Coach Is Craig McRae currently the best coach in the AFL?

[timokane]

McRae edges C Scott in my mind.

its that Fly has been well travelled and has more success at other clubs like early days at hawthorn and then richmond.

Fly has the best assistants as well.

As far as i know Fly played in all 3 premierships with Brisbane lions back in the 2001,2002 and 2003 days where Scotts was only the 2.

So as a player was more successfull as well.

Polled better as a player in the Lions b and f.

Alway thought it was one of the best moves for Collingwood in gaining the serivces of Fly.

And we have not looked back.

Winning 2023 flag helped alot and to be honest got the Pies back in the flag frame where we are right now.

Also is young as a coach goes and has 10 years in him as top coach at the Pies.

2026 extend Flys contract for another 3 years too say 2029.

Hes is Pies coach and there to stay.

Very smart and got great ideas.

Happy fly is Pies coach.

Also top bloke.

 

[demondavey]

McRae edges C Scott in my mind.

its that Fly has been well travelled and has more success at other clubs like early days at hawthorn and then richmond.

Fly has the best assistants as well.

As far as i know Fly played in all 3 premierships with Brisbane lions back in the 2001,2002 and 2003 days where Scotts was only the 2.

So as a player was more successfull as well.

Polled better as a player in the Lions b and f.

Alway thought it was one of the best moves for Collingwood in gaining the serivces of Fly.

And we have not looked back.

Winning 2023 flag helped alot and to be honest got the Pies back in the flag frame where we are right now.

Also is young as a coach goes and has 10 years in him as top coach at the Pies.

2026 extend Flys contract for another 3 years too say 2029.

Hes is Pies coach and there to stay.

Very smart and got great ideas.

Happy fly is Pies coach.

Also top bloke.

He isn’t better than Chris Scott….. come back when he has been coaching for 15 years with the finals record Scott has. Judging him by being better due to playing in one more premiership is absurd.

 

[Warhorse]

Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

49

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

has been a remarkable coach for a very long time. Has squeezed a lot out of the teams he has fielded.

Hardwick is good at turning a stacked list into flags.

Clarkson pre North. Currently destroying his legacy. Again, great at turning a stacked list into flags.

Fagan a step below the above. Has had the list to win multiple flags over the last few years.

McRae is about on par with Fagan and just needs to do it a bit longer to join the others as truly great coaches. Well on his way

 

[RCAB]

He isn’t better than Chris Scott….. come back when he has been coaching for 15 years with the finals record Scott has. Judging him by being better due to playing in one more premiership is absurd.

I'm not talking about who's the best coach in their careers, I'm talking about who's the best coach tactically right now. And that's McRae.

 

[demondavey]

I'm not talking about who's the best coach in their careers, I'm talking about who's the best coach tactically right now. And that's McRae.

I still rate Scott better.

 

[Cyclops]

I'm not talking about who's the best coach in their careers, I'm talking about who's the best coach tactically right now. And that's McRae.

Tactically I'm very impressed with Mitchell. I think the Hawks have some very odd shaped pieces, he got some winning footy going, and despite exact opposite performances from the captains and poor execution Hawthorn nearly pinched it.

McRae gets some lovely footy out of some less lauded players too, definitely top tier in that regard.

 

[TiggyTig]

Chris Scott has been a remarkable coach for a very long time. Has squeezed a lot out of the teams he has fielded.

Hardwick is good at turning a stacked list into flags.

Clarkson pre North. Currently destroying his legacy. Again, great at turning a stacked list into flags.

Fagan a step below the above. Has had the list to win multiple flags over the last few years.

McRae is about on par with Fagan and just needs to do it a bit longer to join the others as truly great coaches. Well on his way

Chris Scott given the most 'stacked list' of all time WTF you on about

 

[STPer18]

Chris Scott given the most 'stacked list' of all time WTF you on about

Scott's had to retire better players than a lot of coaches will ever have access to effectively year on year since he took over in 2011. Won a flag in his first year, Geelong's 3rd in short order, then effectively constructed a completely new one without ever bottoming out and accessing the elite parts of the draft on the way to the 2022 flag.

Deserves huge credit for not letting Geelong enter freefall and become irrelevant like the 01-03 Lions, 13-15 Hawks and 17-20 Tigers all did after their successful periods and then grabbed another one to top it off.

 

[PhatBoy]

Chris Scott given the most 'stacked list' of all time WTF you on about

Is this a serious comment?

Basically aside from the start of his career the hallmark of all our teams has been having about 3 out and out superstars and role players across the rest of the squad.

Yes it’s been great having any combination of Selwood/Hawkins/Dangerfield/Stewart/Taylor/Cameron and now Smith since about 2015 but given how many of our players have had the piss taken out of them as absolute ‘spuds’ to borrow the stupidest and most overused term in this forum, I think your appraisal is a massive misread of how our side has gone about most of our campaigns.

Even Max Holmes who is on the verge of star status is only seemingly reluctantly getting it in most quarters and players like the Guthries have been sneered at for years despite being among our most consistent for various periods.

 

[TiggyTig]

Scott's had to retire better players than a lot of coaches will ever have access to effectively year on year since he took over in 2011. Won a flag in his first year, Geelong's 3rd in short order, then effectively constructed a completely new one without ever bottoming out and accessing the elite parts of the draft on the way to the 2022 flag.

Deserves huge credit for not letting Geelong enter freefall and become irrelevant like the 01-03 Lions, 13-15 Hawks and 17-20 Tigers all did after their successful periods and then grabbed another one to top it off.

So you agree he was given a stacked team?

 

[TiggyTig]

Is this a serious comment?

Basically aside from the start of his career the hallmark of all our teams has been having about 3 out and out superstars and role players across the rest of the squad.

Yes it’s been great having any combination of Selwood/Hawkins/Dangerfield/Stewart/Taylor/Cameron and now Smith since about 2015 but given how many of our players have had the piss taken out of them as absolute ‘spuds’ to borrow the stupidest and most overused term in this forum, I think your appraisal is a massive misread of how our side has gone about most of our campaigns.

Even Max Holmes who is on the verge of star status is only seemingly reluctantly getting it in most quarters and players like the Guthries have been sneered at for years despite being among our most consistent for various periods.

Is this a serious response? The names you listed qualify as 'stacked' i would've thought.

 

[Warhorse]

So you agree he was given a stacked team?

He was competitive with some very ordinary teams. When Hardwick had ordinary teams he collected spoons.

 

[STPer18]

So you agree he was given a stacked team?

Given a great team on its last legs that just lost the greatest player of the 21st century and coach in the one off-season, took them to a flag in his first year, rebuilt the list on the run and capped it off with another flag. It's downright incredible how much quality he lost over the decade since taking over yet still managed to keep the club competitive every year and turn it into another premiership quality team. It's unprecedented what he did in the modern era.

2011: Loses Ling, Milburn, Mooney and Ottens
2012-3: Loses Scarlett, Corey, Chapman and Wojcinski
2015: Loses Johnson and Stokes
2016: Loses Bartel and Enright
2017: Loses Lonergan and Mackie

Wins a flag in 2022 with Hawkins, Selwood and Duncan the only remaining players from the 2011 flag.

 

[TiggyTig]

He was competitive with some very ordinary teams. When Hardwick had ordinary teams he collected spoons.

Which spoons did Hardwick collect?

 

[TiggyTig]

Given a great team on its last legs that just lost the greatest player of the 21st century and coach in the one off-season, took them to a flag in his first year, rebuilt the list on the run and capped it off with another flag. It's downright incredible how much quality he lost over the decade since taking over yet still managed to keep the club competitive every year and turn it into another premiership quality team. It's unprecedented what he did in the modern era.

2011: Loses Ling, Milburn, Mooney and Ottens
2012-3: Loses Scarlett, Corey, Chapman and Wojcinski
2015: Loses Johnson and Stokes
2016: Loses Bartel and Enright
2017: Loses Lonergan and Mackie

Wins a flag in 2022 with Hawkins, Selwood and Duncan the only remaining players from the 2011 flag.

Answer the question. Did he have a 'stacked' team or not?

 

[STPer18]

Answer the question. Did he have a 'stacked' team or not?

2011-2013: Yes, albeit extremely old.
2014-2025: No.

 

[Warhorse]

Which spoons did Hardwick collect?

You are right, he finished 15. His win/loss record overall is 55% which is above average. Perhaps I was being a little harsh

 

[PhatBoy]

Is this a serious response? The names you listed qualify as 'stacked' i would've thought.

Really?

Considering Melbourne’s midfield alone has had that the likes of Gawn, Oliver, Petracca in their prime in the same midfield, plus a prime two-time AA Steven May at fullback, another AA defender in Lever all at their peak and a whole stack of players like Viney, top 10 picks like Salem and Brayshaw as well - once more, all at their peak - you think our guys, all well past 30 in the only time more than 4 of them were together - qualify as ‘stacked’?

 

[TiggyTig]

You are right, he finished 15. His win/loss record overall is 55% which is above average. Perhaps I was being a little harsh

He took over a very low team. Something Scott has never done. We aren't comparing apples to apples here

 

[PhatBoy]

He took over a very low team. Something Scott has never done. We aren't comparing apples to apples here

Indeed.

Re. Your earlier comment, just to highlight it:

The side Scott coached to the 2020 grand final where your mob beat us:

It had 8 all Australians in it, yeah? Sounds star studded right? Sure.

Except Harry Taylor turned 34 four months before that match and was playing his last match, and hadn’t been all Australian for 8 seasons.


Mark Blicavs was 2 years away from becoming an All Australian.

Gary Ablett Jr turned 36, six months before that match was played and made the last of his 8 All Australian teams six seasons prior to that match being played.

Joel Selwood was 32 and 3 seasons removed from his last All Australian selection.

Oddly it was Tom Hawkins at 32 who was playing arguably the best football of his career who WAS starring for us who was at the peak of his powers who along with Guthrie and Dangerfield, and the unheralded Sam Menegola that were getting us a long way that season.



So yeah it’s all very well to say a side has a stack of big names but do you really think having 10 guys in one team, who were incredible at their various peaks but aren’t actually at their peaks at a nominated time, is the same as having another team where there’s only 5 really big names but they’re all at the top of their game at exactly the same time?

 

[TiggyTig]

Indeed.

Re. Your earlier comment, just to highlight it:

The side Scott coached to the 2020 grand final where your mob beat us:

It had 8 all Australians in it, yeah? Sounds star studded right? Sure.

Except Harry Taylor turned 34 four months before that match and was playing his last match, and hadn’t been all Australian for 8 seasons.


Mark Blicavs was 2 years away from becoming an All Australian.

Gary Ablett Jr turned 36, six months before that match was played and made the last of his 8 All Australian teams six seasons prior to that match being played.

Joel Selwood was 32 and 3 seasons removed from his last All Australian selection.

Oddly it was Tom Hawkins at 32 who was playing arguably the best football of his career who WAS starring for us who was at the peak of his powers who along with Guthrie and Dangerfield, and the unheralded Sam Menegola that were getting us a long way that season.



So yeah it’s all very well to say a side has a stack of big names but do you really think having 10 guys in one team, who were incredible at their various peaks but aren’t actually at their peaks at a nominated time, is the same as having another team where there’s only 5 really big names but they’re all at the top of their game at exactly the same time?

Geelong lost 2020 whats your point?

 

[iBeng]

Honestly I dont know why the other coaches even bother

 

[PhatBoy]

Geelong lost 2020 whats your point?

Because between 2011-2022 it was the furthest we went under Scott and as a Tigers fan I assumed you would remember the game well.

You seem to be an expert on our personnel and the sides we’ve fielded.


In 2022 we had a good side… and won the comp. Not sure what else we were supposed to do there.

Even in 2017 when you beat us we only had one more AA player in our side than you did. And that was because we had Andrew Mackie two weeks from retirement having been picked on the bench in the AA team in 2013.

It was a great win by you blokes and you were way too good, but it’s not like we fielded the same squad that ran a train through everyone on the way to the 2007 flag and Scott should have just blindfolded himself and thrown the magnets in the air and assumed we would win no matter what.

 

[The Casey Cat]

Answer the question. Did he have a 'stacked' team or not?

Easy to say now. Near everyone had completely written Geelong off going into 2011 and were writing our obituary. Had a few lean years since but still not fallen of this cliff so many keep saying is just in front of us. I reckon CS deserves a bit of credit for it.

 

[TiggyTig]

Easy to say now. Near everyone had completely written Geelong off going into 2011 and were writing our obituary. Had a few lean years since but still not fallen of this cliff so many keep saying is just in front of us. I reckon CS deserves a bit of credit for it.

Nobody had written off Geelong in 2011 nice rewrite of history