THERE was panic on the outside, nothing but calm inside.
When Collingwood coaches and players gathered back in Melbourne on March 10, a day after their disastrous 52-point Opening Round loss to GWS at Engie Stadium, there was a powerful composure.
"It's not even round one," a reassuring coach Craig McRae said before effectively handing over control of operations to his playing group, which was being critiqued externally as too old, too slow and past premiership possibilities.
Five days later, the Magpies embarrassed Port Adelaide at the MCG. Two months and eight matches later, there has only been one further loss, by three points to Geelong. The Pies, who in some of those subsequent matches have fielded the officially oldest teams to ever play in the V/AFL, stayed calm, backed in their own unique football ways, and re-emerged as 2025 flag favourites.
Revisiting Collingwood's approach to the GWS thrashing, as well as its time with McRae as coach, makes for fascinating external study, for internally, there has been no stress and a constant refusal to even acknowledge the possibility that its list was outdated for the modern game.
Former captain Scott Pendlebury, arguably the most measured football thinker – on and off the field – of his era, was this week asked by AFL.com.au to revisit the days after the Opening Round setback.
"It was as-per-normal and pretty much since then I would say the coaches are happy with how we are playing, the players are happy with how we are playing – we are a mature list, and with that comes great trust between the coaches and the players, and we do things together," Pendlebury said.
"There are always good conversations about what would work best in a certain situation. To 'Fly' (McRae)'s credit, and the coaching staff, they are always so open to getting feedback from those who are playing."
Nick Daicos had the least impactful game of his career against the Giants, and cramped badly. Pendlebury himself struggled in the heat. Only four Magpies kicked goals, for a total of six for the match. The backline failed to cope with the inside 50 barrage.
With McRae's encouragement, Collingwood's players led the strategy in the GWS match debrief.
"We just needed to get back to the 'do your job' mentality," Pendlebury recalled of the post-Giants meetings. "And we got the alignment back. (Against the Giants), we were almost over-keen. There's obviously one footy out there and it was almost as if five of us were going for it. So, simply … when the ball is there, what is your role? Do this part of your job better.
"It was all about addressing the need to get the game back on our terms, because that fell away quickly against the Giants."
The Pies' chemistry and system returned immediately. Wins came against Port Adelaide, Western Bulldogs, Carlton, Sydney, Brisbane Lions and Essendon before the round eight loss to Geelong, which was followed with another stirring, player-led response victory against Fremantle in Perth in round nine.
Collingwood has committed to resting its older players from certain matches, with Pendlebury, Brayden Maynard, Brody Mihocek and Jordan De Goey all absent from the Dockers match. De Goey will miss again in round 10, against Adelaide, and captain Darcy Moore has been ruled out with a shoulder injury.
The post-Opening Round approach by Collingwood was part of the now-famous McRae mantra, which he first aired publicly after the Pies had lost a qualifying final by six points in 2022, his first season in charge.
On that night, McRae said: "We want to act like winners. I must admit, the siren goes and there are half-a-dozen of our guys laying on the ground. For me, that's not a winner. That's acting like a loser. We lost the game, we're not losers."
The following week, Collingwood defeated Fremantle in a semi-final, then lost to Sydney in a preliminary final by one point.
The next year, Collingwood won a preliminary final by a point (against GWS), and a Grand Final by four points (against Brisbane).
Collingwood had a torrid run with injury in 2024, but it never gave up, never acted like losers, and won four of its final five matches (including a victory over eventual premier Brisbane) to miss finals by percentage points only.
To McRae, now 83 matches into his coaching career, there is always reason to present as winners, even after a nine-goal drubbing after the first official hitout of 2025.
"He is very balanced, Fly, and it has always been you wouldn't know if we win or lose, come Monday," Pendlebury said.
"It's always just gotten back to work for the next challenge next week. And where I think he has been awesome for the group is there is no riding of highs and lows. You get exhausted when you ride the highs and lows. Season 2022, well, that was one where you couldn't help but ride some of the highs, because they were happening a bit, there were some magical football moments.
"But even then, come Monday, let's look at what worked, what didn't work, what's next, the process."
