A humorous pre-match address from Collingwood coach Craig McRae proved just the tonic to inspire the Magpies to a season-defining win over Adelaide.
With the red-hot Crows surging towards a top-four berth, the Pies produced a dominant second half, booting ten goals to four to turn a 27-point deficit midway through the second quarter into a famous 34-point triumph.
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Speaking to Fox Footy’s Mark Howard and Jack Riewoldt after a result that pushes the club to seventh on the ladder and gives them hope of an unlikely surge into the top six, McRae had one explanation for the stunning performance.
Unity.
“There’s a period of every game that you play where you just have to hang in,” the 2023 premiership coach said.
“This group’s got an ability to do that over a number of years now. When the arm wrestle’s on, [we’ve] got to hang in there for the fight.”
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McRae defends Quaynor after crowd boos | 10:01
A trip to the Adelaide Oval is among the toughest in footy – and with Magpies defender Isaac Quaynor controversially booed throughout the night by Crows supporters, things could scarcely have been more hostile for the visitors.
But vision capturing laughs aplenty in the Pies rooms during an address from McRae to the entire playing squad and support staff before the game shows the team were undaunted by the challenge.
Central to the speech, McRae revealed post-match, was acknowledging Quaynor’s 150th game and Jordan De Goey’s 200th appearance in black and white – with both going on to play key roles in the victory.
“I just talked about how certain things travel with you, and one of them’s our spirit,” the 52-year old said.
“That’s ours: how we look after each other, how we pick each other up, celebrate those things.
“Just talking about Jordy’s 200th game and Q’s [Quaynor], celebrating those things.
“I try to be a bit funny at times, I don’t quite hit all the time. There were a couple of little laughs!”
Magpies players loved Craig McRae’s pre-match address.Source: Fox Sports
Coming off a five-day break following a vital win over Carlton in Round 19, even McRae thought the challenge of taking down a Crows team coming off a stirring victory of their own over Sydney at the SCG was a daunting one.
“Honestly, I would have thought we were long odds to beat the Crows tonight,” he admitted.
“Playing them over here, the way they’ve been playing, their pressure, the squad they’ve got in.
“We’ve got some young guys finding their way and we’re playing like a team.”
Earlier, Collingwood had looked utterly outclassed as the Crows, on the back of five first-half goals from twin towers Taylor Walker and Riley Thilthorpe, ruled the skies at either end of the ground.
In attack, the Pies’ own talls were unable to exert any influence, with Josh Worrell (three intercept marks in the second quarter alone) repelling their forward forays time and again.
“This is becoming men versus boys,” David King said on Fox Footy after a Thilthorpe contested mark and goal pushed the Crows’ lead to 27 points midway through the second term.
“They just look to have taken total control of the air.”
McRae on Quaynor boos | 00:50
But aside from a brief stint up forward for Jeremy Howe late in the half, which yielded a vital goal, McRae and the Magpies’ coaching staff backed the players to turn it around after the main break.
And it paid dividends.
“We showed some footage around our forwards getting a bit starved, so they got a bit desperate and they started getting up the ground a bit too high,” McRae said.
“Every time we won it under pressure, we were kicking back to the interceptors – some of those players are some of the best in the comp.
“Our contest balance was really out of whack for periods, so we talked about trying to get that right.
Craig McRae celebrates Collingwood’s win with young forward Charlie West. (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
“For our forwards, it was about [being] a bit more patient, let the game come to you a bit more, and then a couple of little subtle shifts around positioning.”
A core element of McRae’s message, as he revealed to Fox Footy, was the belief that a 15-4 free kick count at the main break – which the coach described as “pretty horrendous” – would eventually turn their way.
“I said to the players ‘that’s got to turn, that’s just a number’,” he said.
“We were still winning the contest, I think from memory, with that number being so far out of whack.”
The faith McRae showed in his charges extended to the trust placed in his crew of veterans to perform off a short turnaround.
Having been questioned over his resting of games record holder Scott Pendlebury earlier in the season, the 38-year old was backed in under the Thursday night lights, as was Steele Sidebottom.
As with every other rein the master coach pulled at the Adelaide Oval, it came up trumps.
With 29 disposals and 23 disposals respectively, only Nick Daicos won more of the footy among the Pies than Pendlebury and Sidebottom, with their calm decision-making and sharp ball use standing out amid the frenetic pressure of the first three quarters.
“We haven’t had a great record with our older players after five days and turning it around, so we were conscious of that,” McRae said.
“I went to every one of them [and asked] how you’re feeling. We want to be fit to perform not just fit to play.
“’Pendles’ says ‘no, I want to play’ and Steele goes ‘no, I’m ready to go, I feel great’.”
Scott Pendlebury celebrates a Collingwood goal with Nick Daicos. (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
McRae added that youngster Sam Swadling, who was rested after an impressive first five games, was likely to return for the Pies’ crunch clash with Geelong next Thursday night.
“He’s one of the youngest in the squad and we thought this was going to be a really high contest game,” the coach said of the 19-year old.
“We’d love to get him back in as early as next week.”
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That Cats contest looms as pivotal in deciding the make-up of the top six, with the Pies, at worst, giving themselves the inside running on a home wildcard final should they win.
And ahead of a difficult final month of the home-and-away season featuring blockbusters against Hawthorn and Brisbane at the MCG, Collingwood might have just given themselves enough of a buffer to ride out the storm.
One thing’s for sure: no one is going to want to face Fly’s Pies when September rolls around.