Presidency of Pies hot topic
MURMURS over Mark Korda’s ability to step permanently into the giant shoes of Eddie McGuire began before a ball was bounced in season 2021.
Delivering the presidential pre-game address in the MCG Olympic Room before Collingwood’s Round 1 game against Western Bulldogs, Korda mistakenly referred to fellow club director Paul Licuria as a member of the Magpies’ 2010 premiership team.
After a dinner guest pointed out his error, Korda corrected himself, referencing Licuria’s place in the 2003 Grand Final side, which lost to Brisbane Lions.
It was a harmless gaffe but one not lost on those wondering what life “post-McGuire” at Collingwood would look like.
At Marvel Stadium on Saturday, it will be Ben Buckley, president of winless North Melbourne, delivering the pre-match sermon but it’s Korda’s Magpies who are staring down the barrel of a fullblown football crisis.
Compounding the countdown to the bottom-of-the-table clash was Thursday’s sudden exit of Collingwood list manager Ned Guy — the latest unwanted headline in a disastrous sevenmonth stretch for Australia’s most famous sporting club.
The pressure is building on Korda and waiting patiently in the wings is would-be Collingwood president Jeff Browne, the former Channel 9 boss and long-time AFL legal adviser, whose behind-the-scenes campaign to seize control of the club gathers momentum.
The Browne camp has been busy assembling a rival ticket to the Korda board. Three options are being considered in the bid to take control.
The first would involve a formal meeting between the parties, during which Browne’s team would seek a peaceful transfer of power, potentially involving the retention of two or three directors.
Option two would see the Browne forces wait until next year’s annual general meeting before forcing a spill of the board but the concern with that strategy is the lengthy delay and amount of damage that might be done in the meantime.
The third, and most likely option, is the calling of an extraordinary general meeting at which Magpies fans would be given the chance to go to the polls and vote on the group they believe should take charge.
The hope among Browne’s supporters is that some Collingwood board members will see the writing on the wall and pressure Korda to let go before the stand-off becomes bloody.
Looming large over it all is the future of coach Nathan
Buckley.
The casualty list at Collingwood is piling up. Football boss Geoff Walsh walked away late last year, McGuire was forced out in February and Guy called time this week.
Guy had contemplated walking away for months.
Suddenly, new football boss Graham Wright is the central figure who will take over Guy’s duties on an interim basis and lead the decision-making on Buckley’s future.
Collingwood has said it will wait until the back end of the season to make a call on Buckley.