Collingwood Head Coach Craig McRae said his side’s ability to own the moment and trust their training was what got the Pies through in Friday’s Prelim thriller.
In his second season as coach, McRae has led Collingwood to a Preliminary Final and now a Grand Final, having overtaken a team that sat second last on the ladder in 2021.
The newly turned 50-year-old, who celebrated his birthday with the win, said it was the two years of repetition that held the Pies in good stead in the dying stages at the MCG.
“Week after week I sit here and we’ve won a close game and last year we didn’t quite get it done in finals, we lost a couple of close ones,” he said.
“’All those lessons are why we’re here now and we practice it, two years of practicing scenarios.
“Two minutes to go, kill the game, two minutes to go, we need to win, it’s rehearsed for these moments.
“You create habits and you create luck here and there but I think we might have killed the clock for three minutes and the ball never went very far.”
That journey from losing last year’s Prelim to flipping that into a one-point win this time around was the most pleasing aspect for McRae.
“Deserves is an interesting word, but we’ve got ourselves in this position,” McRae said of his side’s victory.
“We’re really proud of our journey, we spoke during the week about that it takes two years to get top these moments, well our story is that at least.
“We take a little bit of a breath and be really proud of what we’ve achieved so far.”
McRae was full of praise for GWS, especially for coach Adam Kingsley who he was an assistant coach alongside not long ago.
“GWS were amazing – Kingers has done an incredible job in such a short period of time,” he said.
“We sat there last year with a one-point loss and it’s a pretty similar story really.
“Their second half of the year was outstanding and he’s done an amazing job with that group and as much as you don’t get to go into next week he should be really proud of what he’s done.”
Despite being down at half-time on the back of a goalless second quarter, the Pies didn’t sway from their game plan.
McRae said while the Giants certainly had momentum, he never felt like his side was out of the contest.
“They put the foot down and put the opposition on the back foot and we knew that was going to come,” he said.
“I didn’t feel like they put us away though I thought we hung in there when we needed to.
“As good as they were I think out ability just to hang tough.”
McRae said Dan McStay, who was crucial until his knee injury in the third quarter, would get scans on Friday night to determine the extent of his injury.
“He’s going to get scans. I’m not great with the terminology, I’m not sure if it’s an mcl or I’m not sure yet,” he said.
“So we’ll get scans…I don’t want to put a definite decision on it but I think he might be unlucky to miss out we’ll wait and see.
“At the moment until you really know you just put your arms around him and show love and support as best you can.
“If he doesn’t get up he’ll be missed.”
The Magpie Army has been and will continue to be such an integral part of the 2023 journey.
McRae spoke directly to the fans in his post-match press conference as he urged them to show their support for the most important week of the year.
"Our whole story for the last two years is bring the fans along with us," he said.
"We don't win this game - I'm talking to the fans - we do not win this game without their support.
"97,000 people, thank you so much. The Magpie Army they drove us over the line, they dragged us over the line.
"We love you very much."
