Collingwood and MCG strike deal for tenant clubs; Sidebottom sidelined for Cats game; Nic Nat ‘weighing up his future’

About 2000 Collingwood members who had previously remained in those seats for away games against those teams, will have to move to level one or level four of the Ponsford Stand to watch those clashes, however they will retain all access to level two for home games. They will also retain the same number of seats overall and the club will attempt to keep groups of supporters who have sat together for away games on level two together in their new seats for away games.

For Collingwood’s away games against Carlton, Essendon and Melbourne there will be a reduction in the number of level-two seats for members but an increase in the number of seats on level one and level four. About 1300 members will be affected according to a source with knowledge of the situation who did not have authority to comment publicly.

Magpies CEO Craig Kelly said the need for a new deal was unavoidable as the existing one was to expire after 24 years, and the club worked hard to ensure it retained the most attractive deal of the MCG co-tenants while recognising the changed circumstances of other clubs.

“We have retained the status of being well looked after by the MCC,” Kelly said.

“In those games where we are displaced in varying numbers, we wanted to make sure we retained the same number of seats for our members, which we have, and we wanted to make sure they were together as much as possible on level one and four.”

The co-tenants, which also includes the Demons, also have better commercial arrangements when they are the home team against the Magpies than they did previously, according to two sources familiar with the agreement who were not authorised to speak publicly with Demons boss Gary Pert hailing the agreement.

“The new agreement is a great result for all Melbourne Football Club members and supporters,” Pert said.

“We have worked closely with the Melbourne Cricket Club and other tenant clubs, It now gives us the opportunity to sign up an extra 1500 premium reserved seat members on level two, in the Ponsford stand, which we haven’t been able to do to until this point.

“As part of the new agreement it is also pleasing, we have secured access to The Harrison Room, a premium entertainment space on level two. This is something our members and supporters have been asking for a long time and it’s exciting that we are now able to make it available to our supporters in the Ponsford Stand.”

However, the Magpies were, importantly, able to retain access to their rooms for all games at the MCG meaning players will still run out in front of their members from the same race.

“We wanted to make sure that when the players ran out of the race that was it was ours and when they looked behind the goals that was our goals with our flags, our members and our cheer squad,” Kelly said.

Collingwood are also creating – along with the MCC – a new area called the Victoria Park Social Club behind the Dean Jones Bar where supporters can gather at every game they play.

Richmond’s Imbriano said it was pleasing to resolve the issues for Tigers members.

“Our members have wanted this situation rectified for many years, and we are pleased we have been able to deliver this outcome for them,” Imbriano said.

“They can now sit together and enjoy blockbuster home games against Collingwood in their normal reserved seats. The new arrangements will also give Richmond Club XIII members exclusive access to the Harrison Room. It is a great result for our members.”

Richmond have about 20,000 reserved seat holders for home games at the MCG with Collingwood having about 11,000 members with reserved seats at the MCG for away games. The remainder of seats outside the AFL and MCC members reserves are made available to the public either as seats or general admission.

MCC CEO Stuart Fox led the negotiations to create a deal that was satisfactory for all parties and recognised Collingwood’s contribution to the MCG over the past 30 years.

“As we’ve worked through negotiating new tenancy agreements with the MCG’s home clubs, our collective and primary focus has always been about getting the best possible outcome for the club, its members and fans,” Fox said.

“The MCG is the spiritual home of football and also the home ground for six proud Victorian teams. We approached negotiations with that in mind as we aimed to achieve fairness and equity for all home clubs.

“It’s never an easy task to balance the competing and at times conflicting needs of multiple clubs whilst also respecting a long-standing 30-year agreement such as Collingwood’s.

“The AFL industry has grown exponentially over those years, and with that so has the demands on us as a stadium to deliver the best seating models, function spaces as well as commercial returns for each home club.

“We’ve been able to resolve, and ultimately return, some of that premium inventory to the other clubs for their home games where Collingwood is the away team at the MCG.

“With a shared understanding of the complexities at hand, I’m pleased we’ve been able to deliver improved commercial arrangements for each of our home clubs and they should be commended for how negotiations have been worked through”.

Magpies president Jeff Browne wrote to members outlining the main aspects of the new deal, and the club pledged to contact the affected members directly.

“The reality of going through this process was that there would be change and we want to assure you we left no stone unturned to limit the changes for our club and our valued members,” Browne wrote.

“While every effort has been made to ensure our agreement with the MCC remains the best in the AFL competition, we understand there will be some Members who feel disappointed with the deal we have reached.

“We have been in the MCG’s Ponsford Stand since our move from Victoria Park in 1999 and more broadly, have been integral to the success of the stadium in the decades since.”

The Age revealed the need for a new deal to be struck soon after Kelly became Collingwood’s CEO, with the Magpies fighting hard to keep their members happy while recognising that the longstanding deal had come to an end with other major tenant clubs demanding a fairer deal.

Collingwood have attracted huge crowds to the MCG this season. Their round nine game against Greater Western Sydney was their only game that drew fewer than 60,000 spectators, and six games have drawn more than 80,000.

Richmond have attracted more than 80,000 fans to four games, while Hawthorn’s past three games at the MCG attracted crowds above 55,000.

The Tigers have attracted huge crowds to the venue since 2017 as they began their era of three premierships.

Hawthorn interim CEO Ashley Klein said the deal was a “great result for our loyal members and fans”.

“It delivers us the level two seats that should rightfully belong to our members, as well as all key function rooms across our home match days,” Klein said.

“Our members have continued to be fantastic in showing up each and every week and supporting our new and exciting era of young hawks

“It is the fair and just result our members and the club deserve.“

No Danger to commission, says GWS chairman

Andrew Wu and Michael Gleeson

Greater Western Sydney chairman Tony Shepherd has urged the AFL not to appoint Geelong champion Patrick Dangerfield on the commission over a perceived conflict of interest.

Shepherd, a former chair of numerous companies and sporting organisations, said it would not be appropriate for a current player to sit on the commission, but AFL Players Association chief Paul Marsh said Dangerfield could manage the issue.

Dangerfield has been approached by AFL chairman Richard Goyder and departing chief executive Gillon McLachlan about serving on the board while still playing, this masthead reported this week.

“I think it’s inappropriate for an existing player to be on the AFL commission,” Shepherd told this masthead.

“He’s a fine person, a fine player and a person of high integrity, but the potential for conflict of interest is too high. It’s just the perception is the issue rather than the actuality.“

Dangerfield is also the chairman of the AFLPA, which is in the process of thrashing out a pay deal with the league.

The AFL has not had a former player on the commission since former West Coast and Sydney premiership ruckman Jason Ball left at the start of 2021. Club presidents have urged the league to prioritise adding a former player to the body to increase its football expertise.

“There’s plenty of retired footballers who are commercially successful with good reputations and understand the game who can be a member of the commission,” Shepherd said.

The Age spoke with a number of other club presidents who did not wish to be named because they had not formally been advised by the AFL of the approach to Dangerfield but many had strong reservations about the wisdom of having a current player on the commission.

But Marsh said having a contemporary player on the commission would be a benefit to the game.
He said there had not been any discussion with him, or as part of the collective bargaining agreement, around the AFLPA president’s role being a permanent position on the commission.

Any discussion with Dangerfield about joining the commission was specific to him and not his role with the PA.

Marsh said Dangerfield would have to manage the perception of conflict of interest, which was a harder issue to manage than real conflicts of interest, which Dangerfield could absent himself from involvement in.

But Marsh said Dangerfield was such an exceptionally talented and insightful football person he could manage any conflict and his intelligence and modern understanding of the game would be invaluable to the commission. “I could not recommend (Dangerfield) highly enough, he has been outstanding for us,” Marsh said.

“I don’t have a fixed view on this. I think there would be some real conflicts of interest and some perceived ones and the perceived ones could be harder to manage than the real ones where you can absent yourself where conflicts arise.

“There is always this view the commission is supposed to be independent — we do not have current club people on the commission — but the benefit of having a contemporary player’s view would be significant with the pace of change in the game.”

Sidebottom sidelined for Cats game

Andrew Wu

Collingwood have lost veteran Steele Sidebottom to injury, leaving the door open for livewire forward Jack Ginnivan to be a potential fire starter for the Magpies as they seek to reignite their finals push against Geelong.

While defender Nathan Murphy is poised to face the reigning premiers after training strongly on Wednesday, Sidebottom will miss at least this week due to a foot injury.

The Pies, already without young superstar Nick Daicos, will make at least two changes to the side that was crunched by Hawthorn last week, their second loss in a row.

There has been much soul-searching this week at the Holden Centre, starting with a frank review on Monday and a spirited training session on Wednesday.

Pies coach Craig McRae declared his top of the ladder team would go into the showdown against the Cats as the hunted.

“How much are we hungry versus the opposition? How much are we wanting to hunt and chase as hard as what we did maybe earlier?” McRae said.

“We’re working towards not that being the case. Again, we’ve put some things around this week setting it up that we’re going to hunt and then we’ll see what we get from that.”

The Pies were due to conduct their selection meeting on Wednesday afternoon but McRae, who said Tom Mitchell would retain his place despite a poor game last week, strongly hinted against making wholesale changes.

“It’s an interesting balance: do you trust a pattern of behaviour and trust the credits in the bank, or do you go, ‘I think we just might need a little bit of spark here’,” McRae said.

“My take on things mostly is to back people, and we’ve done it for two years. You think a guy is subbed out, he might get dropped or moved to the VFL, and we go, ‘We’re going to back you in’, and then you really know.

“So we might back a few in and see if we get a spike and what comes from that.”

Ginnivan was a key part of the Magpies’ stunning rise last year, booting 40 goals, but has lost his spot to Bobby Hill. An emergency last week, he is now in strong contention for his first senior game since round 12.

“We need to work through it as a match committee and look for energy in some players, and he’s one that can give us something,” McRae said.

Ginnivan’s inclusion could hinge on Pat Lipinski being pushed on to the wing vacated by Sidebottom, while veteran forward Will Hoskin-Elliott and speedster Oleg Markov – also emergencies last week – will have their names firmly in the frame for a promotion.

Sidebottom had played four games after missing seven weeks with a knee injury sustained in his 300th game. He is no certainty to be available next round either, against Brisbane.

“He’s got a foot injury that plays up a little bit that he’s been carrying for a couple of years and every now and again, it gets a bit grumbly. Right now, it’s a bit grumbly,” McRae said.

“He just needs an extra bit of time to recover. Not sure exactly what that time is, hopefully it’s next week, but we’ll let that settle and see what it looks like.”

Mitchell has managed only one full game from the past four rounds, but McRae rejected notions the recruit was injured.

“He’s a tough player – and he’s gonna get an opportunity to go be a tough player this week,” McRae said.

Though the coach said the Pies had increased their training loads with a view to being primed for the finals, he said that did not excuse their recent form.

“But when you go to the VFL a day later and you see the same patterns of behaviour, you go, ‘OK, what’s going on here?’” McRae said.

“There’s just certain parts of our game that didn’t show up. And so we addressed that again today, and we’ll get to work on it.

“The great thing is two days’ time we get to go out and show it in front of Friday night lights – this is the team we want to be.”

Naitanui ‘weighing up his future’, says Eagles boss

AAP

West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett won’t seek a contract extension beyond next year but expects Adam Simpson to remain as coach of the AFL club.

The long-time Eagles boss also confirmed that cult figure Nic Naitanui could join veterans Shannon Hurn and Luke Shuey in retirement.

The 33-year-old Naitanui, who is contracted for next season, has been sidelined for all of 2023 after managing just eight games last year.

“I’m sure he’s weighing up his future as we speak because it’s a long, long journey back (from his achilles injury) and he knows that,” Nisbett told SEN Radio in Perth.

Nisbett is contracted for 2024 but conceded he might not reach the end of the deal.

“My expectation is that I will be here. Whether it’s all of ’24 or part of ’24, only time will tell,” Nisbett told SEN radio.

“But certainly I haven’t asked for an extension and I won’t be asking for an extension of contract.

“The steps for us are to sit down as a board at the end of the year and work through what’s in the best interests of the football club.

Simpson coached West Coast to a premiership in 2018 but has now overseen a dire run of just four wins in 42 games, dating back to 2021.

“It’s been a really difficult year for Adam,” Nisbett said.

“We’ve introduced so many teenagers into our playing group, along with a couple of 20-year-olds, and they’re starting to show glimpses of form on a consistent basis.

“Some of our senior players are playing reasonably good footy, albeit we’ve still only won the two games and that’s inadequate for what we’re after.

“But having said that, it has been a really difficult set of circumstances that Adam’s been working under for two seasons with so many injuries.”

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