AFL news 2023, Eddie McGuire on decision in Collingwood feud with Port Adelaide prison
Former Collingwood chairman Eddie McGuire has issued a public appeal after his successor decided to end the painful ‘jail bars’ row.
McGuire and his Port Adelaide counterpart David Koch have been engaged in a long-running discussion over Power’s desire to wear the club’s traditional striped guernsey, which bears a strong resemblance to the Magpies’ black and white stripe.
Under McGuire’s watch, Collingwood has only allowed Port Adelaide to wear the sweater twice since joining the AFL in 1997 – in the 2003 heritage round and in 2020 for the Power’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
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But now that McGuire is gone, Magpies boss Jeff Browne has given Port Adelaide the green light to carry Guernsey to the Adelaide Oval showdown on April 1 against the Crows.
When the announcement was made last week, Koch couldn’t help but cast a sly glance at his former sparring partner McGuire.
“Collingwood Chairman Jeff Browne and General Manager Craig Kelly have been outstanding during these discussions,” Koch said in a statement announcing the new truce.
McGuire had the chance to respond on Monday 3AW is football podcast, and is clearly still passionate about the issue.
“In Adelaide, the press is sycophants there, they do whatever they want for the local teams, and in Melbourne, whatever annoys Collingwood supporters is click bait, and they go with it,” said McGuire told her co-host Jimmy Bartel.
Eddie and Cornes clash over the prison bars jersey
“Nobody ever cared about the Collingwood fans who bought that sweater, stuck with that sweater, didn’t sell it and wore it from the first game, and I find that a bit sad.
“Good luck to them, I would have thought black and teal were a good compromise.
“A word of advice for them – drop the reference to ‘prison bars’, I think that’s a really bad reference in the current way of life that we’re all in, I don’t think that’s good for the population in which we are all involved.
“Go back to what it was originally, and it was the Port Adelaide piers, it had nothing to do with the prison bars.”
McGuire also took aim at Port Adelaide CEO Matthew Richardson, who told the media that the desire to wear “jail bars” had nothing to do with generating profits.
Richardson has, through, in the same sentence, suggested that he hopes to sell a number of merchandise as a result of Collingwood’s decision, which has McGuire scoffed.
“I wouldn’t say he’s lying, but I wouldn’t say he’s telling the truth,” he laughed.
Collingwood and Port Adelaide meet in the second round. The AFL season starts this week.
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