McRae said the victory was “a significant outcome” for the Magpies, who he said had been swimming against the current because of their long list of injuries. Eight of Collingwood’s premiership team of last year were injured or, in Nathan Murphy’s case, retired.
Fringe key forward Nathan Kreuger, playing just his 10th game of AFL football and his first in more than 400 days, booted three goals in an athletic display that gave the Magpies a focal point they were craving as injuries devastated their forward line.
Nathan Kreuger was back in Collingwood’s team – and on the scoreboard.Credit: AFL Photos
Brayden Maynard – the focus of anger from Melbourne in the fallout to last year’s qualifying final after he collided with Angus Brayshaw, ultimately leading to Brayshaw’s retirement – was one of the Magpies’ best after a week when he had been dealing with a difficult personal issue.
“He’s had a lot going on this week. I won’t share the details of it, but off the field it has been really hard for him, and so I’m sure he wanted to put on a good performance for the stuff that’s happened outside of here,” McRae said.
“He’s a proud man and he played exceptionally well and we love him.”
Adopting the theme of the “Three Little Pigs”, McRae warned his players that Melbourne would huff and puff in response to last week’s belting and the pain of last year’s finals’ loss to his side, but ultimately Collingwood’s house would remain intact if they played to their system.
“Yeah I did (use it as a theme) you know; they are going come and huff and puff and try and blow your house down – the Three Little Pigs – that was it, ” said the coach, who had evidently been reading bedtime stories to his infant daughter Maggie, who was born on grand final day last year.
“We just wanted to make sure our house was made of bricks today, and then we went to work, not on what Melbourne we’re going to do; it was about how we protect our house. Keep it in order.”
McRae acknowledged the impact on the game from Petracca’s injury, and the Demons’ wastefulness in front of goal. The Demons kicked 4.11 to three-quarter-time, including four shots that hit the post and numerous out on the full.
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“I thought for as good as we were, they didn’t take their chances early ... the scoreboard might not be a true reflection of how tight it was at times,” McRae said.
McRae praised best-on-ground midfielder Jack Cripps, who stood Clayton Oliver for much of the game and beat the Demons onballer.
“Crispy is one of the best defensive players in the comp right now, his pressure around the ball has been enormous and his running, he’s running on top of ground, and he’s breaking out of centre bounces. He’s at the height of his game. He had a slow start the season and [it is] no coincidence that our team has started to play a bit better because of his performances.”