"Tumultuous," was his description of the last five days, in which the Pies mourned the death of former player John McCarthy and then went out to play a knock-out semi-final, spotted West Coast a four goal lead and drew away late to win by 13 points to book a Preliminary Final on Friday night against the Sydney Swans at ANZ Stadium.
"You can say 'side by side we stick together', but tonight they really did," he said amid sombre and subdued scenes in the Collingwood rooms.
Sombre because the death of a mate was still rubbing raw among many of the Magpie players and subdued, because with just six days to recover before the Swans match, the Pies have much to do.
News of McCarthy's death broke Monday morning and at Collingwood, it wasn't anything remotely close to business as usual until Wednesday.
Even on game day, there were heavy undertones before and during the game. Coach Nathan Buckley departed from his usual pre-game spiel to remind the players of the importance of winning for their mate. He would note afterwards that the hour before the match was quieter than usual.
Chris Dawes openly wept before the game during the minute's silence and the national anthem. Jarryd Blair and Harry O'Brien kissed their black armbands after kicking clutch goals and Blair - one of McCarthy's best mates during his time at Collingwood - was in tears again afterwards.
Surveying it all was Nick Maxwell, the Magpie skipper who didn't play courtesy of a two-match suspension handed out by the AFL Match Review Panel last week.
The plan for Maxwell was supposed to be for him to rest up, stay off the track this week and commence a heavy training load next week in anticipation of the Pies making the Grand Final - the next match he is available to play.
Indeed, he didn't do much apart from some cross-training and some time in the altitude room at the Westpac Centre. Instead, he took a crash course in grief management and counseling. His job for the week was simply to be there for the players who were the closest to McCarthy - Blair, Nathan Brown, Ben Reid, Dayne Beams and Dale Thomas in particular,
"I'm not sure how many clubs have been through what we have this week," Maxwell said afterwards.
"A lot of guys around that age haven't had to deal with a loss like that before.
"There's no manual to deal with things like this. I'm just so proud of the way they handled this and went about it and also the club as well. We spent a lot of time talking about how to prepare for the game and also to go through the process that is still continuing now."
"It's back to reality now for some of the boys and it's back to dealing with what happened last Monday."
"They showed strength of character and were also able to focus on the opportunity that was ahead of them."
Several in the Collingwood rooms after the game pointed to last Wednesday as when the mood changed at the club. The grieving continued, but as hard as it was to some to face, the looming game against West Coast finally had to be addressed.
"Wednesday we said to the guys that we weren't going to be insensitive about what happened and we're not going to push it to the side, but we have an opportunity ahead of us and you're not going to forgive yourself if you don't do everything you can to make sure you achieve something on Saturday night," Maxwell said.
The challenges don't end there for the Magpies. McCarthy's funeral will take place on Thursday at Sorrento, an hour south of Melbourne. It shapes as a massive logistical exercise for Collingwood, with the entire playing group traveling to the funeral and then travelling from there to the airport and on to Sydney.
"We'll manage it because it's important to our club and we'll be there in numbers to support the McCarthy family," vowed McGuire.
"We're a big club, a strong club and we'll get to Sydney. But first, it’s very important that we're there for the McCarthy family."
"It doesn't matter," said Maxwell of the busy week ahead. "We'll be there for our mate."
Side by Side, they will be.
You can follow AFL Media senior writer Ashley Browne on Twitter @afl_hashbrowne
