Craig McRae after Collingwood’s loss to Fremantle in R19, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

COLLINGWOOD has suffered its first back-to-back losses for the season, but coach Craig McRae isn’t too fazed by his side’s lead at the top of the ladder being cut to just two points.

The Magpies went down to Fremantle by one point on Sunday afternoon at the MCG, following their six-point loss to Gold Coast last week.

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McRae took plenty of positives out of the loss and heaped praise on the Dockers, even suggesting their fast ball movement in the final quarter – when they kicked four consecutive goals to win the game – was a blueprint for Justin Longmuir’s side in the run to finals.

“I had this real inner trust and belief that we were doing enough right in the game, all game … the pressure was there,” McRae said.

“We had a lot of good stuff. And saying all that, it shows how, in our eyes, we thought Fremantle were really, really good when they needed to. When they needed to get the job done, they really came hard.

“They play a good brand of footy when they’re up and going fast, isn’t it? Maybe they should play a bit more of that at times. It’s a good version of them.”

Longmuir added his side proactively moved the ball faster in the final term.

“We tried to open up the game a little bit at three-quarter time and I thought we were a bit braver with the ball, especially with our hands, and created some opportunities,” he said.

“Probably outside of periods in the third quarter, every time we went forward, we looked dangerous. Our forward line worked really well.

“So we knew if we could get enough supply, we’d be able to hit the scoreboard and got a little bit more supply in the last quarter.”

While lamenting his side’s inability to hit the scoreboard, particularly in the third quarter, McRae said he is happy for his team to be learning some lessons now rather than in September.

“This is one of those games where you look at, ‘OK, we’ve got some work to do’, and I’d rather be learning those lessons now than learn them later on in the year,” he said.

“It just didn’t feel like we connected that well this week again. But it’s one of those hard games when you dominate so much of the territory, you’re winning it back, and you’re going into such density, so it makes it really hard to score.

“I can’t help but feel frustrated in that game, because you feel like you’ve done so much right, and then you don’t get the nourishment of a four-point win.”

The Magpies dominated inside 50s in the third term but were only able to score one goal from their 20 entries.

“There’s many layers to it, but … our connection inside 50 wasn’t at the level it has been,” he said.

“I did feel like we were dominating the game, and we probably didn’t get the scoreboard – again, I’m using that word nourishment – but the reward for effort. That definitely felt that way.”

Longmuir lauded his side’s “gutsy” win, but it came at a cost with midfielder Matthew Johnson leaving the ground late with an ankle injury.

“He’s sore, felt a crack. So he’s on crutches. Not a good sign, but don’t want to go too early with it,” Longmuir said.

“The crunching sound can mean a bit. It can mean a break. It can mean just to give that ankle a real wrench. So it’s not looking great for him.”

Despite the injury to Johnson, it was a satisfying day for Longmuir as his side beat Collingwood at the MCG for the first time since 2019.

“Coming here and playing against the best team in the comp, I think we did it against Melbourne a couple of years ago when they had won 10 in a row … it’s never easy,” he said.

“You come and play the Magpie Army as well as the team, and they’re obviously playing good footy so it was really gutsy to be able to hang in there all day and then come to life in the last quarter.”