Craig McRae

Craig McRae (born 22 September 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer and the current senior coach of the Collingwood Football Club.

Craig McRae
Personal information
Full name Craig McRae
Nickname(s) Fly
Date of birth (1973-09-22) 22 September 1973
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 34 (25–9–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2004.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of round 9, 2023.
Career highlights

Playing

Coaching

Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Playing career

Glenelg Football Club

Originally from South Australian National Football League club Glenelg.

McRae played for Glenelg Football Club in the SANFL from 1993 until 1994, for a total of 41 games and kicked 59 goals.[1]

Brisbane Bears

Originally from South Australian National Football League club Glenelg, McRae was drafted by AFL club Brisbane Bears 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.[2]

McRae played for Brisbane Bears from 1995 until 1996 for total of 39 games and kicked a total of 56 goals.[3]

Brisbane Lions

At the end of the 1996 season, Brisbane Bears merged with Fitzroy Lions resulting in the formation of the Brisbane Lions, McRae was then one of the players from the Bears to join the newly formed Brisbane Lions. McRae then became 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.[4]

McRae played for Brisbane Lions from 1997 until 2004 for a total of 156 games and a total of 176 goals.[5] McRae was also part of Brisbane Lions' 2001, 2002 and 2003 premiership sides.[6]

Coaching career

Richmond Football Club assistant coach (2007-2009)

In 2007, McRae served as assistant coach in the role of Player Development Coach with the Richmond Football Club under senior coach Terry Wallace.[7] 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 senior coach at Richmond, after Wallace resigned in the middle of the 2009 AFL season after Round 11, 2009.

Brisbane Lions assistant coach (2010)

In 2010, McRae took up an assistant coaching position in the role of development coach position at the Brisbane Lions, returning to his old playing club under senior coach and former teammate Michael Voss.[8][9]

Collingwood Football Club assistant coach (2011-2016)

McRae joined Collingwood as an assistant coach in the role as head of development in 2011 under senior coach Mick Malthouse and then under senior coach Nathan Buckley from 2012. He remained at the club for five seasons.[10][11]

Richmond Football Club assistant coach (2017-2020)

He returned to Richmond at the end of the 2016 season, serving as an assistant coach under senior coach Damien Hardwick and head coach of the club's reserves side in the VFL. He took the side to a winning 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.[12]

Hawthorn Football Club assistant coach (2021)

In 2021, McRae joined the Hawthorn Football Club as an assistant coach in the role of forward line coach under senior coach Alastair Clarkson.[13]

Collingwood Football Club senior coach (2022–present)

In September 2021, McRae returned to the Collingwood Football Club, when he was appointed as senior coach ahead of the 2022 AFL season.[14][15][16] McRae replaced caretaker senior coach Robert Harvey, who replaced Nathan Buckley, after Buckley stepped down in the middle of the 2021 season.[17][18][19] In just his first season as senior coach, 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.[20] 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.[21]

Statistics

Playing statistics

[22]

Legend
  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
1995Brisbane Bears4 23282223111334447381.21.010.04.915.02.01.71
1996Brisbane Bears4 1628191814923038181.81.211.33.114.42.41.11
1997Brisbane Lions4 1819161727024242271.10.99.63.913.42.31.52
1998Brisbane Lions4 1613151507922948170.80.99.44.914.33.01.10
1999Brisbane Lions4 2441322677334069371.71.311.13.014.22.91.53
2000Brisbane Lions4 169111646923348280.60.710.34.314.63.01.82
2001#Brisbane Lions4 1921201456420952281.11.17.63.411.02.71.50
2002#Brisbane Lions4 24292719310830161661.21.18.04.512.52.52.81
2003#Brisbane Lions4 2026171327921134621.30.96.64.010.61.73.10
2004Brisbane Lions4 1918171245818238410.90.96.53.19.62.02.21
Career 195232196175976225214773621.21.09.03.912.92.41.911

Coaching statistics

Updated to the end of the 2022 season.[23]

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
2022Collingwood 25178068.0%418
Career totals 25178068.0%

Honours and achievements

Playing honours

Team

Individual

Coaching honours

Team

Individual

  • AFLCA Assistant Coach of the Year: 2019
  • VFL Coach of the Year: 2019
  • AFLCA Development Coach of the Year: 2012
  • AFL Senior Coach of the Year: 2022

Other work

Prior to his appointment as Collingwood Football Club senior coach, McRae was a part-time kicking and catching coach with the Melbourne Storm.[24]

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.

References
  1. "CRAIG MCRAE". Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  2. "CRAIG MCRAE". Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  3. "CRAIG MCRAE". Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  4. "Magpies sign up Matthew Lappin and Craig McRae". Herald Sun. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  5. "CRAIG MCRAE". Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  6. "CRAIG MCRAE". Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  7. "Official AFL Website of the Richmond Football Club". Archived from the original on 4 January 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2006.
  8. "Craig McRae". collingwoodfc.com.au. Collingwood Football Club. Archived from the original on 16 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  9. Allen, Sarah (15 October 2015). "Former Cat joins Magpies". collingwoodfc.com.au. BigPond. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  10. "Craig McRae". collingwoodfc.com.au. Collingwood Football Club. Archived from the original on 16 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  11. Allen, Sarah (15 October 2015). "Former Cat joins Magpies". collingwoodfc.com.au. BigPond. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  12. "Richmond finalise AFL coaching structure". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  13. "Craig McRae". hawthornfc.com.au. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  14. "McRae appointed senior coach". collingwoodfc.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  15. "Collingwood officially names Craig McRae as new AFL head coach". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  16. "McRae a very new Collingwood appointment". 1 September 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  17. "'I'm pretty pumped': McRae determined to build culture and success at Pies". 1 September 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  18. "Craig McRae unveiled as new Collingwood coach". 31 August 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  19. "Craig McRae confirmed as Collingwood coach as Harvey departs AFL club". TheGuardian.com. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  20. Healey, Catherine (22 August 2022). "'Maybe Jamie has Hips Don't Lie in his head': The Shakira secret to Pies' success". Fox Sports.
  21. Ryan, Peter (17 September 2022). "'We will use it as fuel': McRae's message after devastating Magpies loss". The Age.
  22. Craig McRae's player profile at AFL Tables
  23. "Craig McRae's coaching profile at AFL Tables". Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  24. Greenberg, Tony (13 September 2018). "Flying Storm". richmondfc.com.au. Retrieved 18 September 2022.


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