Craig McRae has flatly denied he was approached to join Carlton at the end of last season during a Friday-morning press conference in which he also addressed untrue rumours about his personal life.
The Magpies premiership coach was asked about a report that Blues CEO Graham Wright reached out to him about shifting to Ikon Park late last year.
Craig McRae says he can’t control what is written about him.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
“Oh, that’s not true,” McRae said. “Geez, I’m caught up in a lot of things at the moment, aren’t I?
“Look, I’ve got a contract here. I’ve just extended it, thankfully enough, and my best mate (Michael Voss) works there (at Carlton). It doesn’t make sense to me.”
McRae said he was “really grateful” that Collingwood CEO Craig Kelly released a statement during the week in which the club defended the coach against “untrue, irresponsible and unfair” rumours about a marriage breakdown.
McRae also spoke to the Collingwood playing group to put the matter to rest.
“There’s a lot of things written that aren’t true, and I’ve addressed that,” McRae said.
“It’s a crazy world we’re in at times, and it’s just become a little bit annoying, and it was nice to get on the front foot, and really nice to have support that people just know my values and morals.
“I’m really comfortable with my values and morals, and what people say about me, I can’t control.”
McRae said he spoke to the players for “10 seconds of a 30-minute meeting”.
“It was just addressing the world we’re in,” he explained.
“There’s heroes and villains, and wins and losses, and we’re all caught up in that. We play the game … which is kicks marks and handballs, and this is the other game.
“Sometimes the other game tries to get involved in our kicks, marks and handballs, which we try to educate our players around. Maybe I was a living example of that.”
McRae said he had not tried to track down the source of the rumours.
“My private life, we are very comfortable,” he said. “My wife (Gabrielle) and I have never been happier. What others write about is what we can never control.
“Am I disappointed? Yeah, but I’m not a victim. I’m here to do my job, and how good is the footy?”
McRae is lining up for his 100th game in charge of the Magpies against St Kilda at the MCG on Sunday, following a week in which he was made an AFL life member.
He said Collingwood would introduce tall timber Jack Buller, recruited from Sydney, to their forward line.
“He gets recruited for a reason and he competes hard. He’s a genuine forward for us, he’s a competitive guy and well liked already.”
McRae was confident the Magpies’ system would allow their back six to compensate for the absence of captain Darcy Moore and veteran defender Jeremy Howe.
But the Collingwood coach would not be drawn on a recent comparison that suggested St Kilda’s Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera had already surpassed Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos.
“Naz is an incredible player,” McRae said. “Wow, what an exciting player. You could build a whole club around him, and so great respect for what he’s doing.
“But I don’t like comparisons. I actually say to our players all the time, ‘comparisons are evil’ because you can never live up to someone else, so just be the best version of you. And Nick’s a pretty good version of himself.”
McRae said it was unlikely fans would see Wanganeen-Milera and Daicos go head-to-head on Sunday.
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