Collingwood coach Craig McRae said the record-setting crowd at Tuesday’s Anzac Day match helped fuel the team’s extraordinary last-quarter comeback at the MCG.
In front of the largest Anzac Day crowd, and the second-highest for a home-and-away game, the Pies overcame a 28-point deficit to beat Essendon by 13 points in a stunning seven-goal last term.
“To the Collingwood supporters – thank you for your energy. I’m not out there, but I’m getting full energy,” McRae said.
Craig McRae stands alongside Collingwood skipper Darcy Moore during the pre-game ceremony on Anzac Day.Credit: AFL Photos
“You can just see the players growing in confidence from the energy from the crowd.
“I said to the boys after the game, our ability to … want to win – there was a real hunger to say ‘hey let’s go’. And then I thought we had a really good method.”
There were 95,179 in attendance at the MCG, second only to the 99,346 for the Melbourne v Collingwood home-and-away clash of 1958, and surpassing the 1995 Anzac Day crowd of 94,825.
McRae also said that champion veteran Scott Pendlebury will see a specialist after taking a hit to the eye during the final term, when he left the field.
“We’ve done the work,” said the Collingwood coach of his team’s conditioning. “It’s a hot day and a hot game … We’ve trained to a level … [that] we’ll be prepared for it.”
“Earlier in the game we didn’t get deep enough [forward-50] entries and we tried to address that.”
Anzac Day medallist Nick Daicos finished with 40 disposals, booting two telling goals in the last term to help the fast-finishing Pies finish over the top of a tiring Essendon.
Daicos, one of the favourites for the Brownlow in only his second season, said he had “surprised himself” this year with his performances.
“My goal last year was to play one single game … This year I’m gaining a lot more confidence.”
McRae said of the younger Daicos: “I’ve always been a Nick fan. He’s enormous for us … he just gets back to work.”
Ash Johnson takes a spectacular mark over Jayden Laverde.Credit: Paul Rovere
Bombers coach Brad Scott said “fundamental errors” and Collingwood’s experience and fitness contributed to the loss, which the Bombers would learn from. “Our attitude is that we will double-down on the reviewing of the uncomfortable bits of the game. There are a lot of things that are going right.”
Scott said that while Collingwood “had their challenges” with personnel, the Bombers also were “shuffling the deck chairs” due to injury, being forced to move Will Setterfield off an influential Jordan De Goey, losing Jayden Laverde in the third quarter to an AC joint (shoulder) injury, and having to move Kyle Langford back, and then forward.
“We ran out of gas, and they seemed to stop at the petrol station somewhere,” Scott said of the final -quarter rout.
Scott added that Pendlebury and Sidebottom were “very, very influential” during the match. Sidebottom, 32, was runner-up to Daicos in the voting for the Anzac Day Medal.
Collingwood skipper Darcy Moore’s post-match speech, centred on the Anzac tradition, was met with an overwhelmingly positive reception.
“Not matter whether you wear the black-and-white stripes or the red sash, this game’s about so much than the four points,” Moore said.
McRae said he could not hear what Moore said, but said: “He’s a super-impressive man and [we’re] happy to have him lead our footy club.”
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