Mark Robinson: Inside Collingwood’s evolution under coach Craig McRae

Craig McRae’s Pies have taken the game to new levels. And Dane Swan believes we wouldn’t have seen Nick Daicos’ sparkling start to his career under the old system.

It’s all about system, belief, instinct and speed.

That is Collingwood in a box, a team led by coach Craig McRae and his cohort of assistants, a team which is changing football in front of our eyes.

And for the better.

These Magpies are dazzling the footy world. “I’m might be biased,’’ Pies great Dane Swan said. “But they are the most entertaining side in the competition.’’

They are Maverick from the original Top Gun, and every team is Iceman, cautious and a little afraid.

Iceman: “You guys really are cowboys.’’

Maverick: “What’s your problem, Kazansky?’

Iceman: “You’re everyone’s problem because every time you go up in the air you’re unsafe. I don’t like you because you’re dangerous.’’

Maverick: “That’s right, Iceman, I am dangerous.’’

Craig McRae is changing footy. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Collingwood is dangerous. It defends to the death and attacks to the hilt.

Its football is thrilling, adventurous and sometimes reckless. It has a need for speed, a want to play football with an ambition to score with every play.

Essendon great Matthew Lloyd said this week he hadn’t seen anything like it. He’s probably forgetting Geelong in 2008, and maybe Richmond in 2018, teams which somehow managed to blow a premiership. But you get the drift.

Gerard Healy, after round 1, said the Pies were equal flag favourites with Melbourne.

David King went even further. He said the Pies WILL win the premiership, barring injury. “This is brilliant ... next-level coaching,’’ King said.

Leigh Montagna was less authoritative but certainly impressed. He said the Pies had the “best offensive artillery’’ in the competition.

Every great team has had a point of difference, a mode of play which defines an era, however short it is.

From 2000 to the present day, coaches have left their fingerprints on the game. Mick Malthouse’s high press and high bench rotations, Alastair Clarkson’s cluster and then kick-mark, Richmond’s chaos and forward 50 pressure, all the way back to when Mark Thompson rescued the game from stoppage and contest and introduced blitzkrieg football at Geelong.

Can you believe the Cats used to have 500 disposals a game?

McRae’s Pies are not so much revolutionising football, for ball movement has vastly improved with the stand rule. But they have taken it new levels.

A team that arguably was overcoached is being coached to play with instinct and adventure.

“There’s no way Nick Daicos would’ve had the year he had if he played in the system before ‘Fly’ (McRae) because he wouldn’t have been allowed to do what he does at half-back,’’ Swan said. “To take on those kicks and take the game on. There’s no way he would’ve developed like he has under the old system.

“But because Fly has brought in a new energy and they are good footballers, they are able to use their strengths. Nick Daicos’s confidence in his own ability after playing 20 games is remarkable.

“It’s amazing when you’re allowed to do that, and you’re good at it, and you enjoy it, how much more productive you’re going to be.’’

Jason Akermanis, who was part of the super talented Brisbane Lions three-peat juggernaut, says the Pies move the ball with “so much more efficiency and quickly’’ and players like to play that way “if they can’’.

Nick Daicos celebrates the round one win. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“There’s no doubt, last year I enjoyed the change from Buckley’s kick-mark and this really suits their group,’’ Akermanis said.

“When they structure up and they’re happy with their match-ups, they just back themselves to kick the ball whenever they can as quickly as they can into their forwards, and I think that really upsets the defence of most teams.’’

Akermanis likes their ability to have a spread of goalkickers. “That’s the real key,’’ he said. “Not only back in the Lions’ days, but the new Collingwood. Once you’ve got midfielders kicking goals and you’ve got a forward line which has three or four different goalkickers in any quarter, it’s the perfect scenario.

“They don’t care who kicks the goal, it’s selfless, and everyone gets involved and gets a chance.”

Akermanis was an electric, instinctive player and was encouraged to be so by coach Leigh Matthews.

He said McRae, a Lions teammate under Matthews, had adopted parts of “Lethal’s” theology – take on the game.

“That was one of the five points Leigh Matthew would always have on the board. Tackle and dump, get your head lower than the opposition’s head, and those two things you can’t really do these days, but one of them was back your instincts and play on as quickly as you can, particularly in the forward half,’’ Akermanis said.

“Most of the teams I’ve seen had that Leigh Matthews plan, to get it to the top of the square and put the defence under pressure, and Craig still does that. But he’s still got this other side which is whole lot more of how Leigh wanted us to play, but it’s a modern version where you’ve got fitter players and more team defence.’’

The Magpies are the best kicking team in the league. In round 1, they had nine players who ranged from 15 per cent to an outrageous 30 per cent above the AFL’s average kick rating.

It’s rarely been seen before in one game.

“Even Hawthorn, when they had their era, their foot skills were exceptional,’’ Akermanis said.

“They would be leading with a guy right on their backsides and they’d hit you every time. That was exceptional for that era, and now you’re seeing (at Collingwood) a combination of blokes who can cover the ground and quickly and also deliver by foot.’’

Daicos is not unlike Akermanis in his ability to keep his feet.

“Nick is super balanced, he’s like his old man,” Akermanis said. “He’s got that nice arch in his back, his head is always up, and even when he kicks under pressure he’s got that ability where to be not off balance, no matter how fast he’s running or how much pressure is coming on him. That’s such an art and talent. You can’t train that, you’re born with it or you’re not.’’

Jordan Lewis was part of the Hawks’ dynasty, which was based around elite kicking and defensive transition. He said the Pies’ kicking ability was second to none.

Nick Daicos can keep his feet like Jason Akermanis. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Akermanis in 2004.

“They use numbers in that 30m radius better than any team in the competition,’’ Lewis said. “A lot of the sides will ignore the spare around the stoppage or not give that extra handball and just get it on to the boot to take ground, but Collingwood uses those players in that 30m radius.

“Richmond were like that.’’

Still, they play a different brand to his Hawks.

“We were more kick-mark,’’ Lewis said. “We weren’t a real contested side. We’d always try to have a numerical advantage (at contests).

“The reason why we weren’t great at contests is because the opposition would always send a half-forward up because we had dangerous mids, which then gave us the numerical advantage which then allowed us to be a really offensive side.

“A lot of our offensive chains were from a lot deeper than say, a forward-half side like Richmond or like Collingwood.’’

Lewis said in the pre-season there was a possibility Collingwood could miss the final eight, his reasoning being they were unknown after winning so many close games in 2022. After what he saw in round 1, he conceded he got that wrong.

“When I watch them, it seems to me they are all in sync offensively,’’ he said. “Once that manic pressure turns into a turnover, and then they go on their offensive transition, it feels like 1) they’re in sync and 2) they’ve got multiple options.

“Sometimes when sides turn the ball over, you can nearly say where they’re going and who they’re going to, whereas Collingwood, they tend to have multiple options they can use.’’

Of course, there are systems and strategies at work.

Jordan Lewis back in his playing days.

Like, a defensive mid standing off the stoppage. And even that’s a weapon. He’s there to cover if Collingwood loses the contest, but if they win it, he’s there to also be part of the transition through the corridor.

In hand with strategy is belief.

“They’ve got a belief which is hard to get,’’ Lewis said.

Swan: “You see enormous belief in them.

“It’s weird because they look fitter than everyone else. Every player in the league is a professional athlete, and it’s hard to imagine there’s a secret potion in Collingwood’s drink or the extra running in the pre-season has made them so much fitter … but they have something else. They have a remarkable belief in their ability and their game plan.

“The way they take the game on, it’s just like Richmond in their glory days. One could say they are Richmond dressed up in Collingwood colours of three or four years ago. But they’re more skilful (than Richmond).”

Swan, who was a dinky kick, is mesmerised by the daredevil foot skills of Collingwood’s players.

“Sometimes when they kick your heart’s in your mouth, but it just works,’’ Swans said.

“And if it doesn’t work, and if you pause the TV screen, it feels like Collingwood outnumbers the contest. When the ball comes to the ground it is at least even or they have the outnumber and it seems to happen at the big contests.

“That might be Fly. He might just be an unbelievable teacher. It seems like Collingwood players know what their teammates are going to do every second of the game.

“Obviously, they make mistakes, but in big moments they seem calm, they don’t let the pressure get to them. Fly still lets the players do what they are good at.

“Funnily enough, kids get drafted because they are good at football and are not just robots.’’

Originally published as Mark Robinson: Inside Collingwood’s evolution under coach Craig McRae