A rare article from her I agree with.
Powerful Sydney has Eddie running scared
EDDIE McGuire spreads himself around Melbourne like a rash.
He has made his living from taking on far too many jobs in high-profile positions so his tentacles can reach just about anywhere in a city that loves the smell of an urger.
The best example of Eddie believing he can conquer anyone and anything was when he became the boss of the television network with which he starred.
Sadly, though, that gig was based in Sydney and Eddie soon realised that this was no place for a bovver boy from Bleak City.
Too many people questioned him, too many wondered out loud what he was doing there and, in essence, he failed before breaking all land speed records to get back to those who understood him so much better in Melbourne.
Hes never far away from making a complete arse of himself. The brat who wasnt taught sportsmanship or good grace has managed to bludgeon the entire AFL commission into believing his word is gospel.
So here we are again in a classic case of what former Swans chief Richard Colless would call an uncanny case of deja vu.
Eddie, the chairman of a mediocre team called Collingwood, is heading up a club that has a bad coach who Eddie and his board ridiculously re-signed for a very long time, a rubbish roster and a team that does not appear to have one ounce of fight in it.
Do we think Eddie might look close to home, gaze at his navel and realise the Pies have a problem of their own making?
Eddie Everywhere continues to try to throw his weight around.They have no coach or administrator to fix it and nobody to blame but themselves.
Eddie has managed, however, to switch the attention from that ordinary team of his to his two pet hates, the Sydney teams.
The Swans were Eddies victims for five years before he convinced the gormless AFL commission that no team outside Melbourne had the right to develop players in academies or to pay them living-away-from-home allowances.
Once his bullying worked (again), he went quiet for the best part of six months before a team he thought to be a bunch of easybeats emerged from the bottom of the ladder in 2016 to become genuine top-four contenders.
The GWS Giants are now the target of a hate campaign by Eddie that threatens to derail player development and selections at the blossoming club. Eddie wants all academy development of players to stop.
If it cant do that, he wants to raid the GWS list and take the players who the club have nurtured, grown and developed to the Magpies. He wants the Riverina, where GWS have spent enormous amounts of time and money finding young players, to be eradicated as a development zone for the Sydney team.
He has poached one of the clubs footy managers and hopes that will lead to inside information on which players he can grab for Collingwood.
What he fails to see is that putting players in black and white jerseys may well lead to nobody ever hearing from them again.
The Swans and GWS and, to a lesser extent, Gold Coast Suns have had huge success developing players in academies.
Eddie had the bidding rules around the Swans academy changed last year. Now that GWS has beaten Hawthorn and look a real top-four chance, he wants their conditions changed, too.
The move by Sydney and GWS to develop their own player talent is simply because Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia have the power and numbers to produce hundreds of AFL players, given Aussie rules enjoys a virtual monopoly in those states.
Here we have two Sydney teams fighting tooth and nail for market share in a state with four footy codes. It is a tough, tough gig and one that requires huge effort and persistence.
One man, one single cowboy, wants to wreck it all because it is actually working. As ridiculous and far-fetched as it may seem, the AFL commission listens to Eddie.
Thats what happens when bullies ride roughshod over weak souls petrified of not giving the bully his own way.
Now it is Sydneys turn to stand up. GWS chairman Tony Shepherd threatened to resign this week over Eddies dangerous rant. Like Colless before him, Shepherd is already worn down by Eddies constant sniping and the AFLs move towards capitulation.
For once, there are now two powerful clubs who can win this fight. Sydney has never had the luxury of a double whammy of clubs, both of which boast winning cultures and strong administrators.
Take it up to Eddie, tell him if he wants a real fight to do it somewhere besides a breakfast show on Triple M and remind him that his once-great Collingwood Magpies might need someone in charge who actually knows how to win.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...s/news-story/2940eaeed1cd4c74d3443c5b18cce6ea
