Collingwood coach Craig McRae believes his side is getting better as the season rolls on.
Despite losing in a Qualifying Final to Geelong before a strong Semi Final win over Fremantle, McRae believes the Magpies’ last two weeks have shown an improvement in performance.
With statistical measures showing that Collingwood are beginning to peak at the right time, McRae says the Magpies aren’t happy with simply winning one final with the ultimate prize just two wins away from their grasp.
“We don’t look at it like that,” McRae said in reply to whether Collingwood’s season is a success after winning one final on SEN The Run Home.
“There’s the old adage of, ‘You’ve got nothing to lose’, but we’ve got so much to lose.
“I think we’re in a position where we think our best is in front of us, we continue to say that, but it’s based on evidence.
“You just look at some of the stuff we do at training, individuals in the gym and then our numbers on matchday are pointing towards that we’re actually getting better and gelling defensively and all of these little things that statistically say we are getting better.
“That gives us optimism, there are a few things that we still have to get through, clearly Sydney’s one of them and they’re in great form.
“But we’re not in that model of, ‘Oh, we’ve won a final, that’s good enough’, we’re not in that space.”
With two finals under their belt, McRae was asked whether Collingwood were feeling in good shape physically given that their opponents Sydney will be rested up having had a week off following their Qualifying Final win over Melbourne.
“(We’re feeling) really good,” McRae replied.
“After the Geelong game, we were battered, we really were, we were really bruised and battered.
“One thing when you play a really combative game and you don’t get the result, you’ve got to pick yourselves up quickly, that was hence one of my comments post that game about, ‘Hey we’ve got to get back to work here’.
“We got in on Monday and Tuesday (last week) and it was a bit of a slow burn to get the bodies moving again.
“This week is way better in terms of physical shape and readiness to perform.”
With almost a full squad to pick from – barring injured stars Taylor Adams and Brodie Grundy – McRae was asked about the health of star defender Brayden Maynard who appeared to tweak his groin in the Fremantle win and key forward Brody Mihocek who has been rested on occasion this season.
“He (Maynard) is fine, as far as I’m aware he never had a groin complaint at all,” McRae said.
“He’s just one of those guys that checks himself to the panel beater then on Tuesday he gets polished up a bit and he’s ready to go on the weekend.
“And he (Mihocek) is one of those guys that can really play well under duress.”
The winner of the Sydney v Collingwood Preliminary Final will play the winner of Friday’s Geelong v Brisbane clash in this year’s AFL Grand Final.