Eddie McGuire has hit back at suggestions that the AFL should give Essendon champion Jobe Watson his Brownlow Medal for the 2012 season.
Watson was stripped of the game's most prestigious award in the aftermath of the supplements saga that haunted the Bombers throughout the 2010s.
In his place, the Brownlow was awarded to Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell and Richmond's Trent Cotchin, who finished joint second that year.
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Now, former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy has sensationally suggested neither Mitchell nor Cotchin should have accepted the award, when asked if the club should fight to get the medal back to its original recipient.
"No, I think the whole board wants to move on and put the past in the past, obviously. But I wouldn't have taken Jobe's Brownlow, if I was Sam Mitchell or Cotchin," Sheedy told News Corp.
Former teammate of Watson at Essendon, Scott Gumbleton, strongly suggested that the AFL should return the medal to the three-time Dons best and fairest winner.
"They should just give it back. He would accept it. It's probably a fairly stupid decision (by the AFL) for him to lose a Brownlow. It was very disappointing. I don't understand why they can't give it back to him. I don't know (all of the rules) but I can't understand why they can't give it back to him," Gumbleton told News Corp.
"With the drug saga he is the one person I can swear by heart that it affected him a lot. If anyone says it affected them more, I highly doubt it. I saw some pretty sad times with him, but he's taken it on board now and he's got over it. It's remarkable what he's done to get over it and get back into the AFL media world. It was a tough time."
McGuire, however, strongly disagrees with Gumbleton, a former No.2 pick in the draft, and Sheedy.
The ex Collingwood president says the 'fairest' element of the Brownlow is there for a reason.
"I was in a presidents' meeting when this was all happening and it came out that the Essendon players had been suspended for a year and I actually said at the time 'what does that mean for Jobe Watson?', and no one had thought of it," McGuire told Nine's Eddie and Jimmy podcast.
"And sadly for Jobe, there's one rule on the Brownlow Medal … if you get suspended, for whatever, you're out.
"I'm devastated for Jobe. The moment they were suspended, he lost his right to the Brownlow Medal. Full stop. There's no way around it."
Geelong champion Jimmy Bartel, who won the Brownlow Medal in 2007, feels Sheedy's swipe at Mitchell and Cotchin was uncalled for.
"Do I share the same opinion (as Sheedy)? No. Do I think Jobe Watson should have lost his Brownlow? Probably not, but I have never been completely across all the intimate details of the investigation at Essendon," Bartel said.
"My initial sense when I heard Sheedy's comments is that it minimises what Mitchell and Cotchin have done and I don't like that.
"They were put in unique and difficult circumstances. Do I think they're worthy Brownlow Medallists? Yes I do. I also think Jobe Watson is a worthy Brownlow Medallist, and yes it sounds like I'm sitting on the fence.
"When people come out and minimise Sam Mitchell and Trent Cotchin, I feel uncomfortable with that, but I also feel uncomfortable for Jobe Watson as well.
"I don't know why it needs to be dragged up. We know Sheedy is as Essendon as Essendon can be. He's always going to push the envelope with defending his patch. I don't see what's to gain from giving the broadside to Mitchell and Cotchin."
McGuire agreed with Bartel, saying "(Sheedy) is wrong. Totally wrong", on Mitchell and Cotchin.
Mitchell has previously said he has "mixed emotions" about being awarded the 2012 Brownlow.
"I guess there are two aspects. One is the way it's happened with Essendon and Jobe, you have a fair bit empathy for him and his family, particularly his dad who I have met through footy," Mitchell told Fox Footy in 2016.
"The second portion is obviously to be named a Brownlow Medallist is something that doesn't happen every day, so with my family and friends I'm sure I will have some time to enjoy it over time."
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