Craig McRae has admitted there is a "sense of pride" amongst the club despite their preliminary final defeat at the hands of Sydney.
The Pies came ever so close to yet another nail-biting comeback during the Saturday evening affair, but couldn't get over the line with a one point deficit at the final siren.
A 17th place finish in 2021 laid the groundwork for a monumental climb up the ladder for the Magpies this year, a season in which the Pies all but mastered the art of close finishes.
Speaking to media post-game, first year coach McRae said that he was "proud" of his team.
“It is difficult because you get so close, but just an overwhelming sense of pride, though,” McRae said.
“You catch yourself with your emotions because you look at the players in the eyes and how much they’re hurting and how much they’ve given for the year to fall short. I’m extremely proud of what they’ve been able to do this year.
“It comes down to little moments, it’s been a long year of trying to better ourselves and push for new opportunities and new discoveries. We’ve fallen agonisingly short.”
McRae's determination to instil a winning mentality into the club was on full display in their prelim loss, coming back from 36 points down in the third term to make a tight contest in the dying minutes.
“I put ‘winners only’ and ‘what if?’ and ‘if only’ (on the whiteboard), because winners don’t think ‘if only’. They just use it and it fuels you for more. There would be a lot of people lying in bed thinking ‘what if?’ or ‘if only’. You just don’t want to live in that space. Winners pick themselves and get better and use it for motivation. That’s what we will do,” McRae said.
“There is something special in this group, but the reality of this sport is you don’t start where you finished; I don’t even know where we finished but we don’t start in that position. We start 18th again.
I just wanted to thank the entire Magpie Army for all your support in 2022. You have helped inspire us to rise to new levels, achieve amazing things and we are so grateful to all of you. So proud of this Club @CollingwoodFC our players and staff, a year we won’t forget 🙏🏻
— Craig McRae (@flybags4) September 18, 2022
“There is a lot of stuff that has been built and is starting to become a foundation again. There is a pattern of behaviour that has been consistent that suggests why we’re in that position. I know our game plan doesn’t have to be to re-invented. Most of it is all there. The growth in the group has been outstanding. But again, you don’t start where you finished.”
