Eddie McGuire has laid the blame for star Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin being roundly booed by Collingwood supporters squarely at the feet of the Swans and AFL during a stunning tirade in which he admitted hitting a fan during a game in 1991.
The ex-President of Collingwood and prominent media identity debated the boo saga with Geelong legend Jimmy Bartel and made some surprising suggestions to avoid a recurrence.
Franklin was booed and jeered every time he went near the ball during the Swans’ 29-point loss to the Magpies at the MCG on Sunday, sparking a firestorm of controversy as now infamous incidents involving Sydney legend Adam Goodes.
Sydney coach John Longmire slammed the post-match booing and Collingwood even apologized to Franklin after the incident.
A number of bad examples of fan behavior over the past few years have sparked a conversation about what should and shouldn’t be acceptable at the footy.
Swans superstar Lance Franklin was booed every time he went near the ball in his side’s loss to Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday
A Collingwood fan spoke out about Swans legend Adam Goodes in 2015, with the native great eventually forced to retire over the affair
Franklin, pictured with wife Jesinta, is a proud native man and some in the footy industry have compared him to the booing of the Goodes saga
Ex-Collingwood president Eddie McGuire believes the Swans and AFL could have avoided the controversy
McGuire gave a stunning example of what he felt was absolutely unacceptable fan behavior in a throwback anecdote about Hawthorn legend Dermott Brereton.
“I remember when Dermott Brereton went to the West Coast Eagles to play in the finals once [1991]and Dermott was carried away, he did his knee,” McGuire explained on the Eddie and Jimmy podcast.
“I was in the race, reporting for Channel 10 and you should have heard, they were into him. Guys tried to spit on him as he went into the race.
“Derm was on the gurney bed and being carried upstairs… and I remember, because Derm is a good friend of mine, hitting the side of the fence to get some dude back a little bit, and I left a mark on his face on the way through, which I loved to see.”
The ex-President of Magpies put the blame for the jeering not at the feet of fans but, unbelievably, the Swans and the AFL in a bizarre diatribe.
Collingwood and Captain Darcy Moore (pictured shaking Franklin’s hand after the game) apologized to Buddy and the Swans for the boo saga
A Magpies supporter gets trapped during a game against the Giants. Cats legend Jimmy Bartel said it’s ingrained in Aussie supporters’ ‘DNA’ to boo
McGuire said Franklin, photographed after the Swans lost the Grand Final last year, should have had a guard of honor for the Magpies clash last weekend despite not retiring, a Finals series yet to be played and the season only eight rounds old
In hindsight it would have been a good thing, and I don’t blame them, but it would have been nice for the Sydney Swans or the AFL to recognize that this could have been one of his last games at the MCG, and certainly be last game against Collingwood, for example,” said McGuire.
His comments came despite the fact that Franklin has not yet announced his retirement and that there is still a finals series to play – one in which the talented Swans are tipped to play.
“And then you have to go back and forth on the field, and then you line up and pay tribute to one of the greats of the game.
“I think that would have been good for 70,000 people – the largest audience the Swans will play to this year. [It would] Show generosity of spirit, Collingwood has done that over the years.
“Things like that, thinking a little bit ahead, could have prevented it [the booing].’
It was a shot that did not go down well with many footy fans.
“EDDIE: I don’t blame the victim, but… and then blame others,” one said, while another noted that “if you start with ‘Don’t blame the victim, but…’ [it] never ends well’.
“Just when you thought he hadn’t quite lost his balls, he comes out with this gem,” wrote another.
One commenter said the suggestion that Franklin should have a guard of honor before he’s even retired, and with three-quarters of the season left, was laughable: “Waiting in line after the game? It’s goddamn round 8.’
McGuire is no stranger to a controversial comment about a Boo scandal.
In 2013, Indigenous Swans legend Adam Goodes was effectively bullied into retirement when he was booed at every game he played after pointing out a 13-year-old Collingwood fan in the crowd who called him a monkey.
Adam Goodes pointed a young Collingwood fan to security in 2013 after she called him a monkey. What unfolded next essentially ended his career
Shockingly, McGuire then suggested that a King Kong musical could use Goodes in the promotion, despite insisting that he was not “racially slandering anyone” at the time.
McGuire then tried to explain why Franklin was booed by Collingwood supporters, saying it was only because of a targeted attack by Swans players on Magpies fan favorite Nick Daicos at the start of the game.
Daicos, who were in flying form at the start of the season, faced intense physical pressure both before and during the match, with Tom Papley in particular trying to stir up the youngster.
“You go back to what the crowd waved – 72,000 people, what do you do in that situation when you’re the opposition and you come to the MCG and the Pies have the place all to themselves?” he said.
“You want to shut the crowd up, get on top early… kick the early goals and rough up Nick Daicos, the golden child.
This isn’t “Sydney said this and Collingwood says this” but… it was the ultimate form of bullying
“This was set up to get into Daicos, [and] it just meant that Collingwood players were fined, the crowd immediately got excited and in the end Daicos played well and Collingwood won.
‘Once it [roughing up Daicos] happened, you felt the rise of the crowd.’
McGuire said the booing only started because the atmosphere was heightened when the Swans players went after Nick Daicos
Although he didn’t approve, the ex-Pies boss said boos are just part of footy’s ‘theatre’
McGuire and Bartel, who both said they felt the fans shouldn’t have berated Franklin, did point out that double standards were practiced, with footy figures standing in arms as Franklin was booed, while a number of other players shouted. faced the same fate this year.
“You can’t boo Buddy Franklin, but you can boo Tom Papley,” McGuire said, with Bartel pointing out, “You can boo Jason Horne-Francis in the first seven rounds,” in response.
Bartel said booing was something ingrained in every Aussie footy fan’s DNA.
“The problem is we live in a country… it’s been in our DNA for decades, if you tell us not to do something, we will resist it. So as soon as people are told not to boo, they go boo,” said the Geelong legend.
McGuire, who admitted that he occasionally “gets up with the jeers,” said that jeers, though he didn’t approve, were just all part of the “theatre” of the game.
“The only time I get up with the jeers is when a team gets a free kick until about 12 in the quarter time… and that’s part of the theater,” he said.
“The reason for this (booing) is that most supporters think they are the 19th player, and the atmosphere is there and we’ve heard countless captains say this year: ‘Our supporters won us over the line thanks to the energy we were able to to draw (from) it’. It’s legit, it’s called a hometown advantage.
“You don’t have to throw rose petals for Buddy Franklin, but you don’t have to give it to him as it was either.
“Buddy Franklin has caused more chaos for Collingwood than just about anyone…when Buddy Franklin goes to the prom, the circus comes to town…he’s a huge focus magnet.”