There haven’t been many players loved more by the Collingwood faithful than Mick McGuane. Over 158-games for the Magpies, McGuane was a consistent ball winner with a football brain sharper than most. He once accumulated 46-possessions in a match (against St Kilda in 1988), and was capable in front of the big sticks. McGuane was a regular in State of Origin football in the 1990s and was a pivotal part of Collingwood’s drought breaking 1990 premiership. He spoke to collingwoodfc.com.au on the eve of Saturday afternoon’s clash between his old clubs.
Collingwood premiership hero Mick McGuane says that modern day players will look back on their careers with a huge amount of satisfaction if they remain loyal to one club.
McGuane spent 10-years in the senior line up at Collingwood before he joined Carlton for one year in 1997, and understands that players such as Dale Thomas and Scott Pendlebury will have a lot on their minds should opposition clubs try and lure them away from the Westpac Centre.
“The way that footy’s going, quite clearly it’s a business,” McGuane told collingwoodfc.com.au for this week’s Official CFC MatchDay Program.
“But I don’t know what the money is being bandied around. Obviously security’s pretty important to people in life and they’ve got other objectives after their footy lives are finished.”
McGuane argues that the Magpie stars would find no greater club elsewhere, with the entire package Collingwood has to offer, including the promise of further success, more enticing than the dollars further afield.
“You wouldn’t get a better club than Collingwood, I can tell you that. The support mechanisms they’ve got in place now are outstanding.
“To me, it’s not about money, it’s about playing in a successful environment because you can relive those memories for many a day. You can spend money individually, but you can’t share it collectively, so that would probably be a little advice from my perspective.”
McGuane himself says that he never considered offers from elsewhere during his prime, when he won two successive Copeland Trophies.
“I always wanted to be a Collingwood player. I loved the joint. At the end of the day, a lot of people said to me in time that I could’ve got a lot more money elsewhere, but that to me was insignificant.
“I was always involved in two or three year contracts when I’d had significant years personally with back-to-back Copeland’s in 1992-1993, I had a pretty good year in ’90, and I was always committed to that club in that period.The 1990 premiership midfielder also believes that the Magpies are perfectly placed to create a dynasty and join the elite bracket of dominant clubs of the modern era.
“It’d be great to see those guys (Thomas and Pendlebury) go through this dynasty that they can clearly dominate the competition with. They can relive the Hawthorns of the 80s, West Coast of the early 90s; they were a terrific side.
“There was Essendon in 2000 and the Brisbane Lions and now Geelong. No doubt Collingwood has got the cattle at their disposal to be a magnificent force for many years to come. They’re a terrific team.”
Mick McGuane profile
Height: 186cm
Weight: 94kg
DOB: 29 December 1967
Recruited From: Sebastopol
Games: 155 (Collingwood 152; Carlton 3)
Goals: 129 (Collingwood 128; Carlton 1)
Debut: (Collingwood): Round 19 1987 v Footscray, Western Oval
Last Game: (Collingwood): Round 5 1996 v Essendon, MCG
Debut: (Carlton): Round 1 1997 v Essendon, MCG
Last Game: (Carlton): Round 3 1997 v Adelaide, Princes Park
Honours: Collingwood Premiership Side 1990, Copeland Trophy 1992; 1993, 2nd Copeland Trophy 1988, All-Australian 1992, Victorian State of Origin Side (4 matches), Goal of the Year 1994
