EXCLUSIVE: AFL legend unpacks Eddie's 'laughable' response to Sidebottom ban

Port Adelaide legend Warren Tredrea has taken apart Collingwood's "laughable" response to Steele Sidebottom's COVID-19 breaches.

The Magpies and their president Eddie McGuire have come under fire this week for the way they responded to the four-week ban handed down to Sidebottom by the AFL.

Tredrea called out the double-standard in McGuire's reaction to Sidebottom's transgression compared to his reaction when rival players had breached the league's COVID-19 laws.

"I found it quite amusing," he told Wide World of Sports' Talk of the Town.

"There is no way to excuse his behaviour, and as much as you want to support your player, I thought it was quite laughable.

"Being proud of him? Well, I don't think any club would be proud once they heard what had happened.

"For people who say four weeks was too much, and particularly Collingwood, I thought their statement was ridiculous.

"If you look at what he's done, there's the AFL rules he's broken, there's the protocols he's broken, and clearly he's lost his way.

"(McGuire) was very quick to say people have put the TV rights and the game at risk, well that's exactly what Steele Sidebottom did.

"He's owned his mistake, clearly, but I thought Collingwood could have been a little bit tougher and not so supportive, when realistically he has stuffed up big-time."

However, despite his criticism of the Collingwood president, Tredrea was quick to note the profound impact McGuire has had on the game.

"Don't get me wrong, he's been great for football," he said.

"When you launched The Footy Show all those years ago, he gave footy a boost it's never had

"He's clearly conflicted in this, and I actually found some of the argument, it was that obvious he was trying to bat for his club and his player.

"It was a little bit laughable because Matty Lloyd called him out three times for his conflict and his inconsistencies in his argument."