Key posts
Partisan Collingwood crowd overwhelms McRae
Collingwood coach Craig McRae spoke to Channel Seven before the game…
Q: This has a feel to it.
A: It is amazing. Just taking it all in. It is black and white as far as I can see. It is amazing.
Q: Craig, you have had a great ability to savour the moment with a smile on your face. We had a shot of the rooms. There was a lot of laughter. How do you keep the humour going on these occasions?
A: Just trying to be ourselves. This is an occasion we are grateful to be part of. I said to the boys, ‘What else would you be doing?’ One of the players said he would be on holidays. We laughed at it. We try to be present for what is and live in the moment.
Q: Taylor Adams not out there tonight. Who comes in to fill the void?
A: We have Trent Bianco coming in to play wing time and allow some other players like Steele Sidebottom and Josh Daicos to get into the middle.
Q: What are a couple of things you wouldn’t in the forefront of your players’ minds tonight.
A: We have been talking about our fight all year and embrace the contest and win the contest. Last week we thought we did that for major parts and we need to repeat that tonight.
Q: Craig, I’m sitting alongside of Leigh Matthews. What do you take out of his coaching ways?
A: Nearly everything. I’m glad he hasn’t patented it, I would be in trouble.
Q: There is a great article in the paper today talking about your positivity. Tomorrow should be your best day and you joked your father’s blood type was B positive. Is it always a positive way or have you learned to be that way?
A: He will be watching and laughing at that. No, that’s true. I like to see the good in things. This group has responded well. I saw early days they liked to be rewarded with positive feedback. So, yeah, I give what the group needs.
Q: Loved your message post-game last week. You got a lot of attention about your players getting up off the canvas. How was that received? It was a Herculean effort but they didn’t quite get there.
A: It was well publicised, but internally it is something we have been doing every week. It is not something that which – it is not a new message to the players. I was proud of their efforts, particularly for the way they went about it and there was nothing about the effort, it is about what we have to do next. We have plenty of work to do, get up off the ground, we have to go again.
Q: Trying to read your mind about the things you are trying to teach your players and little things count so much and I think that’s the way you go about it.
A: No doubtign that. We celebrate all the little things, but it goes beyond the boundaries. You know, we are trying to prepare the guys to be better people in the community. Tonight is all about inside the boundary.
Q: No-one is really listening, but are you more nervous this week or last?
A: No, I’m just taking it all in. I’m looking forward to getting off the head set to listen to the crowd. It is an incredible scene from where I’m sitting and cameras are capturing there is a lot of black and white there and I want to take it in for what it is.
Freo need to start better than last week: Longmuir
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir spoke to Channel Seven before the game…
Q: Justin Longmuir, congratulations on getting this far. What does it look like right now?
A: We want to get off to a better start than last week. It comes down to playing our way. All week we reinforced to playing our way and stick the roles. I know the occasion is bigger but nothing changes from our end once the game starts. We need to make sure our mindsets are in the right spot.
Q: In terms of learning from last week, were they overhyped or not quite ready. Which of those?
A: It was a mix of a few things. Having the week off allows – probably allowed our players to play
the game over in their head for a couple of weeks and we fuelled Western Bulldogs pressure by over-handballing and not trusting the contest early in a final. We have gone to work on that this week.
Q: Justin, the temperament of the group, how are they feeling?
A: They were buzzing around the rooms which is better than being quiet. They looked really connected. Yeah, you can never really tell, but I sensed good vibes.
More Moore for Magpies
Collingwood defender Darcy Moore overcame an injury scare at training this week to take his place in the line-up tonight. He was one of the Magpies’ best last week as he kept Geelong star forward Tom Hawkins very quiet.
Darcy Moore.Credit:Getty Images
Pendles primes himself
Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury warming up ahead of tonight’s huge clash.
Scott Pendlebury.Credit:Getty Images
Team changes
COLLINGWOOD
In: Trent Bianco, Josh Carmichael
Out: Taylor Adams (groin), Nathan Kreuger
FREMANTLE
No change
Trent Bianco of the Magpies is tackled by Liam Stocker.Credit:Getty Images
Subs confirmed
The medical substitutes at the MCG are Josh Carmichael (Collingwood) and Bailey Banfield (Fremantle), who is playing the role for the 10th time this year.
Bailey Banfield.Credit:Getty Images
The McRae way: How new coach has changed Collingwood’s thinking
By Jake Niall
Collingwood trailed the bottom team, North Melbourne, by 26 points at three-quarter-time and had been “playing like busteds”, as a pithy Scott Pendlebury put it, when Craig McRae came down to the huddle.
The Magpies had already honed their escape routine in the previous six victories. Skipper Pendlebury was braced for McRae to rip into the players for the first time in his remarkable first season as coach.
Click here to read more.
Craig McRae.Credit:Getty Images
The burning questions facing the Magpies, Dockers
By Emma Kearney
Click here to find out where AFLW superstar Emma Kearney thinks Collingwood v Fremantle will be won and lost.
Jordan De Goey (third from left) celebrates a goal with Jack Crisp, Patrick Lipinski and Josh Daicos during Collingwood’s qualifying final defeat.Credit:AFL Photos
Who is Jack Ginnivan? We delved into his TikTok (and beyond) to find out
By Andrew Stafford
If you believe the “lemons”, Collingwood forward Jack Ginnivan is the most polarising player in the AFL.
He wears the most eye-watering peroxide job since Jason Akermanis. He chirps at opponents and shushes their fans.
Early on, he drew so many free kicks the AFL clarified its rules around head-high contact. Now he can’t buy one. His shorts are a size too big.
Click here to read more.
Jack Ginnivan is a new-age footballer, of the Tiktok generation.Credit:Getty Images
Pressure Pies face road-warrior Dockers
By Ronny Lerner
So far we’ve had five incredible matches out of five to kick off the 2022 AFL finals series, and there’s no reason why tonight’s semi-final between Collingwood and Fremantle can’t continue that trend.
The Magpies find themselves in the second week after losing an epic qualifying final to Geelong by six points last week at the MCG, while the Dockers progressed after executing one of the greatest comebacks in VFL/AFL finals history as they overturned the Western Bulldogs’ 41-point lead to win by 13 in their elimination final at Optus Stadium.
Despite last week’s thrilling defeat, the Magpies still head into this clash in magnificent form, having won 12 of their previous 14 games, and the same can be said of the Dockers who have won their last four games.
Collingwood have proven themselves to be well-suited to finals footy, with a spectacular 11-2 record in games decided by 11 points or fewer this year.
Fremantle have the wood over the Magpies, with three wins from their past four meetings, but Collingwood won their last encounter in stunning fashion with a six-goal upset victory in the wet at Optus Stadium in Round 10 – it was the result which sparked their incredible 11-game winning streak.
The Magpies’ record at the MCG this year is also sparking (12-3), and while Freo have only won two of their last seven at the ground, they did win their only game there this year against Melbourne by 38 points in Round 11, famously snapping the Demons’ 17-game winning streak.
The Dockers have also become a reliable travelling team, losing just two games out of 10 this year on the road, taking the scalps of Melbourne, Geelong and the Western Bulldogs, while they drew with Richmond as well.
