Craig McRae (born 22 September 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer and the current senior coach of the Collingwood Football Club.
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Craig McRae | |||
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Personal information | |||
Full name | Craig McRae | ||
Nickname(s) | Fly | ||
Date of birth | (1973-09-22) 22 September 1973 (age 49) | ||
Place of birth | South Australia | ||
Original team(s) | Glenelg (SANFL) | ||
Draft | No. 22, 1993 Pre-season Draft, Brisbane Bears | ||
Height | 176 cm (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Weight | 72 kg (159 lb) | ||
Club information | |||
Current club | Collingwood (head coach) | ||
Playing career1 | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
1995–1996 | Brisbane Bears | 039 0(56) | |
1997–2004 | Brisbane Lions | 156 (176) | |
Total | 195 (232) | ||
Representative team honours | |||
Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
1999 | South Australia | 1 | |
International team honours | |||
1999 | Australia | 2 | |
Coaching career3 | |||
Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
2022– | Collingwood | 25 (17–8–0) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2004. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of the 2022 season. | |||
Career highlights | |||
Playing
Coaching
| |||
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com |
Originally from South Australian National Football League club Glenelg, McRae was drafted by AFL club Brisbane as the 22nd pick in the 1994 draft and had an immediate impact, kicking two goals in his first game in 1995, and played every game of that year. McRae was renowned for his ability to kick goals from not only beyond the fifty metre line, but also for his scouting of the ball spilled from the hands of taller players.
McRae was known for his determination and fierce tackling skills. The respected small forward/goalsneak retired from professional football after the 2004 Grand Final loss to Port Adelaide, which included playing in Brisbane's 2001, 2002 and 2003 premierships.[1]
In 2007 McRae served as Player Development Coach with the Richmond Football Club.[2] Midway through the 2009 AFL season, McRae took up the head coaching position at Richmond's VFL affiliate club Coburg, when their former coach and fellow Richmond AFL assistant Jade Rawlings was appointed caretaker head coach at Richmond.
In 2010, McRae took up a development coach position at the Brisbane Lions, before joining Collingwood as head of development in 2011. He remained at the club for five seasons.[3][4]
He returned to Richmond in 2016, serving as an AFL assistant coach and head coach of the club's reserves side in the VFL. He took the side to a losing grand final in 2017, before winning a premiership in 2019 in the same year he won the VFL's coach of the year award and the AFL coaches' association's assistant coach of the year award.[5] In 2021, McRae joined the Hawthorn Football Club to serve as forward line coach.[6]
In September 2021, McRae returned to the Collingwood Football Club, when he was appointed as senior coach ahead of the 2022 AFL season.[7][8][9] McRae replaced caretaker senior coach Robert Harvey, who replaced Nathan Buckley, after Buckley stepped down in the middle of the 2021 season.[10][11][12] In just his first season in charge, he led Collingwood to success, winning 16 games and finishing the 2022 season in 4th place, after they finished 17th the previous season. Out of their wins, 10 were by less than two goals.[13] In the finals series, Collingwood reached the preliminary finals, where they lost to Sydney by one point after trailing by 23 points at the beginning of the last quarter.[14]
G |
Goals | K |
Kicks | D |
Disposals | T |
Tackles |
B |
Behinds | H |
Handballs | M |
Marks |
Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
1995 | Brisbane Bears | 4 | 23 | 28 | 22 | 231 | 113 | 344 | 47 | 38 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 10.0 | 4.9 | 15.0 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1 |
1996 | Brisbane Bears | 4 | 16 | 28 | 19 | 181 | 49 | 230 | 38 | 18 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 11.3 | 3.1 | 14.4 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 1 |
1997 | Brisbane Lions | 4 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 172 | 70 | 242 | 42 | 27 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 9.6 | 3.9 | 13.4 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 2 |
1998 | Brisbane Lions | 4 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 150 | 79 | 229 | 48 | 17 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 9.4 | 4.9 | 14.3 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0 |
1999 | Brisbane Lions | 4 | 24 | 41 | 32 | 267 | 73 | 340 | 69 | 37 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 11.1 | 3.0 | 14.2 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 3 |
2000 | Brisbane Lions | 4 | 16 | 9 | 11 | 164 | 69 | 233 | 48 | 28 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 10.3 | 4.3 | 14.6 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 2 |
2001# | Brisbane Lions | 4 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 145 | 64 | 209 | 52 | 28 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 7.6 | 3.4 | 11.0 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 0 |
2002# | Brisbane Lions | 4 | 24 | 29 | 27 | 193 | 108 | 301 | 61 | 66 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 8.0 | 4.5 | 12.5 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 1 |
2003# | Brisbane Lions | 4 | 20 | 26 | 17 | 132 | 79 | 211 | 34 | 62 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 6.6 | 4.0 | 10.6 | 1.7 | 3.1 | 0 |
2004 | Brisbane Lions | 4 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 124 | 58 | 182 | 38 | 41 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 6.5 | 3.1 | 9.6 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 1 |
Career | 195 | 232 | 196 | 1759 | 762 | 2521 | 477 | 362 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 9.0 | 3.9 | 12.9 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 11 |
Updated to the end of the 2022 season.[16]
Legend | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | Wins | L | Losses | D | Draws | W% | Winning percentage | LP | Ladder position | LT | League teams |
Season | Team | Games | W | L | D | W % | LP | LT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Collingwood | 25 | 17 | 8 | 0 | 68.0% | 4 | 18 |
Career totals | 25 | 17 | 8 | 0 | 68.0% |
Team
Individual
Team
Individual
Prior to his appointment as Collingwood Football Club senior coach, McRae was a part-time kicking and catching coach with the Melbourne Storm.[17]
Until the end of the 2006 season, McRae was involved in a sports administration business and various football broadcasting roles including radio station Triple M, where he hosted a football programme with former Brisbane teammate Jason Akermanis.
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Collingwood Football Club – current squad | |
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* denotes rookie listed players |
Current AFL coaches | |
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Italics denote caretaker coach |
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