The Collingwood Football Club is disappointed to confirm that Jordan De Goey injured his right hand in an incident at a St Kilda bar last Friday night.
De Goey had surgery on his hand late yesterday and is expected to miss up to a month of football.
The 21 year-old, having first offered the club an explanation for the injury that proved to be untrue, came forward with an accurate account of the cause of the injury late on Monday night.
He met with senior club officials this morning and laid bare his situation to the three-man leadership group of captain Scott Pendlebury and vice-captains Steele Sidebottom and Taylor Adams.
As a result, his peers, with the complete support of the club, have imposed the following penalties:
- A fine of $5000
- A three match AFL suspension to be served after he has fully recovered from his injury
- 10 weeks of service with a community organisation
Beyond these penalties, it was made plain to De Goey that the trust he has lost through this episode won’t be easily regained. De Goey insists that alcohol was not involved in what transpired on Friday night.
“Jordan is a young man who made a mistake. That is one thing. The issue we have had to deal with over the last 24 hours is how he compounded that by misleading his teammates, coaches and all of the other people at Collingwood who are here to help him be the best player and person he can be,” GM of Football, Geoff Walsh, said.
“He now has the challenge in front of him to win back the confidence and trust he has lost. We hope that Jordan will turn this moment in his career to his advantage by committing to being an outstanding footballer, team-mate and ambassador for the club.”
De Goey will be available for VFL selection once his hand has recovered. His apology to the Collingwood squad and the broader club will be available on collingwoodfc.com.au later on Tuesday afternoon.
