On Triple M radio on Wednesday, Collingwood president Eddie McGuire vowed to make it his life ambition to destroy the AFL’s newest franchise GWS Giants if they made a pitch for Pies star onballer Scott Pendlebury.
It makes you wonder what the boys at AFL House were thinking, considering their investment in the start-up club?
Then again, perhaps it was a PR stunt, aimed to drum up a rivalry between the Giants and Pies?
This was the same guy who went more than a little bit overboard when he compared Shane Warne’s comeback to play for the Melbourne Stars in cricket’s Big Bash league to Sir Donald Bradman coming out of retirement in the 1950s.
Then again the comments seem very Eddie, if you know what I mean.
The Pies president has been very aggressive about the recruitment of players by the AFL’s two newest franchises in the past 12 months.
Back in March, with GWS linked with Magpies star Dale Thomas, McGuire said again on Triple M: “I would have very, very, very strongly advised Gary Ablett to stay where he was because he is in a better team, he’d be a better player.
“I’d say to Dale Thomas give Geoff Raines a call … go and ask Peter Moore whether it was a good idea to go and Kel Templeton and lots of other players. I’d rather be getting a handball from blokes that can really go rather than kicking around with 17-year-olds for the next couple of years.”
In August, following the announcement of GWS’s first signing, Adelaide’s Phil Davis, McGuire said, again on Triple M, the Giants were “cheating on their first signing” by poaching the player mid-season.
McGuire’s latest rant came on Wednesday, with Pendlebury due to come out of contract at the end of the 2012 season, meaning the Giants could make a move.
“If they go after Scott Pendlebury, I will declare war on Greater Western Sydney and I will set up a tent embassy outside their tumbleweed-blown ground up there in Greater Western Sydney,” he said.
“I will steal every one of their good players for the rest of my life. I will go feral. I will make it my life’s ambition to destroy them and run them into the ground. As long as they know … this is not Melbourne where you can just walk in and steal the players. If you do this at Collingwood, good luck.”
To be honest, the comments were gobsmacking and totally irrational.
The Giants would be silly not to make an enquiry for a player of Pendlebury’s calibre who is uncontracted for 2013, after only signing a 12-month extension with the Pies earlier this year.
McGuire’s comments appear to be an attempt at intimidation. And, to be honest, that’s not on, as the Giants have every right to make Pendlebury a pitch.
After all, Collingwood made similar arrangements with players like Nathan Buckley, Shane O’Bree and Anthony Rocca in the past. Okay, McGuire wasn’t there when those deals happened, but it shows it is part of footy.
For McGuire to think Collingwood are above that and to think he can try to intimidate rival clubs, shows the contempt he holds for the competition. It’s a shame for such a shrewd administrator, who’s proving himself to be quite the hypocrite yet again.
Micha
Guest
Go ask Peter Moore if it was a good idea to go? He won a brownlow medal when he went. He'd probably say it was the smartest move he ever made!
D.R
Guest
Will go feral Eddie. Too bad you didn't think like that when you went after Malthouse!!
peter care
Guest
80% of all profits from poker machines come from problem gamblers.
John Seabrook
Guest
McGuire is not the first to carry on like this. Carlton had John Elliot, and back in the Jurassic period, Richmond had Graeme Richmond to not only fly the flag, but to bash anyone who stood in the way, over the head with it. Kennett at Hawthorn is another. Their own supporters obviously love them, whilst everyone else despises them like rabid dogs. McGuire is different in that he has unprecedented media exposure, thus making him the biggest monster of his kind. Imagine if Channel 9 still had the AFL?!! Remember when they did? McGuire used to commentate during Collingwood games! Well, up to the point when they were still a winning chance. Please God, may we never return to that.
ItsCalledFootball
Roar Guru
Slow news day at the Central Bank of AFL? Gee those AFL offseasons just seem to get longer and longer - bit early though to be drumming up some news for GWS isn't it?
davelee
Guest
haha, the shark
davelee
Guest
eddie maguire has lost the plot all year in the name of triple m radio. the guy has his hand in every pot, it's beginning to make him irrelevant
Matt
Guest
Firstly, why would they even need to create a "PR stunt" when it comes to Collingwood? LOL's - They are the number one media grossing sports team in Australia. Who is this rivalry you talk about going to be with? The 1750 GWS supporters? WOW, that'll get the ex-rugby die hard fans tuning in from all over!!! It appears that most people are forgetting, Eddie McGuire's job is to do everything in his power to protect the interests of the Collingwood Football Club. He is a very influential and powerful person and has the capacity to say the things he does, not simply because he wants to promote his own brand, but because he genuinely has a great passion for his club. Who in the world isn't a hypocrite? There's two types of people, and 50% of them confess to being one at some point. You can easily say other clubs and presidents have sat on their hands when poaching has occurred in the past, but that is simply because they have not got the passion, power and flair of McGuire. He is almost the sole reason Collingwood is the financial powerhouse it is today. More clubs should take a leaf out of his book rather than scoff at everything he has to say about his beloved Pies.
Kasey
Guest
And some here have dared to suggest that Craig Foster is bad for football\ in Australia by being so forthright in his passion for football as to drive away the non true believers. Well Eddie and Jeff Kennett do the same for me with AFL. The way those two carry on might all be part of the circus act that is AFL footy in Melbourne, but It just leaves me cold and I cringe at how many people swallow their schtick hook, line, sinker & copy of Angling times. One of the benefits of being smaller I guess is that HAL football is still mostly about the football, not the carry-ons off field like it is wrt AFL footy. I guess with the amount of accredited footy journos in Melbourne, they feel the need to justify their existence by beating up every little half story into "Oh the humanity" levels of drama. cbf really, much rather focus on football. The ultimate embodiment of that is the way the Brownlow is now more about the WAGS and their clothes than celebrating the deeds of the players. what w@nk.
Matt Rusty
Guest
Eddie is brilliant at what he does and he sucked you right in Ben. I laugh at the fact you are called an Expert! Eddie makes comments in the media to promote the brands he represents then you magnify it by writing about it. Bag him out all you want it just makes him stronger. Eddie is a genius. Jeff Kennett was brilliant for my beloved hawks, hope his replacement does half as good a job at promoting our club. It doesn't matter what they say just as long as you write about it Ben and we read it.
joe blackswan
Guest
can't help but think there is an underlying attempt to intimidate pendlebury. Still I guess the massive profits Collingwood makes from it's poker machines will help ease the pain....not for the families affected by problem gambling though.
amazonfan
Guest
Yeh, it was tongue in cheek. I heard it on a link in the Herald Sun, and Darcy and Mick Molloy weren't taking him seriously. Eddie even mentioned having Mick Gatto as an club employee. BTW, in regards to hypocrisy, people are overlooking one of his biggest. He said that he would sue any club who induced Mick to break his contract. Which is interesting considering that in 1999, when Mick was hired, he still had a year left on his contract at West Coast!
Wingback
Guest
You can add James Clement and Darren Jolly to the list of players that Collingwood have poached. And let's not forget the regular overtures they have made to Jonathan Brown over his career. No-one was coming out from Brisbane and declaring war on Eddie McGuire when they were offering Brisbane's vice captain money to move clubs.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Don't really see the problem. He's the President. He's allowed to speak out in defence of his club, even if it irks us. At the end of the day, Pendlebury will make a decision and we get on with it.
TomC
Guest
Appears the spelling has been fixed.
Tony
Guest
Greg Norman to Eddie at the Presidents Cup.........Don't you have Scott Pendlebury to look after :-)
Tony
Guest
brendan
Guest
Mcguire's comments are disgraceful for the president of the club.Geelong lost a player too an expansion club didnt spit the dummy and got on with the business of winning the flag.It may not be in Collingwood's best interests too keep Pendlebury if his contract is too expensive resulting in young players leaving the club.I am sure all Collingwood/Richmond supporters remember the tit for tat recruiting off each other during the eighties and how much it damaged both clubs.Eddie needs too speak as the Club President more and less as a magpie tragic.
TomC
Guest
I didn't hear the interview. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a little bit of tongue in cheek about this. McGuire has a strange sense of humour. By the way, his name is repeatedly misspelled throughout this article. Anyway, McGuire certainly was there when Collingwood put together a very lucrative package to try and lure Jonathon Brown from the Brisbane Lions in 2005, reportedly including media payments through channel 9. Make no mistake, the bloke is a one eyed fanatic, and no one is more hypocritical than a footy fan.
Australian Rules
Guest
First, Eddie's rant was a deliberate beat up on his breakfast radio show with Mick Molloy. Second, he actually meant every word he said. Eddie's one-eyed protectionist attitude for all things Collingwood is something Pies fans love (naturally) and the rest of the League groans at. But ...it's his perogative as President to do everything in his considerable power to give Collingwood an advantage. Third, Pendelbury chose to sign just a 12mth extension at Collingwood, when clearly the club would have given him 4 years...maybe Eddie's got a reason to be worried? Fourth, yes Eddie's hypocrisy continues to beggar belief. Just one example: In season 2011, he abused a fan at a game and then reported them to security; had a coach who abused (in shocking fashion) an opposition player on the field about an alleged criminal matter; the Pies cheersquad then mimicked that coach's abuse at every opportunity; he presides over the worst behaved fans in the comp....but called for people to be better behaved at the footy. Ahhh Eddie But...he is great for footy.