Collingwood coach Craig McRae has revealed he was disappointed with some of his players laying flat on the ground in the aftermath of the side’s one-goal qualifying final loss to Geelong.
The Pies fell to the Cats in a thrilling contest at the MCG on Saturday afternoon in front of more than 90,000 fans.
McRae, speaking to media after the game, said he had taken some of his players to task over their reactions to the loss.
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“We want to act like winners,” he said.
“I must admit, the siren goes and there‘s 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. I just made that point.
“We’re here to win this thing, we’ve given it everything we’ve got to get to this time of the year and you want to give it your best shot.”
Asked to expand on his post-game discussion with his side, McRae added: “We lost the game, but we‘re not losers. There is a difference.”
“I said that for the lifetime that I’m sitting in this chair – maybe barring a grand final – if we don’t win, don’t lay on the ground.
“Don’t lie on the ground.”
While the Pies fell short of booking a place in a preliminary final, McRae said the side’s extraordinary belief developed over the course of this season remained.
“We have great belief in what we’re doing,” he said.
“Again, that’s outcome stuff, but the evidence that we present to our players, there’s a lot of reasons why we’re sitting here.
“I know there’s a bounce of the ball this way and a set shot after the siren here and there and those things have got us to this point.
“But there’s a lot of stuff that we’ve done behind the scenes. It gives us great belief in that we belong in this position.”
