COLLINGWOOD has added gun VFL defender Charlie McCartin to its recruiting team.

The middle brother of 2014 No.1 pick Paddy and Sydney defender Tom, Charlie will also play for the Magpies' VFL side in 2026.

McCartin has previously worked in recruiting at the Swans under veteran list manager Kinnear Beatson and spent time in the player management space with Scott Lucas and Winston Rous at Phoenix Management Group.

The 27-year-old has attracted interest from AFL clubs ahead of the past two Mid-Season Rookie Drafts after returning to play football again in 2024 for the first time since his late teens.

Sydney explored a move for him in 2024 when McCartin was still playing for Lorne in the Colac and District League and played two games in the VFL for the Swans' reserves.

He then signed with Geelong's VFL team last year and played 11 games in the first half of the season, before suspension and an irregular heartbeat curtailed his first full campaign at that level. He has since been cleared to play again and is building his fitness up ahead of the season.

Now McCartin will work under Magpies national recruiting manager Shane O'Bree – who was still at the Cats last pre-season when the key defender joined the VFL program – on a part-time basis, scouting underage talent around his own playing commitments.

McCartin will join a list management team at the KGM Centre led by Justin Leppitsch and including recruiting and list management manager Shannon Collins and pro scout Richard Little.

Collingwood's VFL team will be coached by former Magpie Matthew Lokan in 2026, with Essendon great Dyson Heppell starting at the club this week after being signed as a development coach before Christmas.

Premiership Pie Tyson Goldsack has also returned to the Magpies after a coaching stint at Port Adelaide, while former Richmond and Sydney ruckman Greg Stafford has also been appointed ruck coach after more than a decade working for Melbourne.