{"id":33085,"date":"2021-02-09T06:16:25","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T07:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=33085"},"modified":"2021-02-09T16:13:11","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T16:13:11","slug":"complicated-eddie-legacy-splits-opinions-in-farewell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=33085","title":{"rendered":"Complicated Eddie legacy splits opinions in farewell"},"content":{"rendered":"

He has been one of the polarising figures in the AFL world, and outgoing Collingwood<\/a> president Eddie McGuire<\/a> has once again split opinions in his farewell speech.<\/p>\n

McGuire was overcome by emotion as he announced his resignation<\/a>, effective immediately, from a role which he has held since October 1998. <\/p>\n

The 56-year-old referred to himself as a "lightning rod of vitriol" in his announcement, and he once again attracted a wide array of opinions.<\/p>\n

\"Eddie<\/p>\n

McGuire was praised for his speech by Perth Lord Mayor and ex-AFL commentator Basil Zempilas, as well as leading AFL journalist Rohan Connolly.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/BasilZempilas\/status\/1359014693566701572<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/rohan_connolly\/status\/1359017206349058051<\/a><\/p>\n

Fellow commentator Andy Maher also praised McGuire, calling him a "leviathan of the game", but reminded fans that he was not the victim despite his resignation.<\/p>\n

"If everything was as virtuous as Eddie has laid it out to be today, there's no way he stands down today, he sees it out," he told SEN's Bob and Andy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

"But this moment in time, he's probably done the right thing. Ed's not the victim here and that's not what the report was about.<\/p>\n

"If you're walking out of this today thinking you're feeling sorry for Eddie McGuire, then you're missing the reason the report was put in the first place.<\/p>\n

\"Heritier<\/p>\n

"Eddie's not the victim here. The victim here, the reason this report has come out and the reason Eddie has done what he's done is because of the history and his response and the fact that maybe he didn't get it when he needed to most.<\/p>\n

"The victims are Syd Jackson, Nicky Winmar, Michael Long, Heritier Lumumba, Adam Goodes and others.<\/p>\n

"That's why the report was written. That's why it came out the way it did and that's what has led Eddie to the position he's found himself in today."<\/p>\n

However, McGuire's farewell was not as well received by others, with fans also noting that there was no apology to Lumumba in his final address as Collingwood president.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/stevesmithffx\/status\/1359014121816031233<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/shalailah\/status\/1359013123940782080<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/AmyRemeikis\/status\/1359008470465269763<\/a><\/p>\n

However, perhaps the most telling endorsement for McGuire came from former Collingwood midfielder Dayne Beams.<\/p>\n

"Let's hope we can remember the amazing work this bloke has done for the club and football in general," Beams wrote on Instagram.<\/p>\n

"Is Ed racist? Absolutely not. Has Ed made some mistakes? Absolutely. Have you? Yes you have.<\/p>\n

"This bloke has always cared about me and my welfare and I have nothing but respect for him."<\/p>\n

Beams also vehemently denied rumours that McGuire had paid off his personal gambling debts in the past.<\/p>\n

"Seeing as we all love the truth he's never paid off anything for me," he wrote.<\/p>\n

\"Dayne<\/p>\n

"He has been a friend when I needed one and always cared for me and is one of the first to check in.<\/p>\n

"For those that have no idea who he is quit with the negativity and your witch hunt, this bloke is a genuinely good person."<\/p>\n

Beams, who was premiership teammates with Heritier Lumumba, also denied that the culture at Collingwood had been racist.<\/p>\n

"I never felt once that I was involved in a racist club," he wrote.<\/p>\n

"I can not speak for reports or anyone else's experience but my own I was always comfortable and (in) my observations of all my team mates they were the same.<\/p>\n

"Quit with all the hate and negativity it's poisonous. One thing I do know is he acknowledges his mistakes and always looks to better himself as we all should do.<\/p>\n

"Not one person is perfect let's not forget that."<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/em>For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He has been one of the polarising figures in the AFL world, and outgoing Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has once again split opinions in his […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33085"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33085"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33087,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33085\/revisions\/33087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}