Collingwood Magpies coach Craig McRae hits out at criticism of his club’s ageing list as Jordan De Goey and Nick Daicos put on a show at the MCG against the Port Adelaide Power
Collingwood coach Craig McRae believes no other AFL club’s roster is more scrutinized than the high-profile Magpies’ and that passion is driven by online “clicks”.
McRae was speaking after Saturday night’s 27-point win over Port Adelaide saw the Magpies move temporarily into 10th place with six wins and a draw from 14 matches ahead of Sunday’s games.
Collingwood has the oldest and most experienced roster in the competition; Jordan De Goey, Jamie Elliott, Scott Pendlebury, Dan McStay, Darcy Cameron, Steele Sidebottom, Jack Crisp, Tim Membrey, Darcy Moore and Jeremy Howe are on the wrong side of 30.
They also lack the senior youth players of other clubs and have an aggressive market for players such as Lachie Neale, Zak Butters, Ben King and Jed Walter. But McRae thinks the focus on the Pies’ roster is overrated.
“It was probably over-reviewed. I don’t recall any other listing in the competition being reviewed and evaluated as much as ours, but again we’re getting clicks, so the storytelling creates views,” he said.
“It’s an interesting story about where we are. We’re working to be the best version of ourselves. I didn’t look at the age demographics of our team tonight, but there are a lot of different players that haven’t played together. Chemistry is important. It’s hard to describe it, but there’s a lot of talk about it, right?”
De Goey sent a cheeky SOS to Neale, who will join the Magpies, in a radio interview this week, adding further fuel to the fire. But through it all, McRae and Collingwood needed a win. As he later put it, the season had reached a “critical” turning point and it was time to either give up or remain silent.
Had it not been for second-quarter interventions from De Goey and Nick Daicos, this could have been a vastly different night for the Pies team as they battled for a place in the new wildcard final round.
“You’re talking about who’s playing tonight and [there were] There are opportunities for Harvey Harrison, you’re backing Ed Allan, you’re playing against Butters – it’s a great experience for him – Sam Swadling is playing his first game and Jack Buller is starting to look more like Collingwood than he has of late,” McRae said.
“But your stars have to be stars, and I thought Nick and Jordy played an important role in getting our job done and impacting the game.”
Neither team could score in the final quarter of a forgettable match that saw just 40,860 fans attend and saw masterclass performances from two of the Magpies’ biggest stars.
De Goey kicked three goals from 26 disposals, while Daicos had 41 touches, nine tackles and 10 tackles. They were equally magnificent and Collingwood needed them badly, especially in the first half.
Missing Elliott, captain Moore, defender Brayden Maynard (who turns 30 in September) and perennial record scorer Pendlebury, and having lost three of their last four games by eight points or less to Melbourne, the Western Bulldogs and Sydney, the Pies trailed by 19 points in the second quarter.
In reality it should have been worse, but Port squandered a string of goal-scoring opportunities.
More worryingly, Craig McRae’s men conceded five goals in a row after Tim Membrey and Lachie Schultz struck the first two strikes of the match.
But everything changed for the better in the eight-minute purple patch where De Goey stepped up for two goals before Daicos unleashed an aerial kick that would have looked out of place at the FIFA World Cup; The second was a stylish left foot strike.
“When we came here we knew Port were playing really good football in a lot of games and [we were] Under no illusions were we going to have to play well to beat them,” McRae said.
“I felt like we played 10 minutes of football in the second quarter, which stabilized the game for us, and without that, they really dominated most parts of the game… so I kind of looked at it from an optimistic perspective and said, ‘We only played 10 minutes in the second quarter and the scores are tied. Come on guys, let’s get going, let’s get going’.”
Power, who looked so good for most of the first half, only managed to score one more goal in the match as he limped to the finish line with a miserable 6.16 (52) to Collingwood’s 11.12 (78).
To make matters worse, Port lost Jack Lukosius (calf) early in the second half in their first final match two months before the fall of Esava Ratugolea (suspected patellar tendon rupture) and Ewan Mackinlay (MCL strain).
Ratugolea, who formed a strong partnership with Aliir Aliir to score six interceptions at half-time, fell behind for a significant period of time and eventually fell behind. Coach Josh Carr has predicted the former Geelong defender could be sidelined next year.
“It’s a patella tendon and it looks like it’s torn and it’s going into emergency right now. He’s probably going to have surgery tonight, so it’s a long-term injury,” Carr said.
“Probably, probably 12 months [out]According to me. “He is in very good form and making his mark in football and this is obviously disappointing and demoralizing for him, his family and us as a football club.”
The Magpies still finished with fewer inside 50 points and contested chances, and they split the clearances as their stars, including Howe, who added another big mark to his collection, carried them over the line.
They have Richmond, Gold Coast (away), North Melbourne and Carlton to face next month.
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