Scandals continue to haunt Soloman’s Soldiers latest recruit, Jordan De Goey as news unfolds that De Goey lied to the club about his latest injury setback. De Goey originally told the club he had injured his hamstring during a VFL training session on Tuesday night (6/3/18). It has since been revealed that this was lie in a bid to skip training sessions.
This scandal comes on the back of a number of misconduct offences in De Goey’s short Ultimate Footy career. In February, he was caught drink driving after the P-plater returned a blood-alcohol reading of 0.095 after a random breath test in Port Melbourne. Former coach Adam Ritchie came down hard on the lad banning him from alcohol for the rest of the Ultimate Footy season, fining him $10,000 and directing him to find employment away from the club for at least four weeks. While almost 12 months earlier he told the club he had broken his hand playing with his dog, before it later emerged he had actually done so in a bar fight.
Only weeks into his suspension, De Goey and team mate Angus Brayshaw were traded to the Soldiers in exchange draft picks, including a 2nd rounder from the Soldiers.
When asked about why De Goey lied about his suspension, he replied “he was reserving his energy for the future, when the training is required”
“Yeah, I lied about my injury. I’m not proud of that” De Goey told Ultimate Footy media “I’d been pretty flat after my suspension and getting traded. Then I arrived at my new club, and got greeted by a couple of high-schoolers. I later found out they were my new leadership group. I guess I was expecting a different Patty D in the leadership group. Our two guiding mantra’s at the club were “Trust the Process” and “Hang in there, baby”. Half our training sessions are ‘homework time’ so the boys can all get their SACE. I’d just been out busting my backside in ‘the real world’, and I feel like I’m back in school!
“I just felt like my skills weren’t needed yet. Why do all these training sessions and put in the hard yards now, for no reward. It’s all about prolonging my career. Look at the tortoise, they barely move at all and they live to 100! I’m reserving my energy for the future, when the training is required.”
“I’d been to Middle Earth for a holiday and thought I’d check out the new upgrades and developments they’re doing there. You should see the brand new Sparkles Stadium it’s best-in-class, heaps of seating, massive gym area, and free candy machines in all the club rooms. Plus you should see the lighting, it makes Ikon Park look pitch black. While Shire Scourers’ have decked out all their club rooms with Hobbit holes, which give off this warm, homey vibe that would definitely keep you calm before the game. In comparison, our club rooms aren’t even finished yet, so even the builders figure they’ve got a few years up their sleeve.
When pushed on why he used an injury as his way out of training, De Goey had this to say.
“I would’ve gone with an ACL, you know something that’d put you out for a good 12-18 months, but I thought that’d draw a bit too much suspicion. I’d hate to do a Conner Blakely and get caught surfing with that excuse. So I went an ankle tweak. I was tossing up between a thumb sprain or a groin next, or better still pull a Jamie Elliott and go an indeterminate length injury, like Pars Defect. Just enough to keep you out of footy, but still lets you function. I guess it’s all hypotheticals now that the truth is out.”
Officially welcomed into the Soldier’s fold after what he had achieved at the Salvation Army, the manual labour he had done away from the club, the training intensity he had shown at the VFL and the remorse that was quite clear in his behaviour in the short term, this latest misconduct has media wondering how severe the punishment will be. Soloman’s Soldiers coach Alex Bridge is yet to comment on this latest development or further actions.
“We’ll wait and see what the club says. I’m not too worried if I miss games. Just less training would be nice.”