First and foremost, Craig McCrae, thank you. You came in at one of Collingwood’s low points and reminded every one of us to smile and embrace the journey.

You brought in values of genuine care, authenticity and a mind only focused on the present moment. It was infectious.

As you mentioned many times in your press conferences, you cannot take all the credit for the rise. Justin Leppitsch, Brendan Bolton, Josh Fraser, Neville Jetta and someone people may not give credit to, Jarrad Wade (high-performance manager) also deserve praise.

These are all very good people and they showed their positivity towards the group and the supporters. The way Wade spoke in his weekly injury updates always provided hope and optimism for supporters.

Translating that hope and optimism to a playing group that had lost their love for football was going to be tough.

A mighty task, but it was clear the coaching group knew they would re-energise them.

Boy, do we love the McCrae-isms.

The windscreen wiper analogy – wipe it away, forget about it, move forward, water what you want to grow and act like winners were some of the key analogies adopted by the players.

Next, be brave. Take the game on, move the ball forward at any opportunity and take territory. Let’s not be boring.

Finally, always look to win.

A fresh, daring, positive and hope-driven mindset was just what was needed.

Given a similar playing group to 2021, the group went from finishing 17th to third, losing the preliminary final by just a single point.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

Amazing how a shift in mindset can bring the best out in a playing group.

But what’s next for season 2023?

Continuing the growth mindset, which has already started at the trade table.

There were some holes in Collingwood’s best 22:

– Key defender
– Key forward
– Small, fast-paced pressure forward
– Inside midfielder

Enter general Manager of football, Graham Wright. He identified Daniel McStay from Brisbane very early in 2022 and appeared to be sold on Collingwood very early. Key forward, tick.

Ian (Bobby) Hill had already requested a trade in the previous season which didn’t eventuate. Another one completed throughout the season. Small forward, tick.

Wright then sourced out Billy Frampton from Adelaide. A 200-centimetre key defender stuck in the reserves who can come in and play a role in a team defence, tick.

The final piece was an inside midfielder. Who would have thought it would be one of the best ball winners in the competition who knows how to feed the ball out with absolute ease, Tom Mitchell, tick.

However, there was a cost to bringing in some recruits.

It appeared Oliver Henry felt he wouldn’t be able to find a spot in the best 22 with the additions of Hill and McStay, so he requested a trade to play with his brother in Geelong.

The other loss which appeared to be brought upon by the club was Brodie Grundy. Due to the length and size of his contract, the club felt it was best to get the money off the books moving forward. The Pies ended up trading him to Melbourne and will be paying a portion of his salary.

With that move, the downside is the Pies’ ruck stocks appear a little thin. Darcy Cameron will take the main mantle and has Mason Cox as a backup if required. McStay or Nathan Krueger seems to be the pair that will help Cameron moving forward, but if Cameron goes down and other than Cox, who is ready to step up?

With all the changes in mind, how might the pies line up come Round 1? I haven’t considered new draft picks.

B: Maynard Frampton Howe
HB: Pendlebury Moore Quaynor
C: JDaicos Adams Sidebottom
HF: Elliot McStay Hill
FF: McCreery Mihocek Krueger
Foll: Cameron De Goey Crisp
Inter: Mitchell, Ginnivan, NDaicos, Lipinski, WHE*
Emer: Noble, Murphy, Cox
Missed: Johnson, Carmichael, Bianco, Macrae, Dean, Kelly, McInnes

*Currently talk of having a fifth player on interchange instead of a sub.

The four new recruits slot in fairly seamlessly. Frampton in for Nathan Murphy, McStay in for Cox, Hill for Ash Johnson, and Tom Mitchell for John Noble.

The core that played in the preliminary final stays quite similar. Krueger seems to be the better fit over Johnson with Krueger’s energy in the ruck and up forward during the final exactly what Collingwood need more of moving forward.

Hill will add some much-needed defensive pressure and goal-sneak ability to the forward line.

Frampton adds size and height into defence to play a role in a team defence and allows Jeremy Howe and Darcy Moore to play their intercept game.

(Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The development of Murphy, Charlie Dean, and Will Kelly will be crucial with Howe (32) needing a successor and Brayden Maynard hunting for more midfield minutes.

Mitchell aids the need to win more contested ball and feed it to the outer players like the Daicos brothers, Jack Crisp, Jordan De Goey, and Scott Pendlebury. Mitchell also helps the loss of Grundy in the sense that they won’t be winning as many hit outs, with the need to be smarter to win the football back off the opposition.

The unlucky ones in Noble, Cox, Murphy, Johnson, and potentially Will Hoskin-Elliot depending on the new interchange rule will all be needed at some stage in the season with injuries likely to hit at some point, however, it shows the potential depth the squad may have.

The club is looking in good shape for another crack at winning the ultimate prize in 2023 but most importantly, continuing with a growth mindset, and looking to be better each day will have the players and Magpie faithful excited and craving a big year.

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Pies fans McCraving a huge 2023

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