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.
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?”