Steele Sidebottom Casts Secret Role In Collingwood Team Song After Wins

The Collingwood players don’t start singing their team song after a win until Steele Sidebottom says so.

Following Collingwood’s 14-point win over Richmond on Friday night, it was revealed that Sidebottom served as the instigator of his club’s famous song, “Good Old Collingwood Forever.”

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Steele Sidebottom reveals secret role in Collingwood team song.

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Like every team across the country, the Magpies players cross their arms in circles in the locker room after a win, but unlike any other team, the Collingwood players nearly silence each other when they’re all ready to break out in chorus.

And they stay that way—until Sidebottom says so.

It’s a role reminiscent of the famous, decades-old ‘song leader’ of the Australian men’s Test cricket team, currently being filled by Spinner champion Nathan Lyon.

After the Test victories, Lyon wakes up his teammates and coaching staff with an uplifting game before giving everyone the green light to break out in “Under the Southern Cross I Stand” to celebrate the win.

The late great Rod Marsh is credited with starting the tradition before it was passed down to some of the greats of Australian men’s cricket such as Allan Border, Ricky Ponting, Justin Langer and Mike Hussey before it reached Lyon.

Sidebottom doesn’t give his teammates an inspirational play ahead of the song, but he does push the button on it.

“All right BT, I want you to get to the bottom of that silence at the beginning of the song,” Channel 7 commentator James Brayshaw told Brian Taylor after the Magpies finished their song on Friday night.

“Who breaks it?” he added.

Coincidentally, Taylor then caught exactly the protagonist in question, Sidebottom.

“What’s with (the silence)?” asked Taylor Sidebottom.

“It probably happened early last year. It’s up to me; So when I’m ready to start the song, we start the song,” Sidebottom explained.

“I don’t know — it’s working right now, we’re singing it pretty regularly, so we’re going to keep going.”

MATCH CENTER: Get all the stats from Collingwood’s win over Richmond.

It’s the first time Collingwood have started a season 3-0 since 2011, when they faced eventual Premier Geelong in the grand final.

“Great start, (we have to) keep the ball going now,” Sidebottom said.