Magpies re-sign McRae, the premiership coach now among AFL’s highest earners

2 months ago 3

Collingwood premiership coach Craig McRae has re-signed with the Magpies for two more years.

McRae, who was due to come out of contract at the end of next year, has re-committed to the club to coach through until the end of 2028.

McRae’s new contract, on more than $1 million per season, puts him in the upper bracket of earners among the league’s senior coaches.

Magpies coach Craig McRae after his side’s qualifying-final win over the Crows this year.

With the Tasmania Devils still yet to appoint a coach, and with other coaches also out of contract at the end of next season, McRae was on the radar of other clubs.

But neither McRae nor his management pursued any of those possibilities, with club and coach relaxed throughout 2025 about getting a new deal done before entering into the final year of McRae’s current contract.

Collingwood president Barry Carp confirmed the news at the Magpies’ annual general meeting on Tuesday night.

“Since arriving at Collingwood, Craig has built a philosophy centred on connection, resilience and getting better every day,” Carp said.

“Under his leadership, the club has reconnected with its people, honoured its history and brought the Magpie army along the journey, highlighted by our unforgettable 2023 premiership.

“Internally, Craig drives our family-first value and connection between players and staff, while emphasising the importance of extending that connection with our 19th player – Collingwood members and supporters.”

McRae’s first season in charge was 2022, when the Magpies finished fourth before winning the premiership the following season. Collingwood missed the finals in 2024, finishing ninth and out of the eight on percentage, before making the preliminary final this year. They lost to eventual premiers the Brisbane Lions, the club where McRae won three premierships as a player form 2001-03.

The Magpies’ list is now in transition, from the club having fielded the oldest team in AFL history this year to now seeking to rejuvenate the list on the run and remain in finals contention.

Veteran premiership pair Mason Cox and Tom Mitchell were not offered new contracts, with Cox subsequently recruited as a supplementary selection by Fremantle on a two-year deal while Mitchell is yet to be picked up by another club. Fellow premiership player Will Hoskin-Elliott announced his retirement.

The club traded away draft picks in the 2024 off-season, bringing in experienced talent in Dan Houston and Harry Perryman after McRae famously, and ill-advisedly, said he wanted players, not draft picks.

At the end of the 2025 season, McRae said the club needed to shift that balance back towards bringing in younger players, and consequently did not trade in any players and went to the draft – albeit with a weakened hand of picks given they had traded away their first-round draft pick the year earlier, and secured a handful of big-bodied midfielders.

McRae worked as a development and assistant coach at the Melbourne Storm, Collingwood, Richmond and Hawthorn, before being appointed Collingwood senior coach ahead of the 2022 campaign.

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