Craig McRae

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Craig McRae
Personal information
Full name Craig McRae
Nickname(s) Fly
Date of birth (1973-09-22) 22 September 1973 (age 48)
Place of birth Adelaide, 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 00 (0–0–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2004.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2021.
Career highlights

Playing

Coaching

Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

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

Playing career[]

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

McRae was 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, which included playing in Brisbane's 2001, 2002 and 2003 premierships.[1]

Coaching career[]

In 2007 McRae served as Player Development Coach with the Richmond Football Club.[2] 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 head coach at Richmond.

In 2010, McRae took up a development coach position at the Brisbane Lions, before joining Collingwood as head of development in 2011. He remained at the club for five seasons.[3][4]

He returned to Richmond in 2016, serving as an AFL assistant coach and head coach of the club's reserves side in the VFL. He took the side to a losing 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.[5] In 2021, McRae joined the Hawthorn Football Club to serve as forward line coach. [6]

Collingwood Football Club senior coach (2022-present)[]

In September 2021, McRae joined the Collingwood Football Club, when he was appointed as senior coach ahead of the 2022 AFL season.[7][8] McRae replaced caretaker senior coach Robert Harvey, who replaced Nathan Buckley, after Buckley quit during the middle of the 2021 season.[9][10]

AFL playing statistics[]

Legend
 G  Goals  K  Kicks  D  Disposals  T  Tackles
 B  Behinds  H  Handballs  M  Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1995 Brisbane Bears 4 23 28 22 231 113 344 47 38 1.2 1.0 10.0 4.9 15.0 2.0 1.7
1996 Brisbane Bears 4 16 28 19 181 49 230 38 18 1.8 1.2 11.3 3.1 14.4 2.4 1.1
1997 Brisbane Lions 4 18 19 16 172 70 242 42 27 1.1 0.9 9.6 3.9 13.4 2.3 1.5
1998 Brisbane Lions 4 16 13 15 150 79 229 48 17 0.8 0.9 9.4 4.9 14.3 3.0 1.1
1999 Brisbane Lions 4 24 41 32 267 73 340 69 37 1.7 1.3 11.1 3.0 14.2 2.9 1.5
2000 Brisbane Lions 4 16 9 11 164 69 233 48 28 0.6 0.7 10.3 4.3 14.6 3.0 1.8
2001† Brisbane Lions 4 19 21 20 145 64 209 52 28 1.1 1.1 7.6 3.4 11.0 2.7 1.5
2002† Brisbane Lions 4 24 29 27 193 108 301 61 66 1.2 1.1 8.0 4.5 12.5 2.5 2.8
2003† Brisbane Lions 4 20 26 17 132 79 211 34 62 1.3 0.9 6.6 4.0 10.6 1.7 3.1
2004 Brisbane Lions 4 19 18 17 124 58 182 38 41 0.9 0.9 6.5 3.1 9.6 2.0 2.2
Career[11] 195 232 196 1759 762 2521 477 362 1.2 1.0 9.0 3.9 12.9 2.4 1.9

Honours and achievements[]

Playing Honours[]

Team

Individual

  • SA state-of-origin representative: 1999
  • International Rules representative for Aus v Ireland: 1999

Coaching Honours[]

Team

Individual

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

Other work[]

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. ^ "Magpies sign up Matthew Lappin and Craig McRae". Herald Sun. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 January 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Craig McRae". collingwoodfc.com.au. Collingwood Football Club. Archived from the original on 16 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "Richmond finalise AFL coaching structure". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  6. ^ "Craig McRae". hawthornfc.com.au. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  7. ^ "McRae appointed senior coach". collingwoodfc.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Collingwood officially names Craig McRae as new AFL head coach". 31 August 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Craig McRae unveiled as new Collingwood coach". 31 August 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Craig McRae confirmed as Collingwood coach as Harvey departs AFL club". 31 August 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  11. ^ Craig McRae's player profile at AFL Tables

External links[]

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