COLLINGWOOD coach Craig McRae will spend a week in camp with Scottish Rugby ahead of an international against the All Blacks in Edinburgh next month.
Magpies head of football Charlie Gardiner, high performance boss Jarrod Wade and senior assistant coach Hayden Skipworth will also travel to the United Kingdom to embed with the Scots.
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend spent a week inside the AIA Centre after a three-game series in New Zealand in July and extended the same invite to McRae.
Collingwood will observe up close how Scottish Rugby teaches, trains, recovers, prepares and performs against one of the toughest challenges in global sport.
Scotland will also host Argentina, Tonga and the USA in the Quilter Nations Series in November.
Townsend, 52, has led Scotland since 2017 and recently signed an extension through until the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
McRae is also planning on spending time inside other rugby union organisations during his trip to Europe.
The 2023 premiership coach has been invited to speak at a leadership conference in London.
McRae completed a study trip in America months after the Magpies went all the way two years ago, spending a week completing a leadership course at Harvard University.
Collingwood has encouraged its football department staff to invest time in professional development during the off-season to improve and bring back ideas to use in the program.
Before this group heads to the UK, Collingwood needs to hire a forwards coach and head of development and is understood to be meeting with coaches this week.
Scott Selwood has decided to step away from the game in 2026 to pursue other opportunities and travel abroad, while Josh Fraser has accepted a coaching position at Carlton.
As reported by AFL.com.au on Wednesday, Essendon assistant coach Daniel Giansiracusa is a target for the Magpies to add to a mix that includes Matthew Boyd and Jordan Roughead.
Collingwood returned to the finals in 2025, defeating Adelaide on the road in a memorable qualifying final performance, before being beaten by eventual premier Brisbane in the preliminary final at the MCG.
