McGuire grilled on rumours linking him to AFL’s top job
Eddie McGuire has thrown his support behind the embattled chairman of the AFL Commission Craig Drummond, saying he has no interest in replacing him in the league’s top job.
Drummond, who has only recently started in the role, replacing the outgoing Richard Goyder, has found himself in hot water given he was president of Geelong in 2024 when Jake Kolodjashnij signed a waiver making him responsible for any future concussion-related injuries suffered playing for the club.
Eddie McGuire speaks on links to joining the AFL Commission. Nine
This waiver was not lodged with the AFL, AFLPA or his management, but was revealed in a bombshell story by News Corp last week.
The AFL is currently weighing up how to sanction the Cats, with Drummond awkwardly now caught between both parties.
Journalists and former players, including former Collingwood captain Tony Shaw, have called for Drummond to resign, saying they feel his position is untenable.
On Monday, it was floated by SEN that McGuire would be sounded out as a potential replacement for the chairman role, should it come to that.
With that in mind, James Hird and Cal Twomey grilled McGuire about his links to the role on Tuesday night.
The former Collingwood president confirmed he has been contacted about potentially joining the commission, but not as chairman.
“Yes I have,” he confirmed on Nine’s Footy Classified.
“But people always ring up.
“This is the great thing about journalism. Jay Clark breaks the story, everyone else then goes ‘what’s the next story’, so they’re sacking Drummond and I was the chairman by Sunday and I wasn’t even in the country.”
McGuire clarified that Drummond has his full support as chairman of the AFL Commission.
“Not the chairman. I said tonight, Craig Drummond will be the chairman,” he said.
“I said this last time when Richard Goyder was leaving. I love football. If I was offered, if they thought I had some skills to provide football, of course I’d give myself up every time.
“Once it becomes a paid position I’d think about it really,” McGuire joked.
Geelong could face a six-figure fine for the indiscretion, though it appears unlikely Drummond himself will face any scrutiny.
