Eddie McGuire, president of the Collingwood Football Club, has responded to Steele Sidebottom’s mammoth ban after his weekend violation of the COVID-19 protocol.
Magpie’s veteran Sidebottom was hit with a four-game ban after he and his teammate Lynden Dunn violated AFL’s coronavirus protocols on Saturday night.
The 29-year-old is said to have caught an Uber – which is currently not permitted by the AFL – and visited the home of part-time Collingwood employee Daniel Wells, who is not one of the approved employees with whom players can contact.
Sidebottom was also allegedly driven home by the police after being found “partially naked” in Williamstown, according to unconfirmed reports.
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Speak with Channel 9 newsMcGuire confirmed that alcohol was involved in the incident and the midfielder became “disoriented” on Saturday evening.
“(Sidebottom) just had a bad night and was doing the right thing to get to his teammate whose knee had just been blown out,” said McGuire.
“Unfortunately, he drank too much alcohol, which he was not used to, and was disoriented. Some things went wrong on the trip that have now been articulated.
“To his honor, he first reported to the club in the morning, reported it to the AFL, and when he got the opportunity today to appeal the decision, he said ‘no’. He wanted to take the four weeks. “
Collingwood released a statement Wednesday night, claiming Sidebottom’s suspension was “exaggerated” and “inconsistent.”
“Collingwood and Sidebottom share the view that his four-game ban is overstated, inconsistent with recent protocol violations, and contestable,” the statement said.
“However, the club and players concluded that for the sake of the game and the reality of our time, it was necessary to end the matter.”
McGuire agreed that it was a “pretty tough suspension”, but was still “proud” of how the All-Australian behaved afterwards.
“(Sidebottom) wanted to support the AFL and its teammates who come into play on Friday night and get it out of the way,” said McGuire.
“In a situation where there was no malice but a bad result, he made the best of it and we are proud of him tonight … proud of how he dealt with the situation and understood where he was at was involved.
“It happened to a lot of people who came out of these situations every other day of the week. As I said, it depends on how you recover from the situations.
“He didn’t break protocols until he was in a situation where he didn’t know he broke … He didn’t go to a nightclub or bar. We went to a place he was comfortable in and drank too much at night.
“It happens, we apologize, he apologized, and he took suspension for four weeks and took it on the chin. I think he did the right thing with the game. “
On channel 9 Footy classifiedMcGuire continued to downplay Sidebottom’s actions, claiming the midfielder would not lose his position as the Magpies’ co-vice captain.
“In the media these days, cancer could be cured and a parking ticket could be obtained on Monday, and the tour will be the parking ticket,” said McGuire.
“There was only one person who was said to be sinless and brought him to the cross.”
But Essendon’s great Matthew Lloyd’s gave an explosive response to McGuire’s comments, and the couple’s heads collided in a fiery war of words.
“You are too close to this story,” said Lloyd.
“You have a love for this guy and that’s fine. I heard you three weeks ago, Ed. They said, “How do these people do this?”
“I said, ‘Ed, you know what someone else is going to make a mistake about.’ And you say, “These players, how could they do that?”
“I’d like to get up if we could, because that’s what you said.”
Talk to Fox Footy AFL 360McGuire pointed to Sidebottom’s COVID-19 injury when “the old-fashioned slept on the couch and got up to go to the bathroom and go through the wrong door.”
But Herald Sun. Reporter Mark Robinson was not satisfied and roasted McGuire for trying to portray the incident as a “joke.”
“There are still holes in this story,” said Robinson on Wednesday night.
“If you don’t tell the whole story, this story will come out and it didn’t come out today.
“Nobody explained it. Steele Sidebottom says he can’t remember and he doesn’t like it, but witnesses saw him.
“In my opinion, Eddie is just trying to make a joke out of it.
“This story has legs and Collingwood will want it to go away … they will want it to end.
“Eddie McGuire, he beat Geelong, beat her over Jack Steven. ‘Tell the whole story, unless you call a press conference, tell the whole story.’
“Then tell the whole story, Ed. Because you know what … the press release Collingwood sent out last night didn’t mean that Steele Sidebottom was brought home by the police. “
AFL 360 Moderator Gerard Whateley agreed that the four-week ban was “well deserved”.
Collingwood’s general manager for football, Geoff Walsh, also believed the punishment was a disappointing result, but praised Sidebottom for deciding to accept the sanction.
“In his honor, Steele considered what is in the best interest of the Code and Collingwood,” said Walsh in a statement.
“He accepts that he made some bad decisions, but he also thinks it is right to accept the punishment, a greater punishment than most consider fair to avoid distraction, the difficulties for the competition and its teammates could cause. That is the kind of person that Steele is.
“As a club, we considered all the options, but our disappointment with Steele’s ban is no greater than the fact that two older players violated the logs to return to the game.
“Everyone knows that Steele and Lynden have the best intentions to comfort an injured teammate, but our players and staff are well trained in the minutes and we take our social responsibility seriously.
“We respect the privilege we have to play and the conditions we have to live to play.
“As a code and as a community, we have to remain vigilant and disciplined. This episode and circumstances in the wider community increase the need to minimize the risk of transmission. “
Collingwood meets Essendon at MCG on Friday.
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