Collingwood coach Craig McRae has lamented his side’s “lack of fight” during their 64-point thrashing at the hands of Hawthorn on Thursday night, but remains adamant he will not judge his side on their recent run of form.
A seven-goal blitz from the red-hot Hawks played the largest part in handing the Magpies their fourth loss in five games, and now leaves their top four hopes on a knife’s edge.
The defeat, which was their worst in over a year, acted as a very underwhelming showing for two-time premiership player Steele Sidebottom’s in his 350th AFL game. Ironically, it was an 11-goal loss to Hawthorn in Round 19 last year that last trumps their efforts here.
FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.
“I apologise to our Magpie Army … that’s a disappointing performance, you can’t sugar-coat that. We owe Steele Sidebottom more than that too; he’s a legend of the footy club. We’re hurting,” McRae began.
“(It was) just a lack of system, and then a lack of fight — sometimes at the same time, which leaves us really vulnerable. Anyone that’s watched us over the last few years would say: ‘They’re basically glued together by system … but not tonight.
“Right now, we’ve got to get our system back in check, because it didn’t really matter who played and (moving magnets). We’ve got to glue that back together.”
The Pies lost all of inside 50, contested ball and clearance, and also allowed the Hawks 33 more marks to see them dominate on both the inside and outside.
Implications for Newcombe, Howe after KO | 01:01
In an incident that undoubtedly stunned the Magpies from the get-go, veteran Jeremy Howe was knocked unconscious inside the first minute of the game — significantly disrupting their defensive structure against an ultra-tall Hawthorn attack.
“I don’t want to make excuses… it rocked us. It was right in front of us, it rocked us and it rocked some of our staff. We hope he’s okay, and we hope his family’s okay too,” McRae said.
The fourth-year head coach believes that their Round 22 performance was the worst he had seen his side for a long time in multiple aspects, which the Hawks took full advantage of.
Quizzed once more on Collingwood’s recent string of losses, McRae could not have been more clear in emphasising that he does not believe in form, nor confidence.
Have Collingwood been found out? | 04:45
“For a long time, I don’t recall us having that poor a connection when we moved the ball and defended the ground,” McRae continued.
“(If) you’re playing top eight teams or (higher and) give them a chance to play to their strengths, you’re going to get hurt. And we got hurt really bad.
“We want to be a team that turns up every week. Nothing’s permanent, and I’ve never believed in form (or) confidence, because my next action will be the one that decides if I’m confident or (in-form).
“Confidence is an outcome, form’s an outcome. We live in process. You judge us on outcomes, we judge ourselves on process.
“We lost a few minutes and seconds tonight, but we’ve got to stay present to that. When you start to think outcome and expectation — then you’re not doing you’re thinking, we want them to play. So we’re confident we can turn those things around.”
Hawthorn hammer Pies by 64 points! | 02:14
While still impactful and blitzing in patches, the Magpies were evidently missing the absolute best of Nick Daicos, who recorded his lowest disposal count for two months.
However, in reality Daicos’ output couldn’t be questioned as it was their lack of pressure that cost them far greater. The Pies did not have a tackle inside forward 50 to their name at half time, evidently missing the injured Beau McCreery and ill Bobby Hill.
The start of McRae’s most prized possession on the bench intrigued journalists post-game, and responded to a question of ‘why’ with: “Because everyone starts in the bench in our team. No one’s bigger than individual … it’s nothing major at all, everyone takes a turn. Josh (Daicos) started on the bench last week, and I think it was a pretty cool thing.”
Collingwood’s next shot at turning around their lean patch comes next Saturday against the top-of-the-table Adelaide, who incredibly, they haven’t lost to for over nine years.
Discussion about this post