Blues’ Magpie rivalry ignites over McRae’s Silvagni ‘date’; relieved Goodwin thankful for extra security

Michael Voss has taken aim at his three-time premiership-winning teammate, and coach of the Carlton’s arch rivals Collingwood, over Craig McRae’s revelation that he met with star defender Jack Silvagni.

Voss said it was “unusual” for McRae to admit he’d met with Silvagni, saying “we’d probably choose not to make that sort of announcement”.

McRae, who won three flags with Voss at the Brisbane Lions, set the cat among the pigeons on Wednesday when he not only confirmed the club’s strong interest in the Carlton utility, but revealed he’d met with the 27-year-old and would gladly do so again for a “second date”.

Besieged Carlton coach Michael Voss.

“Yeah I did,” McRae admitted.

“I’m confident to say we’ll keep exploring what the best version of us looks like, and when there’s free agents available we’ll keep exploring those things.”

But the under-fire Voss questioned Collingwood’s approach.

“Where I sit [is] very much is respecting the privacy of the player,” Voss said in Perth ahead of Carlton’s clash against Fremantle on Sunday, confirming Silvagni’s season was almost certainly over due to an ongoing groin complaint.

“I guess it’s not for me to announce something like that on behalf of someone because they’re the ones that have got to walk back in the locker room.

“I can’t speak to how other coaches will go about that. But what I can say is [how] we would go about it, and I guess in that instance we’d probably choose not to make that sort of announcement.”

Voss talked up Silvagni after his “important role shift” this season.

As an unrestricted free agent, Silvagni can walk to the club of his choice. The Western Bulldogs have joined Collingwood in the race for him.

Silvagni’s departure would mark a sad end (at least for now) to the family line at Carlton, which has lasted for three generations. Jack’s father, Stephen, one of the best players to pull on a Blues jumper, departed the club in controversial circumstances in 2019 when he was list manager.

This masthead revealed this week that Collingwood’s financial offer to Silvagni was almost identical to that of the Blues – both offers are in the mid-$600,000 per season – which means Silvagni’s decision on his future won’t be shaped by dollars.

McRae described his meeting with Silvagni, who has played 128 games for Carlton since 2016, as a “first date”.

“I just met with a young man and ... we had a first date to see if we like each other,” McRae said.

“Yeah, I could go on a second date with Jack.”

Voss was quizzed about a comparison to the circumstances which confronted Oscar Allen this year when the West Coast co-captain’s meeting with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell became public.

Allen, a restricted free agent, later said he took time away from the club because he felt “everyone hated me” amid the fall-out from the optics of a senior player at an AFL club meeting an opposition coach.

Voss said the parallels of the two players meant the choice to prioritise a player’s privacy was clear-cut.

“While I didn’t necessarily read all the headlines around Oscar [Allen], I believe he came under a fair bit of a fair bit of heat,” Voss said.

“And I think that’s probably a very good reason why we just temper the reason to do that [the reason to talk about his situation].”

Voss said the club was hopeful that Silvagni “plays out the rest of his career with us”.

“It’s, unfortunately, it’s taken a fair bit of time for him to be able to recover from those groins, and it’s been a very slow recovery process.

“Jack’s had a really important role shift [for us] this year.

“It’s been a real win for us to be able to see where he’s gone from forward to back.

“I want to be really clear that he’s a very important player to us.

“We value him at our football club, and we’re certainly hoping that he plays out the rest of his career with us.”

Demons coach thanks AFL for extra security

Danny Russell

Simon Goodwin welcomed the AFL’s decision to provide him with extra personal security during Melbourne’s 83-point thumping of West Coast at Marvel Stadium on Saturday following an ugly threat made against him last week.

An anonymous account posted a picture of a car in a car park after the Demons’ horror loss to the Saints in round 20, with the words: “I’m currently waiting outside Simon Goodwin’s car: Don’t fret Melbourne fans you won’t need to worry any further.”

Demons coach Simon Goodwin presented to the club board after their gut-wrenching loss to St Kilda in round 20.

Security officials at Marvel Stadium were alerted. The car in the photo was not Goodwin’s, and the car park was not at Marvel Stadium.

This week the AFL provided the premiership coach with extra protection around the interchange bench and also when he walked out to the huddle at quarter-time breaks.

“The AFL are just taking all the precautions that they need,” Goodwin said after the Demons’ morale-boosting win.

“I think that’s what we need in our game. After last week, you know, we put ourselves in the AFL’s hands, and [there was] just a little bit extra [security] this week.”

But Goodwin would not be drawn further on whether beefed up security was a bad look for the game.

“At the end of the day, as I said, I don’t want to take away from the game of football,” he said.

“We’ve got passionate supporters. We’ve got passionate people that love our game, and sometimes people just go a little bit over the top.

“But, you know, we address it, we keep moving forward, and we find the solutions needed. And the AFL have been fantastic this week.”

Security aside, a clearly relieved Goodwin found it hard to contain a smile after putting to bed a week from hell – a nightmare that arose out of their last-quarter capitulation against St Kilda.

Led by veterans Max Gawn, Christian Salem and Jack Viney, the Demons kicked 10 goals to the Eagles’ three in the third term and 15 goals to five in the second half to smash their opposition.

Max Gawn and his teammates were back firing at Marvel Stadium the week after their horror showing against the Saints.

“I thought our leaders were brilliant,” Goodwin said. “That’s exactly the sort of response that you want, and hopefully, it’s a building block to keep moving forward.

“I said last week that sometimes, when you have outcomes like you had last week, and the way that they happen, they need to become defining in what you do moving forward.

“Now that’s one week down. We’ve still got plenty of work to do, but, you know, we’re really positive with the result.”

Goodwin said he never considered the pressure on his own position as they navigated last week’s disappointing review.

“I’ve said all along, it’s not about me, it’s about the footy team and the footy club,” Goodwin said.

“We think we’ve been building something throughout the year, you know, with our outcome, and sometimes that can be really tough for our supporters.

“It can be tough for people internally, but I’m really clear about what we’re building, what we’re trying to build, and what we’re trying to transition into.”

This masthead reported on Wednesday that a $1m payout would not stop the Melbourne board parting ways with Goodwin if they felt the need for change.

But despite outside conjecture and speculation, the coach remained unfazed.

“I’m the coach of the Melbourne footy club,” Goodwin said. “I’m proud to be able to do that.

“I’ve got a clear plan. I’m well-supported by the board in terms of where we’re heading and what we’re trying to achieve.

“They also understand that sometimes, when you’re building something, that challenge will occur, and what happens is, you ride the challenge, you have clarity, and you keep building.”

The Demons can now play a part in shaping the final eight across the final three rounds. They tackle the Western Bulldogs, Hawthorn and Collingwood.

“We’re looking forward to that opportunity because that gives us an opportunity to showcase some of the development and growth that we’ve had,” Goodwin said.

The coach praised young wingmen Jai Culley and Harvey Langford for their strong aerial prowess, while hosing down trade talk involving four-goal forward Bayley Fritsch.

“These trades get floated everywhere,” Goodwin said. “I’m not sure where they come from, but he ain’t going anywhere. He’s a Melbourne person.”

Melbourne warrior Viney said the Demons addressed last week’s shock loss during a Monday morning review and then focused their attention on the Eagles’ clash.

“From the start of the week it was about a disappointing result but how we want to use that to grow and change,” Viney said.

Chris Scott hits out over ‘blatant intrusion’

AAP

Geelong coach Chris Scott hit out at the “blatant intrusion” of media broadcasting audio of a conversation he had with star Bailey Smith at training, and the “wrong” suggestion his star midfielder was battling a hamstring issue.

The AFL’s official website broadcast footage of Smith running laps away from his teammates at Tuesday’s training session, and also having a discussion with Scott.

Scott dismissed any concerns over boom recruit Smith’s fitness ahead of the Cats’ clash with Port Adelaide today.

Chris Scott with his star onballer Bailey Smith.

When asked if Smith would be fit to play at GMHBA Stadium, Scott said: “Yeah, he is. If they keep doing that stuff, we won’t let them in. Because it was so misleading, the way that was reported. It was just not true.”

Scott insisted he “didn’t really care” but was frustrated by audio of the conversation being broadcast – and if it happened again, he wouldn’t head out onto the field for training until after the cameras were gone.

“My understanding is when they’re here, they’re not recording audio of me speaking,” he said. “I consider that a blatant intrusion, to be honest.”

The AFL was contacted by this masthead for comment.

Smith, who missed all of last year with an ACL tear, has had some hamstring tightness this season, but Scott emphasised that wasn’t the case currently.

“Even for the supporters – to mislead them into thinking Bailey’s likely not playing or might be under some doubt because of a hamstring, it’s just not the right thing to do,” he said.

“... The conversation was around exactly what he was going to do at training given he had a bit of a tight groin. So the extrapolation to a hamstring was wrong.”

Scott was adamant he didn’t mind the additional focus on, or “obsession” with, Smith.

“But I think it steps over the line when you imply that there’s an issue that doesn’t exist,” he said.

The Cats are enjoying a healthy list heading into the pointy end of the season, with Cam Guthrie and Jake Kolodjashnij also set to get some VFL match minutes this week.

“We are optimistic that we could have very close to full availability,” Scott said.

With a tight turnaround between the Power clash and next Friday’s game against Essendon, the Cats could look to manage players then.

The Cats (fourth, 52 points) can stay firmly in the race for a top-two berth with victory over Port.

“I think they have been quite open throughout the year that they have been looking to shift a few things,” Scott said.

“It keeps you on your toes because going in expecting what you’ve always got is dangerous against an opponent like that.”