Jordan De Goey takes personal leave from Collingwood after Bali controversy, Eddie McGuire speaks out

Jordan De Goey has taken personal leave from Collingwood in the wake of his mid-season Bali jaunt. Collingwood confirmed on Wednesday night he was stepping away from the club to focus on his wellbeing after missing the main training session. It means the Magpies will be without the star goal kicker for Sunday’s clash against Greater Western Sydney at the MCG. Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire said on Wednesday night De Goey lived life “on the edge” in a “parallel universe.” McGuire added he believed De Goey was “on parole” at Collingwood but he deserved one more chance. “Jordie has lived on the edge, if you like,” McGuire said on Footy Classified. “He went and got the tattoos, he goes to the fights, he hangs out sometimes with bikie communities and things like that. “These kids watch Love Island, they watch MAFS (Married at First Sight), they don’t read the Financial Times and they’re on TikTok and doing those things. “He’s living in a parallel universe that he has to get from there over to here, which is what we expect of AFL footballers and people in the general community. “But if it hasn’t sunk in this time, then this will be his last time.” Former Carlton and Brisbane bad boy Brendan Fevola on Wednesday used FOX FM to warn De Goey he risked wasting his football career like he did. Former St Kilda coach Ross Lyon warned the Magpies against “indulging” De Goey the same way Fevola was in the past. “With Fevola, the missing piece was he was indulged at Carlton,” Lyon said on Channel 9. “He kicked goals, stuffed up but still got a bigger contract and a bigger contract. “They get rid of him and Brisbane give him a bigger contract, so it’s up to the clubs not to indulge the behaviour because it’s just reinforcing it. “That’s probably the only concern because you support them until you can’t and I think he’s in a support position, but at the end of the day every time you pick a team, you send a message. “I just think the loud disapproval from Collingwood and the punishment, is it quite congruent with the noise they’re making? “But ultimately what’s symbolic is pulling on the jumper and you represent the values, at some point the behaviour has to be modified to align with the Collingwood values or he can’t stay there.” The star forward had alluded to the huge toll the fallout to his Bali antics had had on him at the weekend, saying intense media scrutiny “will end in tragedy if no one speaks up”. Collingwood was firm in its reproach of the forward on Tuesday, adamant that his actions were disrespectful towards women and not acceptable. He was hit with a $25,000 fine that is suspended until the end of the season as St Kilda confirmed it was looking at the restricted free agent. But any decision on a recruiting move from the Saints will depend on his on and off-field behaviour over the remaining few months of the season. Form AFL star Jack Watts speaks about the off-field toll of being at the centre of a footy scandal. It comes as former Port Adelaide and Melbourne utility Jack Watts said he “couldn’t get out of bed” for one week and was “crying all day” after a text message scandal in 2018. Teammates have tried to rally around De Goey in recent days with one of his closest mates, Brayden Maynard, set to play his 150th match against the Giants. De Goey has been unsighted since returning from Bali, after he was captured in a video making lewd gestures and grabbing at the top of a female acquaintance at Seminyak hotspot Motel Mexicola last weekend. Watts said De Goey’s statement on Instagram on Saturday about a “relentless pursuit and persecution of athletes” may have been “a cry for help”. “Those are some pretty big words to say, and I can totally see where he’s coming from,” Watts said on KFC SuperFooty TV.“When people are coming at you, you can easily go down a very dark path. “I’ve never really had depression or mental health issues, but for that week I couldn’t get out of bed, I was crying all day … couldn’t speak to anyone.” Watts said his parents would remind him “they still loved me and ‘you’re not the worst person in the world”. At the height of the storm Watts said he was heavily supported by his housemate. “I was staying at my best mate’s place at the time, so he would come home from work and we’d just watch a movie and he’d sit there and give me a hug,” Watts said. “It seems sort of illogical now, but I just thought I’m never ever going to be able to get a job ever again, I’m never going to be able to get another girlfriend ever again because they’ll read this. “That’s what you go to in those moments. You look back on it now and think, ‘OK, you can learn from these mistakes’, but at the time you can’t see that, you can’t see the bigger picture.” He said that “realising that other people have made mistakes too and have got through it, and made something of their lives” had helped to smooth the path.“He (De Goey) is going to cop it a lot for what he’s done, I just hope he’s getting some support and has the right people around him,” Watts said. Former star Brendan Fevola admitted on Wednesday that his career had been tarnished by “my off-field antics” and said that he would love the opportunity to sit down with De Goey “and say mate, you can’t have everything gone like that (in a second)”. “He’s going down a similar path – he’s got no more chances,” Fevola said on Fox FM. “He can earn millions of dollars playing the game he loves, if he pulls his head in. “You’ve been gifted a gift … put your head down, bum up … earn the respect back. “I just think he needs to get himself around some people that help him.”

Jordan De Goey takes personal leave from Collingwood after Bali controversy, Eddie McGuire speaks out

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