In a grand final that broke the Collingwood mould, tens of thousands would concur with Craig McRae’s assessment that this was the best day of their life.
By hanging in their now customary Houdini manner under Craig McRae to win by four points, this Collingwood team also defied the 131-year-old club’s storied and unique history of losing tense grand finals in unimaginable ways, completing McRae’s reinvention over the past two seasons.It is a victory that will arguably change good old Collingwood forever, the Magpies having won the 2010 flag 13 years ago in a grand final replay, before losing to Geelong then West Coast by five points.
And the presentation – with appropriate gracious concession and victory speeches by Harris Andrews and Darcy Moore – contained a major surprise when McRae revealed that his wife Gabrielle had given birth to a daughter on game morning . “Today was already the best day of my life because my wife gave birth,” said the coach, who was at the hospital for his daughter’s arrival.
While Collingwood had misfortune in losing key forward Daniel McStay to a knee injury in their preliminary final heart-stopper and then concussed defender Nathan Murphy late in the first quarter of this epic, the footy gods had donned the black and white this September.
Pendlebury’s contribution, as a de facto on-field coach, went well beyond statistical output, which was still impressive . He controlled the tempo of the game late and booted a critical goal late in third term – via Hill’s vision – to regain Collingwood the lead at a time when they risked losing the game due to wasted chances.
Yet he provided the contest that Pies craved and contained Andrews, at least for the first half. The result will vindicate the decision, much as it would hurt John Noble, the luckless next player who missed the flag.
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