Collingwood has announced additions to their coaching panel to support new mentor Craig McRae, with Justin Leppitsch and Brendon Bolton joining the club.
Bolton will become the new Director of Coaching and will also work with the midfield, while Leppitsch has been announced as the club’s Head of Strategy.
McRae has worked with both men in the past, as an assistant with Leppitsch at Richmond while also sharing success with Bolton at Hawthorn.
The Pies’ GM of Football Graham Wright said both coaches will complement the club well.
“We set out to appoint a team of coaches who complemented each other, a group of diverse football thinkers and relationship builders who have also shared in a lot of success that could mould our young squad. With the appointments of Justin and Brendon I think we’ve gone a fair way to doing that,” Wright said in a club statement.
“We see that Justin’s and Brendon’s attributes complement our profile well. Approximately half of our list in 2022 will comprise of one-three year players. The football education we provide them, therefore, will be important.
“Craig is very strong on establishing habits that will underpin a collective approach to success. We are all really pleased to have Brendon and Justin join the program.”
McRae was appointed at the end of August as Nathan Buckley’s full time replacement, the announcement well received by many in the AFL community.