Review R10: The Good, Bad and the Ugly vs. Collingwood

[Scorpus]

I never understand people getting upset about this sort of thing. This is what every team says about everyone in every situation.

What's he meant to say? They are shit and we will smash them?

It's just funny because it's a complete lie that surely the players don't believe. Everyone knows it's a lie, but everyone knows they won't say anything else.

I'd love a journo to follow up with "but are they good? They've won 10 games in 3 seasons" to try and strip away the corpo media training

 

[Cromulant]

It's just funny because it's a complete lie that surely the players don't believe. Everyone knows it's a lie, but everyone knows they won't say anything else.

I'd love a journo to follow up with "but are they good? They've won 10 games in 3 seasons" to try and strip away the corpo media training

Given we have a lot of very recent history of falling to a side like this, it's best to at least appears humble.

 

[Scorpus]

Given we have a lot of very recent history of falling to a side like this, it's best to at least appears humble.

Sure. It's just poor reporting to let someone say something that everyone knows is clearly a lie

 

[suburpy]

Tenuous.
Conjecture.

But it’s not. We have gone from second highest scoring to bottom 4 scoring the last four weeks because he is a defensive (read conservative) coach. I heard Sloane after the Essendon match say that knowing the coach he would be focused on defense improvement.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

But it’s not. We have gone from second highest scoring to bottom 4 scoring the last four weeks because he is a defensive (read conservative) coach. I heard Sloane after the Essendon match say that knowing the coach he would be focused on defense improvement.

Does ir make sense that we were the no 1 offence if he’s a dour defensive coach though ?

Like how could we be no 1 offence ever if he’s ‘defensive and dour’

Please make it make sense

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Does ir make sense that we were the no 1 offence if he’s a dour defensive coach though ?

Like how could we be no 1 offence ever if he’s ‘defensive and dour’

Please make it make sense

List management and drafting has given him a great attacking line up to utilise.

I think his natural instincts are the Sydney-style grinding wars of attrition. Strong defensive set ups, low risk with ball use, stoppage battles.

Doesn't quite know how to use what we have, even though the sheer talent shines through at times.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

List management and drafting has given him a great attacking line up to utilise.

I think his natural instincts are the Sydney-style grinding wars of attrition. Strong defensive set ups, low risk with ball use, stoppage battles.

Doesn't quite know how to use what we have, even though the sheer talent shines through at times.

At times we’ve had some of best ball movement in comp so I think there has to be a degree of coaching that makes rhat happen

I’m not saying he’s a good coach or good at balancing offence with defence , it’s troubled him

Definitely wouldn’t call him a dour or defensive coach though

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

At times we’ve had some of best ball movement in comp so I think there has to be a degree of coaching that makes rhat happen

I’m not saying he’s a good coach or good at balancing offence with defence , it’s troubled him

Definitely wouldn’t call him a dour or defensive coach though

I think it's his go to whenever we're pressured or lose a game or two

 

[Geoffa32]

Craig McRae

Craig Mcrae

Age

52

Ht

176cm

Wt

73kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.9

3star

K

9.0

3star

HB

3.9

3star

M

2.4

3star

T

1.9

4star

G

1.2

4star

No current season stats available

D

16.2

4star

K

10.6

4star

HB

5.6

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

1.2

3star

G

1.4

5star

is a qualified teacher.

Actually knowing how teach your players goes a long way to improving their ability.

Not suggesting you need a teaching degree to coach. But being able to teach/instruct is important.


I doubt Nicks has this ability.

 

[Samcro24]

Craig McRae is a qualified teacher.

Actually knowing how teach your players goes a long way to improving their ability.

Not suggesting you need a teaching degree to coach. But being able to teach/instruct is important.


I doubt Nicks has this ability.

Please. Nicks went to Harvard

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Craig McRae is a qualified teacher.

Actually knowing how teach your players goes a long way to improving their ability.

Not suggesting you need a teaching degree to coach. But being able to teach/instruct is important.


I doubt Nicks has this ability.

Trigg was a teacher...

Not all teachers are good at teaching...

McRae clearly can though.

Nicks is just too stupid to teach.

 

[George CantStandYa]

Does ir make sense that we were the no 1 offence if he’s a dour defensive coach though ?

Like how could we be no 1 offence ever if he’s ‘defensive and dour’

Please make it make sense

Cmon Jeff, you know the answer. In the first 3 games when he let us play attacking football we kicked a shit load of goals.

Since then he’s gone more defensive. You know that, Nicks has admitted it.

Then there is the strength of our forward line, thats where we’ve invested the bulk of our draft capital, pick 2, pick 6, pick 13 or whatever it was for Fog, our highest ever goal kicker in Tex, pick 5 in Rankine when he’s playing there plus he kicks goals as a mid. Hell even Curtin is playing up there.

It’s absolutely stacked and we should be playing to that strength.

 

[George CantStandYa]

At times we’ve had some of best ball movement in comp so I think there has to be a degree of coaching that makes rhat happen

I’m not saying he’s a good coach or good at balancing offence with defence , it’s troubled him

Definitely wouldn’t call him a dour or defensive coach though

Go back to 2022. Go back to the start of 2024.

Hell go back to his appointment when he says defence is a key focus of his.

Really odd that you’re arguing the opposite.

A smart coach would play to our strength which is the best forward line in the comp.

 

[1990crow]

Go back to 2022. Go back to the start of 2024.

Hell go back to his appointment when he says defence is a key focus of his.

Really odd that you’re arguing the opposite.

A smart coach would play to our strength which is the best forward line in the comp.

We look threatening to opposition when we are scoring. When they have a chance to intercept and lock it into their end, we lose more than we win.

It's really not that difficult to work out, but somehow Nicks can't see it.

 

[feenix67]

Go back to 2022. Go back to the start of 2024.

Hell go back to his appointment when he says defence is a key focus of his.

Really odd that you’re arguing the opposite.

A smart coach would play to our strength which is the best forward line in the comp.

It's not odd at all that he argues it. He's the type of guy that takes a position based on his own internal biases and then doubles down in the face of facts and information. His opinions aren't worth all that much on that basis.

 

[adelaidecrows]

At times we’ve had some of best ball movement in comp so I think there has to be a degree of coaching that makes rhat happen

I’m not saying he’s a good coach or good at balancing offence with defence , it’s troubled him

Definitely wouldn’t call him a dour or defensive coach though

I would almost certainly suggest he is a dour defensive coach at heart. He demonstrates signs all the time against strong opponents he has no trust factor in the front half, so he resorts to his team first counter attack defense. Only when he feels mounting pressure or when we are already down in games does he have a habit of releasing the shackles.

 

[NSolis]

Sure. It's just poor reporting to let someone say something that everyone knows is clearly a lie

It's definitely a dumb question but honestly if I were Max and someone followed up with arguing that West Coast were actually bad and we should beat them I'd just mention that they beat St. Kilda last week and we aren't taking them lightly.

I assume journalists only ask stuff like this because they are hoping for the one in a million where someone actually does say the opposition suck and then they can make it a huge story for a week.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

Go back to 2022. Go back to the start of 2024.

Hell go back to his appointment when he says defence is a key focus of his.

Really odd that you’re arguing the opposite.

A smart coach would play to our strength which is the best forward line in the comp.

2023 we were one of best ball movement teams in comp and poor without ball , he tried to balance it and failed in 2024 not helped by a poor pre season and then poor injury run

2025 we started a bit like 2023 but he doesn’t want us to only rely on that only as good teams don’t , and has tried to balance it out again . He’s shown he’s had troubles trying to find the right balance

Is he a defensive coach ? No I don’t think , proof being he’s had teams that at times have been one of best offence teams in comp ( ie most of 2023 and a bit of 2025 so far )

Is he a good coach and able to get the team playing total football in all 3 phases ? Probably not

His failure to get team to improve in close games with scenario based methods or also proof he’s a battler of a coach

Is he a Ross Lyon type defensive coach , nah or Paul Roos 15-20 years ago ? Nah

 

[Jeffcrowe]

I think it's his go to whenever we're pressured or lose a game or two

This could be a possibility

Quite often games we’ve lost we’ve collapsed in midfield and allowed easy ball into oppo forward line

Alot of people in here then blame our defenders but it’s been a very big problem in nicks tenure re midfield ability to defend and prevent run ons

It’s much better this year but showed its face against Geelong especially when we were fatigued

 

[Jeffcrowe]

Cmon Jeff, you know the answer. In the first 3 games when he let us play attacking football we kicked a shit load of goals.

Since then he’s gone more defensive. You know that, Nicks has admitted it.

Then there is the strength of our forward line, thats where we’ve invested the bulk of our draft capital, pick 2, pick 6, pick 13 or whatever it was for Fog, our highest ever goal kicker in Tex, pick 5 in Rankine when he’s playing there plus he kicks goals as a mid. Hell even Curtin is playing up there.

It’s absolutely stacked and we should be playing to that strength.

I think you’re thinking about it way too simplistically

You can have a good forward line , but if the team hasn’t coached ball movement and trained it well it won’t necessarily perform and it’s one thing he’s been able to do

Yes the game plan has got more defensive since cats game but it needed to , but I’m not sure we’ve found a balance between the 2 but it’s not too late . Keen to see how we measure up after round 14/15

Just the fact that we’ve scored most points from turnover in comp is sign we are doing plenty right and it’s not all negative , also shows there’s a good attacking element in coaching and game plan

 

[Jeffcrowe]

List management and drafting has given him a great attacking line up to utilise.

I think his natural instincts are the Sydney-style grinding wars of attrition. Strong defensive set ups, low risk with ball use, stoppage battles.

Doesn't quite know how to use what we have, even though the sheer talent shines through at times.

Don’t really share this view

We’ve had troubles defensively since he’s been our coach and I’m talking full ground defence more than back 6

 

[FR0GGY]

Craig McRae is a qualified teacher.

Actually knowing how teach your players goes a long way to improving their ability.

Not suggesting you need a teaching degree to coach. But being able to teach/instruct is important.


I doubt Nicks has this ability.

Triggy likes this

 

[George CantStandYa]

I think you’re thinking about it way too simplistically

You can have a good forward line , but if the team hasn’t coached ball movement and trained it well it won’t necessarily perform and it’s one thing he’s been able to do

Yes the game plan has got more defensive since cats game but it needed to , but I’m not sure we’ve found a balance between the 2 but it’s not too late . Keen to see how we measure up after round 14/15

Just the fact that we’ve scored most points from turnover in comp is sign we are doing plenty right and it’s not all negative , also shows there’s a good attacking element in coaching and game plan

Nah Jeff, you’re the one going “we’ve scored more points” and not taking the points scored from the first 3 rounds before Nicks changed it up.

 

[George CantStandYa]

2023 we were one of best ball movement teams in comp and poor without ball , he tried to balance it and failed in 2024 not helped by a poor pre season and then poor injury run

2025 we started a bit like 2023 but he doesn’t want us to only rely on that only as good teams don’t , and has tried to balance it out again . He’s shown he’s had troubles trying to find the right balance

Is he a defensive coach ? No I don’t think , proof being he’s had teams that at times have been one of best offence teams in comp ( ie most of 2023 and a bit of 2025 so far )

Is he a good coach and able to get the team playing total football in all 3 phases ? Probably not

His failure to get team to improve in close games with scenario based methods or also proof he’s a battler of a coach

Is he a Ross Lyon type defensive coach , nah or Paul Roos 15-20 years ago ? Nah

“No I don’t think so” just stop there. You’re wrong