Collingwood’s gamble on Jordan De Goey at pick No.5 in 2014 draft has paid off
Is this the season Jordan De Goey becomes a genuine superstar of the competition? How the Collingwood gun slipped to the Magpies at pick No.5 in the draft and how the club nearly overlooked him for someone else.
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Collingwood’s recruiters sat in Jordan De Goey’s lounge room with one eye on the clock.
It was late in 2014, and they had been watching De Goey like a hawk since the day he exploded on a halfback flank against Geelong Falcons more than a year earlier.
The power and the explosiveness drew comparisons to a young Dustin Martin.
But on this day in the family home, De Goey was late for the club interview.
Not that it really worried the gun goal kicker.
“We were sitting around at his place waiting for him and he was not there,” said former Collingwood recruiter Matthew Rendell.
“He was at the gym or something, and he walks in chock-a-block full of confidence and he says with that big smile, ‘G’day fellas’.
“He didn’t forget about it (meeting).
“He was just doing something else and was happy to rock up late and I thought, ‘Oh God, this is going to be interesting.’
“Time just didn’t worry him.”
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Collingwood was keen on father-son Darcy Moore at pick No.9 that year, but the late and unexpected departure of Dayne Beams suddenly put the Pies in the frame to snare De Goey at No.5.
But this was not a risk-free section for premiership list boss Derek Hine.
By De Goey’s own admission, he is a bit of a thrillseeker. An adrenaline junkie.
The Ashburton product loves skydiving, riding fast dirt bikes, and in 2017 was in huge strife when he broke his hand in a St Kilda pub and then lied to the club about it.
One year later he was caught drink-driving and then last month, it emerged he was caught driving without a licence last year.
But in a draft which was proven to be a bit hit-and-miss, Collingwood ranked De Goey the second-best player in the pool behind Melbourne’s Christian Petracca.
St Kilda controversially took Paddy McCartin at No.1 largely because the Saints needed a key forward.
The Demons nabbed Petracca and the dependable Angus Brayshaw at No.2 and No.3 and GWS Giants took a punt on Jarrod Pickett (17 games) at No.4.
While Brayshaw finished third in the Brownlow Medal two years ago, powerhouse playmakers De Goey and Petracca are the two headline acts who this season threaten to become genuine superstars of the competition, in their sixth campaigns.
Currently, De Goey’s nose is ahead, but Petracca’s pre-season form was sublime before an OK game against West Coast in Round 1.
Rendell, the man who took Paddy Dangerfield and Rory Sloane at Adelaide, knew De Goey’s ceiling was sky-high.
“We saw him in his bottom age (17-year-old) and I thought s---, isn’t this bloke going to be a star,” Rendell said.
“He had some injuries, I think he only played about four TAC Cup games that year, and mainly as a forward.
“But you could see it.
“You know his running was going to be OK to play midfield.
“He was always explosive, he was always tough.
“And he always had some scallywag in him.”
The same things were said about Martin who, despite some of his own off-field hiccups, has since won two flags, two Norm Smith medals and played the greatest individual season in 2017 according to Leigh Matthews.
In terms of moments, the bigger the better for Martin and De Goey, the two raging bulls who will lock horns in the season re-opener on Thursday night at the MCG.
Like Martin, De Goey turned it on in his TAC Cup Grand Final win in 2014, slotting three goals for Oakleigh Chargers.
He did something similar in the 2018 AFL Grand Final when the 188cm wrecking ball nailed a 50m bomb on the run in the last term to put the Pies’ 12 points up in the agonising loss to West Coast.
His first one was arguably even better, when he stepped around two West Coast payers near the boundary line and curled it home from about 30m.
It is why Collingwood was desperate for then Giants’ list chief Stephen Sivagni to overlook De Goey in favour of either Pickett (pick No.4) or Caleb Marchbank (No.6) in 2014.
But if De Goey was gone, the other tough nut Collingwood was keen on that night was Brayden Maynard.
As it turned out, Maynard, who had a Luke Hodge-style hard nose, slid all the way down to the Magpies’ pick No.30, capping off an outstanding draft haul for Collingwood that year, not forgetting Moore.
Rendell said Maynard was in the mix for the Pies’ top pick at one stage.
“We had a good debate between (picking) Maynard and De Goey (at No. 5),” Rendell said.
“In the end we settled on Jordy, because Brayden had a few little issues which concerned us a little bit.
“His running could improve. But when he kept drifting through the 20s I thought ‘You are kidding me’.
“I think a few people were a bit scared off by him, but he has been absolutely fantastic for us.”
PERSONALITY COULD HOLD DE GOEY BACK FROM SUPERSTAR STATUS
Jordan De Goey’s carefree personality could prevent him from realising his full football potential, according to former Collingwood recruiter Matthew Rendell.
Rendell said the powerhouse goal kicker had the raw ability to become one of the top players in the league alongside Richmond’s Dustin Martin and Fremantle’s Nat Fyfe but questioned whether he could fulfil that promise.
It is a huge year for the 24-year-old who will likely attract bumper offers from rivals if he delays talks on a new deal towards the back half of the season.
While injuries hampered De Goey in 2019, restricting him to only 17 games, Rendell said it was yet to be seen whether the star Magpie was dedicated enough to maximise his on-field potential.
Rendell, who helped pick De Goey at No.5 at the 2014 national draft, said the St Kevin’s product “has never been 100 per cent serious about his footy”.
“You wonder whether Jordy will only get to 80-85 per cent of his true ability,” Rendell told the Herald Sun.
“‘Danger’ (Patrick Dangerfield performs at) 100 per cent, Fyfe 100 per cent. Will Jordy ever put his head down and a-- up enough to get to the 100?
“We sort of knew that was the question when we drafted him. If he does go to 100 per cent, he will be up there with Dusty and those guys.
“But is he that type of personality? He’s just so happy-go-lucky and takes everything in his stride. He lives for the now.”
De Goey finished outside the top-10 in Collingwood’s best and fairest with 34 goals last year and hobbled off the ground early in the qualifying final win over Geelong with another hamstring problem.
But the Magpies have been pleased with his conditioning in the wake of the two-month shutdown period and will again give him a licence to split his time between the midfield and forward lines in 2020.
The 89-gamer has already indicated his desire to stay at Collingwood but will again be highly sought-after after knocking back $1 million a year from North Melbourne two years ago.
Rendell, who was let-go from Collingwood because of the COVID-19 crisis, said De Goey was one of the most popular players at the club, in the same vein as retired Brownlow Medallist Dane Swan.
“His driver is not money. His driver is to live a life which he feels really comfortable with and that involves having a fair bit of fun along the way,” Rendell said.
“There is a lot of ‘Swanny’ in him – in his attitude.
“He walks around and takes the p--- out of everyone and he is self-deprecating.
“I have never seen him angry.
“And he can talk to anyone. He can chat with presidents and chat with regular fans – he is that type of bloke.”
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