Welcome to Collingwood, Coach Craig McRae

[Magpietothemax]

[BazBoy]

The Craig McRae era may well be The Era of Respect:::

Saturday it was John Nobles 26 birthday so as he adressed players before the match he bought out the cup cake and candle and acknowledged Johns day

We have as our coach a person with so much humility and respect to which I am so proud to be part of his era

[BenBronx]

Prior to the Port game I watched his SEN interview on YouTube. He seems to have such an enthusiasm for the game and comes across as such a likeable and intelligent person and wants to play an exciting brand of footy. I'll be honest I was never a big fan of Bucks as a coach (loved him as a player) and was hoping we'd have got rid of him sooner. I wanted Alastair Clarkson. But if that had happened we possibly/probably wouldn't currently have Fly as coach. Who knows what the future holds but I can say right now, hand on heart, there is no other coach I'd rather have at Collingwood.

For anyone who wants to see his interview it can be found here...

In-depth with Collingwood AFL coach Craig McRae - SEN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uwh_C4ghc0

[pietillidie]

He always gives good interviews, but by geez he's quality:

https://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/1296117/-we-re-just-trying-to-perform-every-week-mcrae?videoId=1296117&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1680264822001

[think better]

There are 3 moments that I think characterise the Mc Rae era so far

- When Howe was stretchered off the ground and every Collingwood player came over to him as he was being taken off

- When Maynard scrubbed the kick that caused an opposition goal and he and Markov chuckled about it (reminded me of playing grade footy and cracking up when someone really just stuffed up)

- the game today when half a dozen players stood up for Naicos after the Hoskin-Elliot goal

Such a positive environment for any player to be part of.

[Pies4shaw]

[KenH]

[Take_a_Screamer]

Here's a very big article about Collingwood era of the succession plan of 2009
Fly get's a mention at the end as Luke Ball was on the panel that selected him.

Fox Sports: It was the Pies’ ‘best of both worlds’ plan. Flag heroes open up on the challenges and their unique experiences
Ben Cotton, August 25th, 2023 11:09 am

...Fast forward even further to the present day and Ball holds a special current connection to the club, having been on the panel that selected Buckley’s successor, Craig McRae, at the end of 2021.

It’s proven to be an inspired choice, with McRae — arguably the game’s best-performed coach over the last two years — helping transform the club’s culture and leading its renaissance back to flag contention.

Asked what appealed to him about McRae during the selection process, Ball said: “I love how genuine he is, he’s very clear on what he values and who he is.

“He takes the time and make the effort, whereas a lot of us don’t. A lot of us seem to go 98 per cent of the way, but he seems to fully commit to what he’s doing.

“I also like the fact he’s got this dog about him too, which made him a great and underrated player. And he demands it of his players and urges them: ‘Win, lose or draw, we puff our chest out and act like winners,’ and I reckon that’s what we’ve seen.”

Ball admitted he now watches on as a “proud” former player with what’s been built under McRae, who served as an assistant coach at the Pies from 2011 to 2016, as the ladder-leading club sets out to win its first flag since that 2010 season despite patchy form in recent weeks.

“Not just of ‘Fly’ (McRae) — and he’d be the first to say — he’s only part of it and it’s the team he’s put around him as well and has them all in good positions,” Ball said.

“He’s got the place happy and clearly there’s a lot of talent there, too. At the moment, he’s getting the most out of it.

“I think they’re really well led, both on and off the field. It’s a pretty easy club to follow at the moment.

“It doesn’t guarantee you anything in the next month or so. But as a supporter, all you can ask is they have a crack and then you take the result. If they do that, what this year has shown is, more often than not, the result is going to be a good one.”

Link:
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/collingwood-magpies/afl-2023-collingwood-magpies-coaching-succession-plan-handover-from-nathan-buckley-to-mick-malthouse-historical-revisit-insights-from-former-players-luke-ball-sharrod-wellingham-latest/news-story/805471cb3230cae9ee68c3490332d276

[BenBronx]

It'll be his 50th birthday on the night of the Prelim. Hopefully we can celebrate it in style.

[pietillidie]

That was a coaching masterclass. See my comments in the post-match thread. So big is the advantage of winning that game, rolling the dice was well worthwhile.(In fact, in my view it wasn't really rolling the dice because we're nowhere near as good in the wet. But it was very bold and took a lot of guts).

Now, everyone including Nicky D. gets an extra week.

Winning is not always about playing your best football full stop. It's about playing your best football in the given circumstances: wet and unable to use our biggest strength, slick ball movement, while being a few powerful, mature bodies short for wet weather footy.

A greatly underrated win in my view.

[duggieboy]

[Jezza]

[BenBronx]

Collingwood coach Craig McRae in huge baby revelation ahead of AFL grand final
Credit: Yahoo Sport Australia
https://au.sports.yahoo.com/collingwood-coach-craig-mcrae-huge-baby-revelation-ahead-afl-grand-final-233346871.html


Craig McRae will have double the reason to celebrate if Collingwood wins the AFL grand final, with wife Gabrielle reportedly expecting their first child together. McRae will lead the Magpies into Saturday's grand final against Brisbane, which will see the two best teams all season collide in the decider.

In a wonderful twist for the Collingwood coach, it emerged over the weekend that he's also expecting with wife Gabrielle. According to the Herald Sun, Gabrielle is due in mid-October with what will be the couple's first child together.

The 50-year-old McRae married Gabrielle last year. He has two daughters - Charlie and Chelsea - from his first marriage. The coach was seen celebrating with Gabrielle and daughter Charlie in the Collingwood rooms after their preliminary final win over GWS on Friday night.

McRae isn't the only Magpie expecting a baby soon, with Jack Crisp revealing after the win over GWS that he wasn't sure if his wife had gone into labour yet. Crisp's wife Mikayla is 38 weeks pregnant with their third child, making for an unwanted dilemma heading into the grand final.

During an interview with Channel after the preliminary final, Crisp said: “Just need to go check on my wife and make sure she hasn’t gone into labour." The midfielder said Mikayla had given him her blessing to play in Saturday's decider.

“We’ve got a scan on Monday, we’ll see what happens,” he said. “We’ve got family down anyway. It’s Mickey’s idea not to miss. I’ll be playing next week.”

[swoop42]

Thank the Lord that Hardwick didn't decide to go sun his balls in Queensland 2 years earlier.

Thank God that Wright had the sense to seek McRae out. Ed wouldn't have.

Thank Christ he is all ours.

Young and old alike he's allowed us to believe that the dreams of Collingwood supporters really can come true.

Sweet 16. Equal. That means a lot to the many who have been hoping for a generation.

Thank you Craig.

[jonmac1954]

Fly, a man for the times.
A genuine, authentic person always looking build others up.
An enabler, a champion of inclusion and recognition.

He and Fages represent the new dawn of leadership amidst a sea of dinosaurs and "influencers".

The changes to our dear old club have been thorough and desperately needed.

The "do better" initiative started it all, then Wrighty coming back to the fold and finally the glue that holds us together Fly.

We are now so much more like the club my father loved than we have been for far too many decades, thank you Fly.