How Adams and McStay coped with mixed emotions; Howe ignores rib pain; McRae’s hidden message; Maynard’s warning

In today’s AFL Briefing, your daily wrap of footy news:

• Injured pair Taylor Adams and Dan McStay helped each other come to terms with missing out on Collingwood’s premiership.
• Premiership pleasure overrides rib pain for high-flying Howe.
• Cult figure Markov vaults into the family record books.
• Coach McRae reveals hidden message he carried into coaches’ box.
• Maynard warns Collingwood’s breakthrough premiership is just the beginning.

‘Then it hit home ...’: Adams speaks about flag heartache

Marc McGowan
Hard-luck duo Taylor Adams and Dan McStay spent a couple of emotion-charged hours together at Adams’ home coming to terms with their injury fate after Collingwood’s grand final triumph.

Taylor Adams hugs captain Darcy Moore moments after Collingwood’s premiership win.Credit: Getty

They were side by side in the triumphant Magpie changerooms before their teammates arrived to belt out back-to-back renditions of the theme song, but were notably absent as journalists, broadcasters, fans and loved ones piled in.

Adams, one of Collingwood’s vice-captains, was ruled out mid-week after also missing the preliminary final with a low-grade hamstring setback that dashed his premiership dream.

There were powerful on-field scenes in the minutes after the Pies’ extraordinary four-point victory over Brisbane, when Adams’ emotions spilled over as he embraced captain Darcy Moore.

“It was high emotions early on. There was elation when we first ran onto the ground [afterwards], and hugged ‘Pendles’ [Scott Pendlebury], Steele [Sidebottom] and ‘Howey’ [Jeremy Howe] — all the guys I’ve played a lot of footy with – then it hit home that I wasn’t out on the ground and part of it completely,” Adams told The Age.

“But the boys and Craig [McRae] made us feel really valued and a part of it, which was really good, then we had a few beers to celebrate last night, and a lot of singing and dancing and carrying on with family and friends.”

Adams and McStay – who arrived from the Lions in the off-season as an unrestricted free agent – leaned on each other to cope with the difficult moment, and needed some privacy to deal with their personal misfortune before they could share in the team’s raucous celebrations.

McStay may need as many as eight weeks to recover from the high-grade medial collateral ligament strain he suffered in the club’s preliminary final win.

Collingwood’s injured recruit Dan McStay at training before the grand final.Credit: Eddie Jim

“We shed a few tears and a bit of emotion, then we brushed it off and said, ‘Let’s get on with it and go celebrate with the boys’. It was a great night,” Adams said.

John Noble was another sad story, playing every game in the home-and-away season, only to be dropped for Collingwood’s qualifying final clash with Melbourne and never forcing his way back in.

Nathan Murphy, who took no further part in the grand final after being concussed in a clash with Brisbane’s Linc McCarthy, spared a thought for all three players amid the post-match chaos.

“It was pretty emotional seeing them. You go from one high like myself to a low like theirs,” Murphy said. “You’ve got to put yourself in their shoes, and see that, but they’re so good. They’re turning it into a positive, and they’re just happy for everyone else’s success, so it’s awesome.”

The trio’s grand final heartbreak sparked renewed debate about whether every player on the list should receive a premiership medallion, or at least those who played a certain number of games.

First-year Magpie Oleg Markov has experienced both sides of the ledger. He played in Saturday’s premiership, but missed out on all three Richmond flags (2017, 2019 and 2020) despite playing senior games in each of those years. Markov is “a big advocate” for all players being recognised.

“The best thing we can do is wrap our arms around them, and just let him feel what we sort of feel,” he said.

“I’ve been on the other side of the fence, and it is hard because you’re seeing all your friends succeed and sort of living the dream that you aspire to have, but I know it makes people hungrier. I know the boys who missed out will be the ones who are training the house down, and pushing the boys who have seen the mountain top. They’re going to motivate the boys to try and see it again.”

‘Incredibly sore’: Howe played out decider with rib injury

Peter Ryan
This wasn’t the type of “car crash” injury Jeremy Howe has suffered before, but it was brutal nonetheless. The high-flying Magpie has revealed he played out the grand final in pain after he was floored by a bone-crunching knock to the ribs from Lions forward Charlie Cameron during the last quarter.

Jeremy Howe was collected by Charlie Cameron late in the gameCredit: Getty Images

Cameron crashed into Howe as he cleared the ball from Collingwood’s defence, leaving him gasping on the ground with badly bruised ribs.

The Magpies defender is accustomed to extreme pain, having broken his arm in six places after a sickening midair collision in the opening round of the season.

This pain was tolerable by comparison, and he got up and played out the match, helping Collingwood hold on to a four-point win in one of the great grand finals.  

“The incident late in the game with Charlie ... He managed to hit me relatively late, it was probably in play, [but I] got a down-field free kick,” Howe told Channel Nine on Sunday.

Jeremy Howe’s rib injury did not prevent him celebrating Collingwood’s premiership.Credit: Getty

“The ribs are incredibly sore but I think if we lost they’d be sorer.

“I’ve got six months to get them right. I can tolerate the pain for now. I bounced out of bed regardless.”

Leading into the finals Howe said the bone had protruded from his arm when he crashed-landed in round one, describing the excruciating pain, and he came back from a horrific knee injury in 2020.

Did Markov join his pole-vaulting father as a world champ?

Oleg Markov is revelling in his fairytale ascension from the AFL scrapheap to Collingwood premiership hero, eight months after trialling with Carlton.

Any further proof required for how beloved the mustachioed dasher is among the Magpie army was delivered emphatically on Sunday at club headquarters, where fans chanted his name, soccer style.

“At first, when it started, I was a bit embarrassed, but I think since embracing it and sort of smiling, I kind of enjoy it now,” Markov told The Age.

“I’m super grateful that I’ve got a little chant like that, and hopefully, it’s a little legacy I can continue, and I’m just happy the Magpie army are looking after me. I feel like they’re always on my side, no matter what mistake I make ... if anything, they motivate me to continue to take the game on and just be my true self.”

Markov felt like he was cheating on Collingwood when he began training with the Blues, after finding out the Pies overlooked him for what was then their final list spot.

That followed Gold Coast delisting the 27-year-old, who also played 23 games for Richmond. There was interest in him at the time, but he feared his career might be over.

“I went through the national draft and no one looked into me, so there were technically 17 clubs that didn’t really want me,” he said. “And, to be honest, maybe 18, after I didn’t get the last list spot at Collingwood, but I’m glad the stars aligned the way they did.”

In a twist of fate, defender Charlie Dean re-fractured his right foot at training, opening another list spot for Collingwood to snatch Markov back from Carlton – and the rest is history.

“Having trained at Collingwood for two months, I felt like I was almost doing the dirty on ‘Fly’ [Craig McRae], going behind his back – I was almost like a cheater,” he said.

“He was very respectful and understanding, and it probably allowed me to open myself up and be vulnerable to that football club. I’m super grateful for them showing interest in me, in the first place.

“I know I’ve signed with [Collingwood] and on the dotted lines, I’ve agreed to hate Carlton, but there’s a bit of me that is really grateful and appreciative to them.”

McRae revealed post-grand final he wrote “44 sons” under his shirt collar, and he urged his players before the season started to come up with something similar for themselves. Markov kept his message private, but said the idea was for them to pick words that summed up how they wanted to be remembered.

“It was almost like writing a tombstone or eulogy for yourself,” he said.

“We picked one or two words that we wanted to live by. Everyone had their own, so some people chose really powerful words to do with football and others chose words to do with life, or whether it was repaying someone.

“Fly spoke about his being the 44 sons. Hearing that, it definitely made me realise all year that’s how I felt, and I can vouch for all the boys – that’s how we felt. We felt like he was a father figure for us more than a coach.”

Markov’s actual father, Dmitri, famously won the men’s pole vault at the 2001 world championships, so his role in the Magpies’ triumph continues the family’s sporting success.

“I’m very lucky. Dad thinks it’s a bit harder in a team sport because everyone has to perform,” Markov said.

“He said, ‘Hey, AFL is only in Australia, but, technically, you are a world champ,’ so I think I’ve matched him for now. I’d like to get another one, and hopefully, I can one-up him, but I think he’s got the cake at the moment.”

Pies’ premiership ‘just the beginning’: Maynard

Marc McGowan
Brayden Maynard has warned Collingwood’s breakthrough premiership is just the beginning as they bid to become the AFL’s next dynasty team.

Brisbane Lions (2001-03), Geelong (2007, 2009, 2011), Hawthorn (2013-15) and Richmond (2017, 2019-20) all won three flags in short succession this century, with the Magpies’ challenge now to back up their memorable season.

Brayden Maynard enjoys the Pies’ win.Credit: Eddie Jim

Maynard initially baulked when asked whether Collingwood could win back-to-back flags, but said their bulletproof culture instilled belief they could “do anything”.

“We’ve got to lap [this premiership] up, and we’re going to have some serious fun, and we might burn down Melbourne,” a still-disbelieving Maynard said.

“I’m looking forward to celebrating with the team because it’s taken two years of getting after it and getting better every day – we’ve got better for this moment.

“We just want to win. We come into the club every day and get better, and we just set ourselves up, so when we come to game day, we know we’ve done everything, to get the result we want.”

Maynard had a tumultuous start to September after his infamous collision with Melbourne’s Angus Brayshaw left the Demon concussed and him defending himself at the tribunal.

With a three-match ban hanging over his head, Maynard feared his dream to achieve premiership glory could be lost before he beat the charge.

Collingwood’s triumph helped banish the pain of their grand final defeat to West Coast in 2018, when Maynard was unfortunate not to receive a free kick for a block against Willie Rioli in the same passage that led to Dom Sheed’s match-winning goal.

“Everyone knows that was a bizarre and crazy sort of week, mentally [after the Brayshaw incident],” Maynard said.

“I wasn’t going well because of the what-ifs, if I missed this. That’s exactly why I struggled bad that whole week. I got quite emotional after the game, giving Dad a big hug, because he’s been by my side, and we did it.

“My whole family – my dad, my brother [ex-Demon Corey], my mum – and everyone at this club has helped me, and this team, to get where we need to be.”

McRae reveals hidden message under the collar of his grand final shirt

Peter Ryan
Collingwood coach Craig McRae had the message “44 sons” written under the collar of the shirt he wore through Saturday’s epic grand final to signify how he felt about each player in the Magpies squad during 2023 as they drove towards a premiership.

McRae revealed the legacy theme when he spoke to players, coaches, past players, club employees, and their friends and family at Collingwood’s official post-premiership celebrations held at Centrepiece in Melbourne on Saturday night.

Craig McRae with Brayden Maynard.Credit: AFL Photos / Getty Images

He said each player on the list did the same, inscribing a personal message under the collar of their own jumper with words describing the legacy they wanted to leave as a person and a player in 2023.

“All the players had inside their jumper something they want to be remembered for,” McRae said.

“It was an action. It was theirs ... when we created legacy, today players ideally lived theirs. In my shirt I had [written] 44 sons. I’ve got three beautiful daughters now, I don’t have a son, but I consider all these guys in the squad my sons, so I wore that under my collar today.”

The Magpies coach said on Saturday night he was yet to return to St Vincent’s Hospital where his wife Gabrielle gave birth to their daughter Maggie at 7.45am on grand final morning. Gabrielle went to the hospital with her sister at 10pm on Friday night after going into labour, before ringing McRae at 6am to join them at the hospital to be with them when the baby was born.

Collingwood president Jeff Browne praised McRae and the players for their character and driving the change the club undertook when the new coach was appointed.

He said the win was “the ultimate satisfaction” for him, and he was rapt to be there after a health scare put him in hospital briefly on the eve of the finals.

“[It was] a bit of pit stop, a little bit of late pre-season training and got myself back into it,” Browne said.

Past presidents Mark Korda and Eddie McGuire, as well as previous coach and champion player Nathan Buckley, Anthony Rocca, Luke Ball and Sharrod Wellingham were among the throng celebrating the club’s 16th premiership.

Browne said the club wanted to recognise and acknowledge that any success was built on the efforts of those who went before them.

“We are one big club. We are Collingwood ... this club has got a rich history, and days like this celebrate that history and salute the people that have gone before. We should never forget that,” Browne said.

After congregating in a circle in the middle of the MCG where they told each other what the win meant to them, the players appeared before fans gathered at the AIA Centre where the Collingwood chant was being sung loud and proud.

They then sang the club theme song at Centrepiece before Daryl Braithwaite appeared for three songs.

Ruckman Darcy Cameron revealed he could hold a mark better than a tune when he joined Braithwaite and his band on stage to sing The Horses.

Premiership keepsake: Click here to download a Collingwood premiership poster fresh from today’s edition of The Age

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