull everyone together and got Kevin Rose on side as his vice-president and together they put the club back together.

“It was a fantastic effort for such a young guy to pull all that together and move to Olympic Park and the MCG became the club’s home ground and there was a lot of stuff and brought it really into the modern age which was fantastic.

“Eddie was a catalyst for change and got a lot of good sponsors on board and used his marketing skills to really elevate the club. It was a pretty good effort considered he was pretty much a journalist at that point.”

THE ‘MAD’ MAN SET TO TAKE OVER COLLINGWOOD

An entrepreneur who lives by the mantra MAD – make a difference – is being touted to become Collingwood’s interim president.

Peter Murphy, a member of the Magpies’ board since February 2019, has been endorsed by club great Peter McKenna as the best person to take over from the departing Eddie McGuire.

McKenna called Murphy, who founded PAN Group Australia, a great fit not only to fill the void in the short term but permanently.

Collingwood did not announce an interim replacement after McGuire stepped aside on Tuesday.

“Peter’s a passionate Collingwood man, he’s a down-to-earth person – everything about him I’ve been impressed with,” McKenna told The Herald Sun.

“He’d be every chance to get the job.

“He’s very highly thought of down at the club … and he’s a good guy.

“He’d be an outstanding president in my opinion.”

Eddie McGuire, Jodie Sizer and Peter Murphy speak to the media about the Do Better report.

Collingwood’s website describes Murphy as “an entrepreneur and philanthropist passionate about empowering individuals to chase their dreams and change the world”.

Murphy is also the global chairman of Global Citizen and a trustee and chair of Collingwood’s foundation.

“Murphy distinguished himself as a leader in the corporate world from a young age, and has a strong leadership and management record of high performance across a range of organisations,” the website said.

“Murphy founded PAN Australia Group as the combination of decades of work to unlock the amazing potential of people and ideas to affect positive change.

“His mantra is MAD (make a difference), which combines his business acumen with seminal experiences working in communities that face far greater challenges than he ever imagined.”

Mark Korda is another candidate to take on the post in the interim and the club may go down that path because he is vice-president.

The Magpies’ other vice-president, Alex Waislitz, who is a close friend of McGuire’s and has been on the board since 1998, is not expected to be a contender.

Jodie Sizer, who impressed while fronting Collingwood’s ill-fated press conference last week in response to the ‘Do Better’ report, could be an outside chance.

Originally published as Collingwood greats Mick Malthouse, Tony Shaw reflect on lasting legacy of departing president Eddie McGuire