Collingwood football boss’ departure confirmed after backlash over holiday photos with family
Collingwood have confirmed Graham Wright won’t be returning as their football boss after the club granted him leave to take a sabbatical overseas with his family, which drew the ire of some sections of the AFL community. Wright hadn’t stepped down from his role but has been in the United States and Europe with his wife Tracey since March.
The 56-year-old wanted a break and actually offered his resignation to the club, but it was instead decided that Wright would take a year off and come back refreshed. Wright helped mastermind Collingwood’s premiership triumph last year following 35-straight years involved in the AFL – first as a player, then in various off-field roles.
The Magpies were hopeful Wright would remain in the role after his break, but the club confirmed on Monday that he won’t be returning. “We have been in constant discussions with Graham during his sabbatical and both of us have agreed that Graham be free to pursue new opportunities to further develop his already distinguished career,” Magpies president Jeff Browne said. “All of us at Collingwood wish Graham, his wife Tracey and children James and Ethan all the best and every success for the next chapter.”
It comes after Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes criticised Wright for posting photos of his holiday on social media when his club were struggling so badly. Collingwood are set to become the third reigning premier in four seasons to miss out on the finals, and are only a mathematical chance to finish inside the top eight heading into the final round of the regular season.
Cornes thought it was a poor look for Wright to be drawing attention to his holiday when he was still technically employed in the role. “If he’s out, he’s out,” Cornes said on Channel 9 program ‘Footy Classified’ last month. “Let’s just pay him to go on a holiday and watch his Instagram clips as we’re sitting 12th on the ladder and trying to qualify for finals.
“I don’t think we begrudge anyone for going on holiday and having a break, it’s a pretty intense industry. But to see the images of him on holiday from his Instagram account, I don’t think it’s a great look when you’ve got your head of footy on holiday, posting pictures on Instagram and your side is sitting in 12th.”
When the Magpies announced Wright was taking a sabbatical last December, Collingwood chief executive Craig Kelly said the club wanted to “normalise this type of leave for our key people”. During Wright’s absence, the club has undertaken a back-room shuffle and his crucial role was mostly filled by assistant coach Brendon Bolton.
Last month, Essendon great Matthew Lloyd said he believes the front office changes have impacted Collingwood on the field. “The game stops for no one, Collingwood in this situation then changed everyone’s roles,” he said. “Assistant coaches changed their positions, (coaching director) Brendan Bolton changed his position, Justin Leppitsch changed his position – too much change. It just shows you need everything to go right to win a flag, they got that right last year but they haven’t this year.”
Panthers in unlikely NRL finals drama as staggering Nathan Cleary detail comes to light after Raiders loss
The Panthers are in danger of potentially dropping to fourth on the NRL ladder – and finishing the round in third – after the absence of Nathan Cleary was felt in their shock loss to the Raiders on Saturday. Melbourne wrapped-up the minor premiership on Saturday with their spine firing on all cylinders against the Dolphins, but the Panthers were uncharacteristically poor in the nation’s capital.
Missing Cleary due to his shoulder injury, the Raiders outmuscled the reigning premiers and late tries to Albert Hopoate and Xavier Savage sealed the victory. Brad Schneider let Jarome Luai run the show, but the Panthers couldn’t settle throughout the contest.
Luai’s pass was intercepted with a minutes to go to seal the victory for the Raiders and leave coach Ricky Stuart pleased. “I know they got that in them,” Stuart said after bouncing back from a brutal loss the week earlier.
“Last week was not us and I don’t know where it comes from. I don’t think I’ve been as embarrassed last week as I have all the times I’ve coached here All week I’ve told them you owe this club and this jumper a performance. I must say they paid the fans back, they paid the club back ten-fold in their performance.”
While Stuart was pleased, Panthers coach Ivan Cleary remained calm after the shock result. “I’m honestly not too worried about that,” the mild-mannered Cleary said.
“We’ve had years in the past where this time of year we’re kicking around and waiting for the finals to start, so it’s definitely not going to be like that this year. What’s important is we hit the finals playing well. At the moment we’re not playing well enough.”
And without Cleary for the remainder of the regular season, before he returns in the finals, the Panthers face a tricky situation. The Panthers have only won four of their last 11 games without Cleary. The halfback’s injury means the Panthers will head into the finals below the performance level where they want to be. The Panthers lost to Manly in round five without Cleary this year, before going down to the Warriors in round 11. They lost to the Dragons in round 13, before a defeat to the Cowboys.
Cleary’s return date is also unclear. The Panthers won’t want to rush Cleary back into the team with a top four finish just about confirmed, but his presence is clearly important for the squad. This leaves the coaching staff with a huge decision on when is the best time for the halfback to return.
The Panthers are also in slight danger of finishing in fourth position. The Roosters and the Sharks are only two points behind the Panthers with a game in hand. If both win, they will be level with the Panthers with two games to go.
Penrith have two favourable games to finish the season when the host the Rabbitohs before facing the Titans in the last round. Although a slip-up could open the door for the Roosters and Sharks. Finishing third or fourth would be a blow for the reigning champions considering they would miss out on a home first up finals round at BlueBet Stadium.
The Roosters face the Titans and have two favourable match-ups to finish the season. Three wins and a favourable for and against would see the Roosters finish in second this year.
