‘No way’: The AFL lifeline Pie ‘couldn’t believe’ teammate wasn’t given before breakout on big stage

After 17 games across two different AFL clubs at the top level, Ned Long announced himself on Friday night as the next young Magpie to fly high on the big stage.

The former Hawk played an instrumental part in the Magpies’ 31-point Gather Round win over Sydney, and made the most of his opportunity to play midfield minutes from the very first bounce at Adelaide Oval.

In a career-best performance, Long accumulated 29 disposals — 17 contested, 10 score involvements, nine clearances and 509 metres gained to help pull his Pies over the finish line for their fourth consecutive win.

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But Long’s road towards a consistent place in McRae’s starting 22 has been is more unique than it is common; both recently, and more broadly speaking. The 22-year-old was delisted by Hawthorn at the end of the 2023 season after just five games — all of which were losses.

That same summer, Long trained alongside five other Supplementary Selection Period (SSP) hopefuls in a bid to be one of three players selected for an AFL lifeline. Unfortunately for him though in another setback, the Magpies opted for Lachie Sullivan, Josh Eyre and Jack Bytel.

Sullivan, who has since played a dozen games at the top level since his lifeline at the start of 2024, was as shocked as any to see Long not offered a contract at his own new club initially.

“He’s such a big body, and I couldn’t believe that he wasn’t (picked) on our list,” the 27-year-old told foxfooty.com.au in the changerooms after defeating the Swans.

“I trained with him at the start of 2024 when I became an SSP (singing), and I thought: ‘There’s no way this guy isn’t getting a spot.’”

In a major breakthrough though, Long was taken by Collingwood at the eleventh hour of the mid-season draft in the same year, notably off the back of persistence and an unquestionable drive for success.

“To see him do so well is awesome. He deserves it so much, because he’s one of the hardest working blokes at the club,” Sullivan continued.

“I rate him so highly, it’s no surprise to me that he’s doing so well because he works so hard.”

After playing seven matches to round out last year’s season, Long found himself in the precarious position of being McRae’s 23rd man for three of the first four games in 2025.

The Northern Knights product was having notable, but naturally limited impact in his time on ground against Footscray and Carlton in particular, as coach Craig McRae alluded to after his side’s Gather Round win.

“Geez, he looked good didn’t he?” the premiership Pies coach told Fox Footy’s Gerard Whateley.

“He’s been really training well, and it’s been hard to keep him as the sub. Tonight showed that he won’t be the sub too often.

“The contest-to-contest (work), and he’s ferocious around the ball. If he’s not winning it with gusto, he’s getting the ball back.

“His pressure’s been amazing for us, he’s led pressure most of the time he’s played for us. Tonight I thought he went to another level.”

Long has been substitute in six of his 17 AFL games, which makes comparing his match-by-match statistics difficult given the smaller sample size. But that’s not to say he still didn’t hit several career-bests out of the park on Friday night.

It was just the second time the 194cm midfielder registered more than 13 touches in an AFL game, with his eventual 29 disposals at 69 per cent efficiency smashing his previous best of 24 against Port Adelaide only a few weeks ago.

His first half was particularly impressive, lining up on rival superstar Isaac Heeney from the first bounce without missing a beat.

With star midfielders Jordan De Goey (one week) and Tom Mitchell (TBC) still to come back from injury and into McRae’s midfield, the next step in Long’s journey short-term will be as intriguing as any.

But there’s absolutely no denying that the output that Pies fans, players and coaches saw on Friday night was one of which could very easily hold strong for another decade in the black and white; such was his impact against last year’s grand finalists on a relatively big stage.