Craig McRae

Becoming a premiership coach in just his second year at the helm (2023), Craig McRae has already etched his name in Collingwood history. Now during his fourth season as Senior Coach, McRae leads a highly skilled coaching group.

Beginning his career as an assistant coach at Richmond in 2007, McRae was there for three years, before spending the 2010 season at the Brisbane Lions – the club he played 195 games for between 1995-2004.

In 2011, McRae joined Collingwood for the first time as an assistant coach. Spending six years at the Pies (2011-16), McRae worked with many of his current players including Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom and Mason Cox.

He then moved across Olympic Boulevard to Punt Road, where he joined Richmond as the Club’s VFL Senior Coach for the 2017 season. In his maiden senior coaching gig, he led the Tigers to the 2017 VFL Grand Final, and then the premiership two years later in 2019.

In 2021, McRae joined Hawthorn as an assistant coach, before being appointed as Collingwood’s Senior Coach in September of the same year.

McRae took the Pies to a Preliminary Final during his first year of 2022, before going two steps better in 2023 as the Pies claimed their 16^th premiership.=