Craig McRae

Craig McRae (born 22 September 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer and current assistant coach for the Richmond Football Club.

Craig McRae
Personal information
Full name Craig McRae
Date of birth (1973-09-22) 22 September 1973
Place of birth Adelaide, South Australia
Original team(s) Glenelg (SANFL)
Draft No. 22, 1993 Pre-season Draft, Brisbane Bears
Height 176 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 72 kg (159 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1995–1996 Brisbane Bears 039 0(56)
1997–2004 Brisbane Lions 156 (176)
Total 195 (232)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1999 South Australia 1
International team honours
1999 Australia 2
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
2010 Suncoast Lions (QAFL) 18 (6–12–0)
2016-present Richmond VFL 81 (56-25-0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2004.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2019.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Playing career

Originally from South Australian National Football League club Glenelg, McRae was drafted by AFL club Brisbane as the 22nd pick in the 1994 draft and had an immediate impact, kicking two goals in his first game in 1995, and played every game of that year. McRae was renowned for his ability to kick goals from not only beyond the fifty metre line, but also for his scouting of the ball spilled from the hands of taller players.

McRae was known for his determination and fierce tackling. The respected small forward/goalsneak retired from professional football after the 2004 Grand Final loss to Port Adelaide, which included playing in Brisbane's 2001, 2002 and 2003 premierships.[1]

Coaching career

In 2007 McRae served as Player Development Coach with the Richmond Football Club.[2] Midway through the 2009 AFL season, McRae took up the head coaching position at Richmond's VFL affiliate club Coburg, when their former coach and fellow Richmond AFL assistant Jade Rawlings was appointed caretaker head coach at Richmond.

In 2010 McRae took up a development coach position at the Brisbane Lions, before joining Collingwood as head of development in 2011. He remained at the club for five seasons.[3][4]

He returned to Richmond in 2016, serving as an AFL assistant coach and head coach of the club's reserves side in the VFL. He took the side to a losing grand final in 2017, before winning a premiership in 2019 in the same year he won the VFL's coach of the year award and the AFL coaches' association's assistant coach of the year award. In 2020 he will serve as forwards coach for the club's AFL side.[5]

AFL playing statistics
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1995 Brisbane Bears 423282223111334447381.21.010.04.915.02.01.7
1996 Brisbane Bears 41628191814923038181.81.211.33.114.42.41.1
1997 Brisbane Lions 41819161727024242271.10.99.63.913.42.31.5
1998 Brisbane Lions 41613151507922948170.80.99.44.914.33.01.1
1999 Brisbane Lions 42441322677334069371.71.311.13.014.22.91.5
2000 Brisbane Lions 4169111646923348280.60.710.34.314.63.01.8
2001† Brisbane Lions 41921201456420952281.11.17.63.411.02.71.5
2002† Brisbane Lions 424292719310830161661.21.18.04.512.52.52.8
2003† Brisbane Lions 42026171327921134621.30.96.64.010.61.73.1
2004 Brisbane Lions 41918171245818238410.90.96.53.19.62.02.2
Career[6] 195 232 196 1759 762 2521 477 362 1.2 1.0 9.0 3.9 12.9 2.4 1.9

Career highlights
  • AFL premiership player: 2001, 2002, 2003
  • SA state-of-origin representative 1999
  • International Rules representative for Aus v Ireland 1999
  • Played in the 2004 AFL Grand Final
  • AFLCA Development Coach of the Year 2012
  • VFL Premiership Coach: 2019
  • VFL Coach of the Year: 2019
  • AFLCA Assistant Coach of the Year: 2019

Other work

Until the end of the 2006 season, McRae was involved in a sports administration business and various football broadcasting roles including radio station Triple M, where he hosted a football programme with former Brisbane teammate Jason Akermanis.

References
  1. "Magpies sign up Matthew Lappin and Craig McRae". Herald Sun. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 January 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Craig McRae". collingwoodfc.com.au. Collingwood Football Club. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  4. Allen, Sarah (15 October 2015). "Former Cat joins Magpies". collingwoodfc.com.au. BigPond.
  5. "Richmond finalise AFL coaching structure". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  6. Craig McRae's player profile at AFL Tables
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