CRAIG McRae is ready to go when I pull up out the front of his house at 5.50am last Wednesday. The pressure of win-loss hasn't arrived just yet, but days in the pre-season are more bumper-to-bumper than winter. Everyone wants a piece of the Collingwood coach, which is why he hits the road in his new KGM Musso Ute in the dark.  

Williamstown is still curled up in bed as we weave our way through the quiet, wide streets in this part of Melbourne's western suburbs. By the time we reach the West Gate Bridge, there are plenty of cars driving towards the city as the sun rises in the rear-view mirror.  

OPENING ROUND Get your seats to Saints v Magpies

After four winning seasons to start his time as a senior coach, McRae has delegated more this pre-season than ever before. That was the plan after the Magpies fell on preliminary final weekend to eventual premier Brisbane on September 20. 

The 52-year-old was involved in the December training block at Olympic Park, but didn't return to the club after the Christmas break until Australia Day. Criticism comes with the territory in this caper, but 'Fly' was surprised by the backlash around this decision. He spent January with his wife and three daughters being a dad and husband, rather than a coach, working around the house, digging up the garden, attending swimming lessons and starting baby gymnastics with his youngest child.

Collingwood vice-president Paul Licuria drove the move. The dual Copeland Trophy winner joined the board in 2018 and has been a regular presence in the rooms and around a club where he is a member of the Magpies Hall of Fame. McRae consulted Magpies captain Darcy Moore and the leadership group to ensure they were comfortable with it. They implored him to step back. Late December and January is the only time of the year the industry shuts down. 

The 2023 premiership coach wants Collingwood to be industry leaders in this space. He wants his staff to take breaks at the right time to be fresh when it matters most. Hayden Skipworth, Charlie Gardiner and Jarrod Wade were all given an extra week off at times in the pre-season. McRae believes if he doesn't role model this behaviour, others won't feel comfortable stepping away.

"We made a plan. Paul Licuria has been pushing it hard to take more time away from the place to have more energy when you're here. There was nothing untoward around it, it was just about having a bit of extra time off because you go from a prelim final, then you've got the Trade Period straight away and then before you know it the draft, then you've got pre-season starting and you feel like there's times – and I know I've only done it for four years – but it actually feels like sometimes you just haven't had a break and so there's a build-up of all this stress and other layers of doing the job that you haven't had a chance to move," McRae explained to AFL.com.au on his drive to work last Wednesday. 

"Then there's the other part: I've got a young family, so I just crave family time and spending time with my three daughters and wife Gab; you crave that time. January just seems perfect because this industry shuts down for a few weeks. You get that time and then take an extra couple of weeks. All of a sudden you've got a five-week holiday or five weeks off.

"So I wouldn't do this if it was my first year, clearly you wouldn't do it; if it was my second year I still wouldn't do it, because you haven't built foundations of what you want in the building: environmentally, culturally, training standards, coaching, it's all in place. So I spoke to all the leaders about it, saying, 'Are you OK if I take this?' Darcy goes, 'Absolutely. This would be amazing for you and Gab and the girls and myself’. So led by the club, we got Hayden Skipworth to lead the program. He did it last year, too, and at periods when I went overseas to Harvard. The things that people don't know on the outside is the day to day, there is not a heavy reliance on anybody. It just moves. And when you've set high performance up, it's just managing it. January is a great time to just get to work. You know Jarrod Wade is amazing at what he does. These guys are fitter than they've ever been. So you step away from all that, and funnily enough, I was able to disconnect for a couple of weeks and I have great energy."

McRae isn't the first person inside the KGM Centre when we arrive, but the lights aren't on in most of a building Collingwood relocated to from its spiritual home Victoria Park in 2004 under the leadership of Eddie McGuire and Greg Swann. He usually spends the first half an hour on the treadmill to clear his head on main training days, but his first meeting starts on Microsoft Teams at 6.30am. 

Peering over the coach's shoulder on this call are George Angus, Jock McHale, Phone Kyne, Leigh Matthews and Mick Malthouse. They aren't literally in the room, but commanding life-size images of Collingwood's five other premiership coaches illustrate how tough they are to win. McRae led the Magpies to a record-equalling 16th flag in his second season in the job and has a few small photo frames in his office to commemorate the day. The Jamie Cooper portrait is just down the hall, while a section of the new museum is dedicated to that four-point win. 

Four other coaches from across the globe are on this call, which is run by Aleda, the leadership company founded by Western Bulldogs great Luke Darcy. While the sun starts to beam through McRae's office on Olympic Boulevard, it is pitch black in Oslo where Norway women's national team manager Gemma Grainger is currently based. Ivan Cleary is active in the meeting, demonstrating the lessons that helped him become the first coach in the NRL era to win four consecutive premierships when he led the Penrith Panthers to unchartered territory between 2021 and 2024. 

Each coach is asked to address a challenge they are currently facing. McRae kickstarts the discussion by raising the topic we discussed in the car. A 68.9 per cent winning record from his first 99 games in charge, three September visits in four seasons and a premiership don't insulate him from scrutiny. Others have a view, but only McRae can navigate these waters. 

McRae isn't short on advice. America's Cup skipper John Bertand AO is in the diary for a walk around the tan the following morning, while legendary Ironman Trevor Hendy is also a mentor. In the off-season, McRae travelled to Europe with Skipworth, Gardiner and Wade to go in camp with Scottish Rugby for a week ahead of an international against the All Blacks in Edinburgh. Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend spent the same amount of time inside Collingwood months earlier, before opening the doors to the Magpies, where one thing really stood out.

"Player leadership and empowerment, handing things over, they do it really well, they're the elite of their country, clearly. Their leadership allowed them to take the game to another level later in the week by empowering the players to drive meetings later in the week. We do it, but not to that level, so I'm really keen to explore that. We will get out of the players' way later in the week," McRae said.

"They treated us unbelievably well. Gregor Townsend was unbelievable in his staff. We were part of the team, part of the furniture for a whole week. So whoever comes in our building now has got to get the Scotland version. Not that we thought we did it badly, but they did it unbelievably well."

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HAYDEN Skipworth is directing traffic in the pre-training planning meeting when McRae takes his seat in the match committee room. Midfield coach Matthew Boyd and backline coach Jordan Roughead are prepared for their drills. AFLW star Brit Bonnici, who is spending a part of her off-season developing her coaching craft within the AFL program, is also present alongside the Pies' new-look development team that includes former Magpies Nathan Murphy and Matthew Lokan, as well as Essendon great Dyson Heppell. 

The stakes aren't anywhere near as high, but this is the first time since September 18 that selection is part of the program. McRae raises that point as he opens the cupboard behind him, which swings open to reveal the team to face Greater Western Sydney. "Be aware of that energy changing in your conversations. Selection brings stress," he says. Some senior stars will be saved for the AAMI Community Series, while the two that played in AAMI AFL Origin won't play out at La Trobe University in Bundoora. Harvey Harrison will play for the first time since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in August 2024. Mature-age recruit Angus Anderson will start in the midfield after an impressive first pre-season at Collingwood after the 22-year-old was recalled from a solo trip to Europe when the Magpies selected him at pick No.57 in November. 

Skipworth might not have been in this room if he chose to pursue the Melbourne job last September. Collingwood's senior assistant is 42 but has been coaching for 17 years after his playing career was cut short by knee injuries. The Demons were keen on him, but after going through the full process at West Coast 12 months earlier to fall just short to Andrew McQualter, Skipworth spoke to Melbourne GM Alan Richardson early, but ultimately chose not to put his hand up for the job, which was won by Steven King ahead of former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley. 

"I definitely want to be a senior coach," Skipworth said. "I feel like I've been working towards it for a long period now and then it's just about working out what's right for me and right for the club and whether the two fit for each other. 

"I'm not in a rush to leave Collingwood. 'Fly' gives me unbelievable opportunities internally. I run pre-season when he's away, go on PD trips together, so it's been a great relationship and I'm not in a mad rush to leave.

"I've been lucky to work with some great coaches at Collingwood. We've still got guys like Justin Leppitsch and Shane O'Bree around as resources, even though they're working in recruiting and list management to bounce ideas off. We're well-resourced in the coaching space, so learning on the job still as we go here."

Skipworth is one of the next cabs off the rank. The South Australian is highly regarded in the industry for his tactical nous, management skills and network. While John Longmire, Adam Simpson and Ken Hinkley will loom above the next vacancy, Skipworth is part of that untried crew, alongside Daniel Giansiracusa, Corey Enright and Brendon Lade, who are getting closer. Leading the pre-season program helps his development.  

"I got to do two (pre-seasons) under 'Woosha' [John Worsfold] at Essendon. When he was away in January I ran the program, so I've done it at a couple of clubs now, but it's just good you take the reins and you get to make the final decisions," he said. 

"Obviously you keep the head coach informed when he's not here, but the decision making stops with you, so it's good in that aspect. It gets you into the head coach mode as well, you’re not in the weeds as much and more managing staff more. It's just a good experience to keep going back to."

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THERE is a theatrette at the club, but it remains dormant; the coach prefers this room. Chairs are arranged in a horseshoe so players can eyeball each other. It is more intimate than tiered seating, just the way 'Fly' likes it. The pre-training meeting doesn't start until the music stops. Performance analytics manager Jack Prato is an endless source of information for the coach, but in this guise, he is a DJ. 

When he hits pause, McRae starts the meeting on a light note asking how a few players spent their day off. Recruit Jack Buller played golf with Billy Frampton, who confesses he just got his handicap, which is 40, much to the amusement of the room. 

McRae quickly changes gears. Intuition is a strength and he senses the mood is different inside the building this week, like it would be in the 17 other clubs across the country. Games have arrived. Premiership points aren't up for grabs just yet, but spots are. And with that comes anxiety. Today he will inform a handful of players they haven't been selected to play against Greater Western Sydney. He invites Collingwood's leaders to address how players should deal with selection this year. Twenty-three players are picked each week, many will leave disappointed. Darcy Moore says it's OK to feel disappointed, it's part of the game, but carry yourself in the right way. 

Collingwood had two players selected for Origin, but they were also represented by head of high performance Jarrod Wade and club AFL property manager Jennifer Plumb, who were involved in camp with Victoria. Wade joined Collingwood from the South Sydney Rabbitohs weeks after McRae in 2021. Since then, the fitness boss has become one of the most revered in the League. His presence is all over the program, especially in the pre-season, but he has a simple message to communicate to the group before training: "Reef is going to do matchplay for the first time in 330 days." The room erupts. Last pre-season, Reef McInnes returned to defence and was one of the stars of the summer, breathing life into his career to earn a spot in Opening Round. A fortnight later his season was over when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against the Western Bulldogs.

"It was cool to get back in with the lads, hit some bodies and just feel normal again," McInnes told me over lunch. "And the good thing is, I wasn't thinking about my knee, so maybe that's confidence, maybe that's a sign I've put the work in. It's nice to finally be normal again. That's what I would say."

Nathan Murphy has been in McInnes' corner. Playing was taken away from him far earlier than expected, but now the premiership Pie is emerging as an outstanding young coach, working closely with the backline at Collingwood. 

"He's got such a good footy brain, but I think he's a very caring person,” McInnes explains. "He actually puts the hours in and helps me out; he's always on the green floor that we have out there helping me with my aerial and helping all the lads with their spoils. I think he misses the game a lot."

Everything is planned to the minute on main training days in the pre-season. Clocks are synchronised around the building and ubiquitous. The moment this meeting ends half the players head to the indoor kicking area – the green floor – where the sun is beaming through the Glasshouse windows. Russell Coight is waiting for them, they just don't know it yet. Glenn Robbins, the actor from All Aussie Adventures isn't actually in the building, but he is on the big screen in front of the seats that were originally used to watch the swimming from at the 1956 Olympic Games.  

Jordan Roughead and Nathan Murphy have gotten creative with a footwork drill involving three players tied together. The first group don't buy in as much as the second. "Few stiffs in that group," Matthew Boyd quips. But the next group is all in. Darcy Cameron is given the job to lead the Russell Coight line dance with the stomp, shuffle, kick and embraces it. Jordan De Goey, Brayden Maynard, Billy Frampton and Lachie Sullivan ensure everyone else is all in, much to the amusement of those looking on from the administration side of the building. The energy is up, now it's time to start training.

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ONLY four players are currently unavailable for selection. Darcy Moore and Jeremy Howe are both recovering from calf strains and facing delayed starts to the season. Reef McInnes has almost been cleared to play. And then there is Bobby Hill. The 2023 Norm Smith medallist has barely been at the club this pre-season and hasn't returned since the Christmas break. He was granted a leave of absence on January 9 to deal with the ongoing personal issues that have stalled his career. 

Hill played the first 10 games of 2025 and 13 of the first 14 and signed a lucrative four-year contract extension, but only managed one more appearance for the year when he was the sub in round 21. He returned to the club late last season but wasn't in the condition to be picked for the two finals. Collingwood remains in regular contact with the 26-year-old and hopes he will play a role this year, but that is looking doubtful by the week. 

"We're not putting any timelines on that," Collingwood EGM Charlie Gardiner says inside the Glasshouse cafe. "We'll support him until he gets himself right and we're confident he's doing the work that he needs to do. We're really hopeful that he can get back and play a role, but there's no timeline on that. Health is the priority for now.”

Images of Hill are sprinkled across the walls of the KGM Centre. Both Gardiner and McRae have been in contact with him in recent days. Gardiner joined just before Christmas in 2024 after five years as the football boss at Sydney. He is the problem solver in the football department. 

Collingwood will enter 2026 with the oldest (25.6 years) and most experienced (94.7 games) squad in the competition for the second year in a row, but the gap between them and the rest isn't as wide as last year after the departures of premiership veterans Brody Mihocek, Tom Mitchell, Mason Cox and Will Hoskin-Elliott. The group is younger, but the quality of the youth is still up for debate ahead of 2026.

"It's an easy headline I think," Gardiner says. "But if you look closely at the profile, it's changed reasonably significantly over the past 12 months; we've started to evolve the list. We've got 13 or 14 players on our list now that have played less than five games that we need to see more of and provide opportunities for. We've started that process and we're excited about it.

" I think the other really pleasing aspect from an overall perspective is it's supported really well by that core group of guys who are in that 24 to 30 category, which is the nucleus of our club. Guys we brought in recently in (Harry) Perryman and (Dan) Houston sit in that bracket. Then there is Josh and Nick (Daicos). There's quality there. Jordan De Goey has had his best pre-season in a few years. We think there's a really talented core group there that will allow group to keep growing."

Ned Long was the big bonus last year, becoming a permanent fixture in his first full season at the club to finish ninth in the Copeland Trophy. Nick Daicos was the only other player under 25 to finish in the top 10. Collingwood has a strong core in the 25-30 bracket led by Brayden Maynard, Jordan De Goey, Josh Daicos and Pat Lipinski, but need the likes of first-round picks Ed Allan and Harry DeMattia to take the next step. Collingwood reached the penultimate weekend of last season, but where is the improvement coming from in 2026?

Maynard is finally over the lingering issues with his foot that have ground him down mentally over the past three years. "My foot's been the best it's been through any sort of pre-season or off-season over the last three years. So I'm feeling really good and I'm ready to attack it," Maynard says when we sit down to chat in a quiet room after training. 

The 2022 All-Australian doesn't miss games. He has played 229 games since being selected at pick 30 in the 2014 draft, behind only Brisbane co-captain Harris Andrews on 239. But last year he was sidelined for five weeks after snapping his plantar fascia, then dealing with other issues with his foot. 

"It was a headf***," he said. "Like it was really, really frustrating at times and tested my patience because I was able to get through the pain and play, but it was just lingering. So it was just impacting the way I could perform at 100 per cent, but I could still sort of find a way to get up and perform."

Maynard turns 30 in September and is more aware than ever of his football mortality. This time last year he was out of contract and being pursued by North Melbourne. He ultimately chose legacy over extra dollars in his bank account to re-sign at Collingwood for four more years. "It is a lot of money," he confesses. "But I'm loyal and that means a lot to me. It was an easy decision in the end, it just wouldn't have sat right with me if I went anywhere else."

After exploring recruiting and coaching during his time at Collingwood, Maynard has just come to the realisation what he wants to do when footy ends. And it doesn't involve the game. He has worked with Collingwood welfare managers Alex Agrotis and Brady Grey to get the ball rolling. "I really love the producing side of music and what it brings because every time I listen to music, it brings me joy and happiness,” he says. “I feel like I can relate to music a lot, so being able to make music and then hopefully one day get a few songs out there is the goal, but it's not for a long time. I'm trying to figure out exactly what I want to do in the music industry, but it's something that I'm definitely looking into now."

Everyone from the club is welcome to join the 'Side by Side meeting'. When the music stops, Craig McRae has a handful of fan mail to deliver. The usual suspects receive a piece of paper from the coach: Nick Daicos, Jamie Elliott, Darcy Moore. Draftee Sam Swadling has received a letter, too. The West Australian's pre-season has been eye-catching with a debut on the cards in 2026. The room roars when Isaac Quaynor starts his by reading out 'Q you are my top three fave player'. 

There is a reason McRae has started the meeting on this note. He wants to bring the fans on the journey. The coach has told this story to his players before: he met the player he idolised at 18 and the guy was a 'douchebag'. "If you get the chance at training, stop for the photo, stop to sign the jumper," he encourages his players. McRae does this himself after every press conference, posing for 20-30 photos until everyone leaves happy. The little things matter.

The next slide appears with photos of Beau McCreery, Oscar Steene, Jakob Ryan, Charlie West, Harvey Harrison and Noah Howes all wearing the South Australian jumper. There is a grainy photo of Brayden Maynard as a kid. He was drafted out of the Sandringham Dragons and Hampton Rovers but was born in Adelaide and lived there in his early years. Before McRae became a triple premiership player at Brisbane, he represented South Australia in the last game of Origin football for that state in 1999. He loved the reprisal the previous weekend and hasn't forgotten that he grew up in the seaside Adelaide suburb of O'Sullivan Beach and wants to see South Australia back on this stage. McRae, clearly, would love to see his state feature next year.

Nick Daicos, Darcy Cameron and Jarrod Wade are summoned to the front of the room to share their experiences from Origin. The image of Daicos as a kid with Patrick Dangerfield during his days at Adelaide sums up the experience for the son of a gun. Cameron grew up idolising Dean Cox when the six-time All-Australian ruckman was dominating for West Coast, so to get play under the Sydney coach for Western Australia was a career highlight. 

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MCRAE has met with every first-year player across the afternoon. His diary has been jampacked. But others queue patiently outside his door just before 4pm. The football department is still a hive of activity when he is answering the questions that need to be resolved and grabs his backpack to leave. He wants to practice what he preaches in the pre-season by being out when he is done. That will ensure others follow his lead, rather than lingering. On the way out the door, Collingwood's GM of communications and content, Nadine Rabah, informs the coach that they've almost sold out of the 'Fly' puffer jacket. Almost a thousand gone in four days. More are on the way.

It's time to tackle the traffic on the West Gate Bridge. It's not quite peak hour, but it's building. There is more than enough time to find out how much longer he can do this for. McRae never set out to be a senior coach when he retired after the 2004 Grand Final loss to Port Adelaide, but like many from that Brisbane three-peat, Leigh Matthews left his mark.  

McRae initially remained in Brisbane and coached Queensland's under-18 team in 2005 and 2006, before landing a role as Richmond development coach in 2007. Not long after that, Gold Coast asked him to enter the process to be the inaugural coach. He didn't want to do it, but was convinced to present and ran close to Guy McKenna. That planted the seed, but another opportunity didn't arise until Adelaide went through the process to replace Don Pyke in 2019. Twelve months later, McRae was looking for a job after the brutal COVID cuts led to his departure from Richmond after leading the Tigers to a VFL premiership. 

The triumphs and trials in this journey are why McRae is so grateful for the position he is currently in. He never thought this was possible. Before Christmas he signed a two-year extension that locks him in until the end of 2028. Beyond that he doesn't know. But he doesn't see a future where he emulates his former premiership teammate Chris Scott at Geelong or Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy across the road, whose new contract extends his time at the club through 26 seasons. 

"I never saw myself being a Chris Scott-type coach that does it for however long – or Craig Bellamy for 20-odd years. I never saw that when I started. I just didn't want to take it for granted. I want to stay in it and do the job really well. I'm really grateful the club has seen me to be able to do it for another three years, so I'm excited for that," McRae said.

"There's an addiction to the job and you love parts of the job. There are things that you just really crave, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. I think this will be my future in the next three years." Beyond that, McRae will be ensuring him and his staff take leave at the right time to remain energised.

We've returned to where we started the day in the dark. McRae opens the front gate to show me the freshly laid grass he told me about almost 12 hours earlier and he walks me around the side to show off the progress he has made on his garden across the summer. The sprinklers are working overtime. He is home in time for homework and to help cook dinner. On the wall in his den are photos from the 2023 success, but a framed Brisbane guernsey from the famous three-peat catches the eye. Only the best go back-to-back-to-back. McRae will be out to stop his old side from emulating that feat in 2026.