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Magpies' situation goes from bad to worse

3 minute read

Former AFL legal adviser Jeff Browne's bid to become Collingwood's president has been shot down by current club board member Jodie Sizer.

Collingwood's board room civil war continues to get ugly with Magpies director Jodie Sizer vowing not to serve under the leadership of challenger Jeff Browne.

A former Nine Network managing director, Browne finally went public on Tuesday with his plan to become Magpies president after weeks of speculation about him plotting a challenge.

But his declaration was quickly shot down by the current Collingwood board, with a joint statement issued on Wednesday slamming Browne's "coup driven by personal ambition".

Sizer, one of Australia's foremost Indigenous leaders, went a step further on Thursday.

"I wouldn't be serving under the leadership of someone of Jeff Browne, who's coming together with an agenda of power and privilege," Sizer told SEN.

"...it does look to me that it (Browne's challenge) represents the old boys' club trying to make calls about what happens without full consideration to the complexities of a modern sporting organisation."

Browne, 66, wants to replace Mark Korda as president and install three allies on the club's seven-member board.

Korda has said he would be willing to again meet with Browne to avoid a "divisive and distracting campaign", which has the potential to result in the spill of the board at an extraordinary general meeting.

Magpies member David Hatley has already collected enough signatures to bring about an EGM.

A board spill would be the last thing Collingwood need after a simply disastrous eight months since their semi-final loss to Geelong.

The Magpies sit 16th with a 2-9 record as Nathan Buckley's future as coach continues to be a major talking point.

After being forced into trading star midfielder Adam Treloar, dangerous forward Jaidyn Stephenson and dependable wingman Tom Phillips during last year's trade period, there could be more pain ahead.

"There's still a hangover in relation to the salary cap. We've still got some issues we're dealing with there, but they're not insurmountable at all," Wright told SEN.

"There hasn't been any conversation at the moment about how we look at the list and exactly what we're going to do.

"The club last year lost about 1300 games of experience with guys retiring plus the trade (period).

"We've just brought in another two players in (during the mid-season draft) who haven't played AFL footy so the age demographic has gone down considerably."

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