A sombre Craig McRae has opened up on fears that his side’s method “wasn’t the right one” on the back of Collingwood’s heart-breaking three-point loss to Sydney on Friday night.
Despite leading by 27 points five minutes into the last quarter, the reigning premiers relinquished their lead on the back of five unanswered goals from the Swans, all but ending their hopes of a surprise September appearance.
The loss leaves them stranded on 10 wins with two draws; meaning they will need to win both remaining games against the in-form Brisbane next week and Melbourne, while also hoping for a Carlton capitulation and the Hawks to stop their run of wins.
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In his true transparent form – despite the defeat – McRae begun his press conference by praising rival midfielder Isaac Heeney for his efforts across the game, but particularly in the last quarter.
“Isaac Heeney was pretty special, wasn’t he?” McRae said.
“He was amazing – I don’t think I’ve seen him play an impactor game like that in a quarter, (it was) unbelievable.”
The 2023 premiership coach then dissected the loss, noting both how well the Swans finished but also some notable trends.
“I’m just reflecting myself now without the vision in front of me, but you’re thinking: ‘Maybe the method’s not the right one,” continued McRae.
“Credit to Sydney, they really got their game going from contests, and here we are.
“Last week it was Patty Cripps this week, it was Isaac Heeney. Chasing a lead versus holding onto a lead, I reckon most coaches will be sitting there right now going: ‘What do we need to do different?’ Because not many are doing it well.
“Last week we just hung on by fingernails and tonight we didn’t; we’ll have some reflection around that.”
Having lost the first three games of the 2024 season, the Magpies were essentially backs to the wall from the get-go.
A Round 3 win over Brisbane kick-started a run of eight games where they went unbeaten (two of which were draws), and saw them jump to seventh on the ladder – getting as high as third after Round 14 in the bye rounds before falling back out of the eight by Round 17.
“It hurts, it really hurts. To play well and then let a game go like that, it hurts,” McRae explained.
“I’m sure our fans at home are hurting, and we’re no different; we’re human – we have emotions to attach to this, it means a lot to a lot of people.
“It doesn’t feel comfortable right now sitting in this chair, because there’s a lot at stake in these games isn’t there?”
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The Pies were able to match it with the Swans around stoppage, in contested ball and against former Magpie Brodie Grundy in the ruck – with no glaring issue in their game plan.
But the impact of Chad Warner (33 disposals, eight clearances, two goals) and Heeney (32 disposals, nine inside 50s, seven clearances, one goal) was profound; particularly in the final term when the game was Collingwood’s to lose.
“We’ve openly talked about what winning (behaviours) look like, and then losing behaviours; and I think blaming is a real losing behaviour; so, I’m wrestling with that at the moment. Wrestling with trying to blame others, or blame the umpires or blame whatever – because that’s really difficult when you lose,” McRae finished by saying.
“I just think this this competition is such a hard one; there’s small margins between everything – and the Swans are a very good team, they’re sitting on top of the ladder for a reason.
“For most part of the night, we did a lot right – and maybe that’s what’s hurting us the most, is that we didn’t get the job done.”
The Pies have the tough task of knocking off the competition’s most in-form team in Brisbane next Saturday evening if they are even the slightest chance of still playing in September, but for the most part, it will be all left to the fate of rival clubs Carlton, Hawthorn and Essendon.
Source Agencies
