Craig McRae isn’t interested in predicting the AFL ladder but says Collingwood’s pride will dictate they finish the season strongly regardless of the finals equation.
The Magpies’ top-eight hopes are on the line when they renew hostilities with the Brisbane Lions – last year’s vanquished grand-final opponent – at the MCG on Saturday.
A loss to the fifth-placed Lions will end Collingwood’s hopes of claiming back-to-back premierships for the first time since 1935-36.
They must win their remaining games against Brisbane and Melbourne, while hoping other results fall their way in order to gatecrash the finals.
“I’m not really into the ladder predictor but apparently there is some chance,” Magpies coach McRae said.
“I’m not sure what that looks like but we can only control what we can.
“The players have got high energy and this club’s a proud one, so we want to finish well.”
Collingwood beat Brisbane by 20 points at the Gabba in round three, when both sides had made winless starts to the season and were under all sorts of pressure.
But plenty of water has gone under the bridge since then and McRae – a triple-premiership Lion under Leigh Matthews – is wary of a Brisbane side that won nine consecutive games before they were upset by GWS last week.
“We know that Brisbane’s best is really, really strong and we’ve got a great rivalry against the old mob now,” McRae said.
“That’s an exciting opportunity for us to go out and do it again.
Craig McRae isn’t interested in predicting the AFL ladder but says Collingwood’s pride will dictate they finish the season strongly regardless of the finals equation.
The Magpies’ top-eight hopes are on the line when they renew hostilities with the Brisbane Lions – last year’s vanquished grand-final opponent – at the MCG on Saturday.
A loss to the fifth-placed Lions will end Collingwood’s hopes of claiming back-to-back premierships for the first time since 1935-36.
They must win their remaining games against Brisbane and Melbourne, while hoping other results fall their way in order to gatecrash the finals.
“I’m not really into the ladder predictor but apparently there is some chance,” Magpies coach McRae said.
“I’m not sure what that looks like but we can only control what we can.
“The players have got high energy and this club’s a proud one, so we want to finish well.”
Collingwood beat Brisbane by 20 points at the Gabba in round three, when both sides had made winless starts to the season and were under all sorts of pressure.
But plenty of water has gone under the bridge since then and McRae – a triple-premiership Lion under Leigh Matthews – is wary of a Brisbane side that won nine consecutive games before they were upset by GWS last week.
“We know that Brisbane’s best is really, really strong and we’ve got a great rivalry against the old mob now,” McRae said.
“That’s an exciting opportunity for us to go out and do it again.
“We’ve learnt some really good lessons about what works well against them and then things that really hurt us when they get certain parts of their game going.”
McRae laughed off suggestions he could let Magpies star Nick Daicos go head-to-head with fellow Brownlow Medal fancy Lachie Neale.
“I’m not sure that’ll work. I’m not sure they’ll see each other too often,” McRae said.
“Lachie Neale’s a real weapon and I sort of really want to tag him but I don’t know how yet.
“Then there’s other parts (of Brisbane’s game), like Harris Andrews is a real threat and their uncontested marks are really high.
“If you give them the ball back it’s going to be hard to get it back off them.”
Brisbane could gain a portion of revenge on Collingwood for last year’s grand-final defeat by ending their rivals’ flag defence.
But Lions coach Chris Fagan’s focus is firmly on the big picture as his side aims to lock in a top-four spot and a double chance for the finals.
“You can build it up if you want to but for us it’s just another team we have to play against and we have to beat to try and help ourselves finish as high up the ladder as we can,” Fagan said.
“If that means that it finishes their finals opportunity, then that’s OK too.”
Brisbane have been bolstered by Eric Hipwood’s return after the key forward missed the past two weeks with groin soreness.
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