Emotional Collingwood coach Craig McRae breaks his silence on Jordan De Goey and says ‘I just want to wrap my arms around him’
Collingwood coach Craig McRae admitted he wants to get Jordan De Goey back into his team as quickly as possible, as the fallout over the midfielder’s antics in Bali continued.
The 26-year-old midfielder was hit with a suspended $25,000 fine this week after footage emerged of him last week of him dancing in a nightlife hotspot on the Indonesian island with two women.
The since-deleted video showed De Goey mimicking a sexual act with his tongue to the camera, as well as attempting to expose a woman’s breast as she laid on the bar.
The woman in question, Remy Jackson, subsequently took to Instagram to defend the Magpies star insisting she could not ‘believe the backlash towards Jordy and myself.’
On Thursday, McRae broke his silence over the incident, insisting he wanted to get ‘his arms’ De Goey but acknowledging the trouble star was not in the right frame of mind to return to football as yet.
De Goey has not trained since returning from Bali on Sunday and will not be available for the Pies’ clash against GWS this weekend after taking personal leave.
‘I can’t help but think right now I just want to get him back. I really do, I want to get my arms around him,’ McRae said on SEN’s The Run Home
‘He’s got to step through a few things first and get in a space where he can do that, but it’s a safe place for him, our footy club.’
The incident in Bali is the latest entry in a growing list of off-field indiscretions involving De Goey, who spent a night in jail after being arrested in New York in October last year.
De Goey was charged with forcible touching of a 35-year-old woman and the assault of a 37-year-old man after being arrested in New York.
He was temporarily stood down by Collingwood until the former charge was dropped.
In January, the Pies reinstated him after he agreed to a plea bargain to downgrade the remaining assault charge to second-degree harassment. Following the incident, the club ordered De Goey to undergo an alcohol rehabilitation program but it is understood it did not ban him from visiting nightclubs.
Earlier this week, The Age reported Collingwood were growing concerned by the optics of signing a player with De Goey’s track record to a long-term deal and withdrew the offer of a contract extension.
The midfielder will be a free agent at the end of the current campaign and the Magpies reportedly offered him a two-year deal worth $800,000-a-season, with the option for a two further years.
The offer, however, was swiftly taken off the table after De Goey flew back into Melbourne last weekend.
Despite the fallout the midfielder’s partying antics in Bali, however, McRae insisted the club remained fully behind De Goey.
‘I want him to feel love and support,’ he continued.
‘I can’t help it, it’s in my DNA, love and support, not only him but all our players, get in our four walls and lets get our arms around him and help him move forward on this.’
Asked specifically whether he felt De Goey will remain at Collingwood beyond the end of the season, McRae replied: ‘I hope he finds a place where he can come back and then he can be the best version of himself.
‘I want to have an environment where all our players are better for when they come in and when they leave.
‘To be honest, I don’t know when that is and I don’t know when that is for me.’
