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Coach Craig McRae

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I’m still feeling flat and disappointed after our loss, but to reflect on our year has me shaking my head in wonder.

We got so close to playing in a GF with, or in spite of:
  • One genuine KPP in defence and none up forward
  • Holes in the midfield
  • Capable but not great rucks
  • A rookie coach and new assistants
  • Coaches and players getting to know each other
  • A new fitness chief and new training regime
  • Teenagers who smashed it
  • MSD players
  • Getting whacked in the statistics ‘that matter’
  • Unavailable tall defenders we expected to have
  • A new President and a jittery Board
  • JDG’s public antics (but excellent finals series)
  • Love and support of the Magpie Army😍
 
Vicky Park said:
I’m still feeling flat and disappointed after our loss, but to reflect on our year has me shaking my head in wonder.

We got so close to playing in a GF with, or in spite of:
  • One genuine KPP in defence and none up forward
  • Holes in the midfield
  • Capable but not great rucks
  • A rookie coach and new assistants
  • Coaches and players getting to know each other
  • A new fitness chief and new training regime
  • Teenagers who smashed it
  • MSD players
  • Getting whacked in the statistics ‘that matter’
  • Unavailable tall defenders we expected to have
  • A new President and a jittery Board
  • JDG’s public antics (but excellent finals series)
  • Love and support of the Magpie Army😍
Click to expand...
Jittery Board? Please expand
 

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NMBB said:
Jittery Board? Please expand
Click to expand...

Jittery in that they seemed sensitive to how the club was perceived following the Do Better report, and keen to be seen to address its findings, as well as actually address its findings.

And jittery in relation to JDG and his contract renewal - or at least I inferred that from what I read on here. Which, as you know, is 100% reliable.😵‍💫
 
Vicky Park said:
Jittery in that they seemed sensitive to how the club was perceived following the Do Better report, and keen to be seen to address its findings, as well as actually address its findings.

And jittery in relation to JDG and his contract renewal - or at least I inferred that from what I read on here. Which, as you know, is 100% reliable.😵‍💫
Click to expand...
Not sure this Board needed to be jittery re the Do Better Report - that was all on the McGuire regime.

IMO this Board is great because I could barely name them and certainly wouldn't recognise them if I ran into any of them on an E-scooter
 
NMBB said:
Not sure this Board needed to be jittery re the Do Better Report - that was all on the McGuire regime.

IMO this Board is great because I could barely name them and certainly wouldn't recognise them if I ran into any of them on an E-scooter
Click to expand...

No, that’s on the club, past and present and every board iteration going forward.
 
NMBB said:
Ok - the new Board had to implement the findings - no fingers pointed at them for overseeing club culture etc that lead to the report being required
Click to expand...

It’s not the Catholic Church. There is no absolution.
 

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Very well deserved accolade for the great man. You can just see his charisma in the players and I honestly believe he will one day lead us to a premiership. A feeling I haven't had for a while.
 
Vicky Park said:
I’m still feeling flat and disappointed after our loss, but to reflect on our year has me shaking my head in wonder.

We got so close to playing in a GF with, or in spite of:
  • One genuine KPP in defence and none up forward
  • Holes in the midfield
  • Capable but not great rucks
  • A rookie coach and new assistants
  • Coaches and players getting to know each other
  • A new fitness chief and new training regime
  • Teenagers who smashed it
  • MSD players
  • Getting whacked in the statistics ‘that matter’
  • Unavailable tall defenders we expected to have
  • A new President and a jittery Board
  • JDG’s public antics (but excellent finals series)
  • Love and support of the Magpie Army😍
Click to expand...

Let's not forget the AFL changing the rules on our gun forward midseason but nobody else!
 

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One of the most enjoyable years as a Collingwood supporter …

… seeing a coach come in and drive cultural change, and we see the benefits of that.

It’s heartwarming seeing players get the best out of themselves. Nobody would say Collingwood has the most talented list, or the most experienced, or whatever. But what are is well organised and highly motivated.

I’m comfortable that our team got the very best out of themselves this year, and IMO that’s all you can ask for.

Plenty of teams with a profile like ours make do with 12th, or 10th, and excuses about rebuilding or whatever. We made a prelim, how awesome is that? …
 
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… My wish for 2023 is that our players play with the same joy and freedom from any expectations beyond working to make their team-mates and themselves be their best selves.

None of that “Premierships” or “Grand Finals” BS that get banged on about for high expectation teams. If they just focus on being their best selves, and have a fun time doing it, then the results will take care of themselves.
 
76woodenspooners said:
One of the most enjoyable years as a Collingwood supporter …

… seeing a coach come in and drive cultural change, and we see the benefits of that.

It’s heartwarming seeing players get the best out of themselves. Nobody would say Collingwood has the most talented list, or the most experienced, or whatever. What what are is well organised and motivated.

I’m comfortable that our team got the very best out of themselves this year, and IMO that’s all you can ask for.

Plenty of teams with a profile like ours make do with 12th, or 10th, and excuses about rebuilding or whatever. We made a prelim, how awesome is that? …
Click to expand...
I think the gratitude for their courage and pluck and sheer dare is well deserved but I'm reading many similar comments here and from mates and I don't entirely concur. Losing our last two prelims by a point and 4 points with the pill deep in our forward line on top of the GF loss in the last minute of the game in the past 5 years makes it a bitter pill to swallow.

When are we going to cash in on an unexpected, unpredicted rise rather than fail bravely yet again? It is something we have been doing for seven decades and I have seen most of them. I get a thrill from individual home and away wins, but a big part of that thrill is knowing we are inching closer to a finals berth and then a top four finish. The win against Carlton will go down in history because of the context of that game for both teams.

The elephant in the room is the quite unprecedented failure rate over such a long period of being in contention. Much of it can be put down to bad luck as most of the close wins this season were a result of a goodly portion of good luck. So, this is what worries me. No amount of hard work, flair and dare seems to overcome that fickle finger of fate which has treated us with such ruthless brutality for so long. How will this change? I don't see us developing into a super side or dynasty team so it will once again be a combination of hard work, luck with injuries, a daring gameplan and getting the very best out of what we have got. And still there are no guarantees.

I will remember much of this wonderful year with a smile but once again it has ended in two heartbreakingly bitter defeats which could so easily have been victories for the ages.

But no. The brave Pies will soon be forgotten (by non pies fans) when another team goes on an unexpected run in 2023.

Watching Sydney or Geelong celebrating another flag will be like a knife in the guts given the fact we know we can match both of them.
 

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