Collingwood Magpies coach Craig McRae has opened up about a pivotal moment in his life when he hit rock bottom and went to the bank to withdraw his last $50 – then gave it to a homeless person.
McRae, 51, took over as senior coach at the Magpies back in 2022, succeeding interim boss Robert Harvey following Nathan Buckley’s departure.
The South Australian, affectionately known as ‘Fly’, has one of the best winning records of any coach to manage the side, having overseen 74 matches, winning 50 while losing 22.
The fruits of his labour were fully realised in 2023 when he led Collingwood to the side’s first flag in 13 years, securing a dramatic four-point win over his old club, the Lions, in the Grand final.
But things haven’t always been easy for McCrae, who says he struggled to make ends meet when he was starting out.
‘Life deals you cards at times and you’re not sure how to play them, and for a long time in my life I was, on surface level, going really well, and then underneath, almost rock bottom,’ McRae told Hamish McLachlan on Channel Seven’s Unfiltered.
Craig McRae (pictured) has spoken about a low point in his life when he went to the bank to withdraw his last $50
The premiership-winning coach (pictured with wife Gabrielle) is known across the AFL for being kind-hearted
‘I haven’t shared this before but I remember not too many years ago, going to the bank and getting my last $50 out — and I gave it to a homeless guy because it looked like he needed it more than me.
‘That was the moment I went, “Oh, what are you doing? Where are you going?” Just life struggles, you know.
‘It’s funny just how things change so quickly and the choices you make in life and the people that come into your life.
‘But to answer your question, “Is it tiring (to have such love for others)?” — no, I find it easy to love people. I do, I’ve got a want and a desire to share my love.’
McRae also opened up on the emotional moment back in 2023 when he famously delivered a stirring and speech to his team ahead of the traditional Anzac Day match against Essendon.
The footy coach brought his grandfather’s medals from the war with him for the match.
‘I never got to meet my grandfather,’ he said. ‘And yeah, I thought I’d get the medals. My dad gave the medals to my my daughter, Chelsea, and I thought: “Oh, I’m gonna bring them in.” It’s a pretty big day, Anzac Day, and we’re all on the calendar looking forward to it.
‘And I’m trying to give [the day] some context and I thought: “Yeah, I’ll just take the medals and tell a story.” And when I stood in front of the players, it just, yeah, it just all came back.’
McRae took Collingwood to a preliminary final and a premiership during his first two years in charge of the team
He took a moment to pause as he welled up, before adding: ‘I just remember having this feeling of these thunderbolts through my arms.
‘I’ve got the medals in my hands, and I’m trying to tell the story about the importance of the day, and I just had this emotion that just came straight through me.
‘War changed my grandfather, which then changed my dad, and then there was a flow-on effect of that,’ he said.
‘So, yeah, I just, I just shared the story about how we decorate our soldiers, and we glorify (them) to some degree, but, you know, there is a side of war that is hard for families.’
Asked whether his father had ever spoken to him about his grandfather’s experience of the war, he began to well up again, stating: ‘Yeah, I heard some of the stories, and they’re not… they’re not great stories. They’re horrible stories.’
