McRae in tears as Magpies win amid ‘horrible sadness’
Shayne Hope |
An emotional Craig McRae has revealed he shielded his Collingwood players from news of Adam Selwood’s sudden death before their 10-point win over Adelaide.
Magpies coach McRae and his staff were understandably without assistant coach Scott Selwood – one of West Coast premiership star Adam’s younger brothers – at the MCG on Saturday.
It followed Adam’s tragic passing just three months after his identical twin and fellow former AFL player Troy Selwood died.
McRae chose not to tell his players the news until a few minutes after they had extended their recent dominance of Adelaide with a hard-fought 11.12 (78) to 10.8 (68) victory.
“There’s no book written on this stuff. We got the news this morning and it was horrible,” McRae said as he fought back tears after the match.
“We didn’t really know what to do, to be honest, other than maybe give it space to see where it fits with all of us.
“The other coaches knew because we had to work on ‘Scoot’ (Scott) getting on the plane to go back to Perth.
“It’s horrible, there’s such sadness, so we protected the players thinking that might have been the right thing.
“I don’t know if it was, but we told the whole club right after the game (of) the sadness. I just want to send my love to the Selwood family.”
With the rest of the AFL world in shock, Collingwood posted a 10th consecutive win over Adelaide in a run that started in 2018, after a draw between the sides the previous year.
It sent the Magpies to the top of the AFL ladder – at least temporarily – with an 8-2 record, while the Crows (6-4) sit fifth.
Collingwood lost the clearance battle (39-29) and inside-50 count (55-47), but their defence held firm despite being without injured captain Darcy Moore.
Jeremy Howe marshalled the back-line and combined with Josh Daicos (29 disposals) for 24 intercept possessions.
Brayden Maynard and Dan Houston also impressed, and while Nick Daicos wasn’t at his brilliant best, he still finished with 28 touches and a game-high seven clearances.
Izak Rankine tried to lift Adelaide with 26 disposals and one goal, but put two crucial set shots out on the full just minutes before Collingwood took control late in the third quarter.
Rory Laird (27 disposals) and Jake Soligo (23 touches, five clearances, two goals) also fought hard for the Crows, and Darcy Fogarty kicked a game-high four goals.
Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson had 11 first-quarter touches and attracted close attention from Scott Pendlebury before finishing with 27 disposals and a goal.
Dawson converted a calm set shot in time-on of the final term as the Crows cut a 23-point deficit back to just nine, but the Magpies hung on in the desperate final few minutes.
Earlier, Dan Curtin and Rankine (twice) both missed crucial set shots during the third quarter.
It allowed three consecutive Collingwood goals in time-on, including one on the siren by Jamie Elliott, to put a break between the sides.
“In a game that’s really (difficult) to score in because of conditions, those costly errors become even more costly,” Crows coach Matthew Nicks said.
“Fifty-metre penalties to give them a goal or a mark on the goal line right on the siren, they’re just small things that we’ve got to get right if we want to beat the best side in the competition.”
The 67,697-strong crowd marked the biggest home-and-away attendance in history between these two clubs and second-highest overall, behind only their 2002 preliminary final.
AAP
