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\u201cThis is the first time I\u2019ve come on after a loss. It sucks,\u201d McRae said on Fox Footy\u2019s AFL 360 after the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s small margins in all this and small margins between ladder positions. We\u2019re process-driven, we\u2019re here to quality and we\u2019ll just do our best right now to get ourselves in a position to attack whatever\u2019s left in the season. There\u2019s plenty of the season left in us.\u201d<\/p>\n
But asked how hard it was to qualify now with just five wins after Round 13, McRae said: \u201cOne at a time. That\u2019s all you can do.<\/p>\n
The Magpies look dejected after losing the round 13 AFL match. Picture: Quinn Rooney\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI said to the players we get a little reset now and we\u2019ll come back and what we can control is how we turn up on the Monday when we\u2019re back and we go from there. There\u2019s a level of improvement in us, I know this. I stress there\u2019s a belief in our playing group that our best is good enough \u2013 and it doesn\u2019t matter who it is (we play). <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to find out about a couple of players on our list, definitely. But also we\u2019ve got to make sure the system stacks up, because our fans come here to watch us play well. Again, we\u2019re putting ourselves in games, but we\u2019re not quite finishing them off.\u201d<\/p>\n
McRae later added: \u201cWhile there\u2019s a breath, we\u2019re going to be taking all the oxygen we can. We believe and we\u2019ll keep striving to get better every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The eight-point loss to Melbourne was Collingwood\u2019s fourth loss by a single-figure margin this year. The team also came away with only a draw against Hawthorn after Dylan Moore tied the scores after the siren.<\/p>\n
King gives update on Mihocek injury | 09:53<\/p>\n
Collingwood was known for its composure and execution in close finishes when it won the flag in 2023, but has lost its spark in the same scenarios.<\/p>\n
But McRae said the comparison to that premiership side was \u201csomewhat unfair\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 2023 trophy is already in the cabinet with scratches on it,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re comparing us to that, that one is already in the bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a different team, these are different lessons we need to learn, repeating some of the behaviours. But also the competition has improved in this area.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just small margins \u2026 it just shows us where we\u2019re at as a group. Our best is really good and then we have moments \u2026 there\u2019s so many little things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brayden Maynard of the Magpies. Picture: Quinn Rooney\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
McRae said he was expecting Brayden Maynard to several weeks after dislocating his shoulder twice on King\u2019s Birthday.<\/p>\n
Maynard hobbled to the interchange early, dragging his right shoulder and in obvious discomfort. The hard-nosed defender emerged quickly from the rooms and showed signs of a remarkable recovery before he went down again before halftime.<\/p>\n
\u201cBruzzy\u2019s shoulder popped out \u2013 and it\u2019s just incredible, because most people are done for the day,\u201d he said. \u201cI turn around and say to \u2018Crispy\u2019 (Jack Crisp): \u2018You\u2019re going to have to go down back, mate\u2019 \u2026 and then the next minute Bruzzy is there getting back on the ground. I\u2019m going: \u2018This guy is insane!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an incredible leader for us. His body is failing him in his area and then he goes back on and does it again. But the minutes before he did it again, he was playing so tough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mihocek in trouble from dangerous tackle | 00:26<\/p>\n
Asked about the decision to send Maynard back on, McRae said: \u201cYoung Will Hayes popped his shoulder out a few weeks ago and there\u2019s a process of strengthening it up, see how it goes and if it goes again you have an operation. That\u2019s probably my layman\u2019s view of probably how it works.<\/p>\n
\u201cBruzzy is a different beast, so I don\u2019t know \u2026 but I assume there\u2019s enough damage now that we\u2019d ask a question whether he needs an operation or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 with NCA NewsWire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Collingwood coach Craig McRae remains fiercely optimistic his side can still make a splash in 2026, declaring: \u201cWhile…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,689,55,639,3423,37346,35347,10143,350230,323872,283552,12111,281289,2105,42717,315362,343123,647,7804,677,47876,85,79260,350445,350268,660],"class_list":["post-723618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-ben-waterworth","tag-brayden-maynard","tag-conference-video","tag-craig-mcrae","tag-dangerous-tackling-action","tag-defiant-coach","tag-demons-coach","tag-dylan-moore","tag-eight-point-loss","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-jack-crisp","tag-ladder-positions","tag-match-press-conference","tag-melbourne","tag-melbourne-demons","tag-oceania","tag-premiership-side","tag-sports","tag-steven-king","tag-system-stacks","tag-urges-critics","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}