COLLINGWOOD president Eddie McGuire accepts that booing is part of the great theatre of an AFL game, but it should occur within the parameters of good sportsmanship.
A fired-up McGuire called on fans to stop booing at the football in the aftermath of the Pies’ stunning four-point Anzac Day win over Essendon at the MCG.
Skipper Scott Pendlebury was roundly booed by frustrated Bombers fans as he collected the Anzac Medal, leading to a swift rebuke from coach Nathan Buckley.
The incident comes on the back of the booing of Sydney Swans champion Adam Goodes and more recently Geelong superstar Gary Ablett.
West Coast’s Dom Sheed and Andrew Gaff were relentlessly booed by Collingwood fans at the MCG in round three and McGuire conceded it is a fine line between theatre and poor form in the stands.
“I like people to support, but I don’t mind the byplay as well,” McGuire told reporters on Friday.
“If somebody belts one of your players you’re going to boo him, it’s part of the pantomime.
“When one of your champions has gone to another club they get booed.
“At quarter-time or three-quarter time if you reckon you’re getting a bad run from the umpires people boo … that’s part of the colour. This is going to the football – let’s not be silly about it.
“But when it becomes personal or unsportsmanlike just pull back a bit.
“That’s all we need to do – just get people to embrace what the game is all about.”
It didn’t help that the Bombers were on the end of some contentious umpiring decisions at the end of the enthralling encounter in front of just over 92,000 fans.
While McGuire’s ire was directed at the Essendon faithful on Thursday he doesn’t hold a grudge, and called on AFL fans to come together to make going to the football a more positive experience.
“The Essendon supporters were pretty fizzed up,” McGuire said.
“It was a tight game and they’ve gone through some hard times, so we show a bit of empathy there and I think we’ll see the empathy come back the other way.
“I think what we do now is we go and celebrate the game.
“If we can have the spirit of sportsmanship for all of our champions then I think that portrays us in a good light and sets up a really good example for people coming behind us, particularly kids.”
© AAP 2019
