Looking back on the year that was, veteran AFL journalist Jake Niall has revealed his most positive story of the 2022 season.
While Joel Selwood’s storybook premiership win with Geelong, Lance Franklin’s 1000th goal and Sam Docherty and Ben Cunnington’s respective returns after battling cancer were all highlights, it is Craig McRae and Collingwood who have received Niall’s top spot.
McRae guided the Magpies from 17th in 2021 to a Preliminary Final in 2022, exceeding all expectations in his first year at Collingwood’s helm.
With McRae’s achievements in mind, Niall says his best story for the year would be awarded to the Pies.
“I think in a sense … Craig McRae and the way that Collingwood played the game was a breath of fresh air,” Niall told SEN's Sportsday when questioned about his leading 2022 storyline.
“(With) defensive tactics, there’s suddenly been a change in the game and the Richmond footy club guys deserve a lot of credit for creating a style where you go forward with the ball, you don’t chip it around backwards.
“Fans have been saying this for ages … I think Steve Hocking (Geelong CEO) deserves, and the coaches deserve some credit for changing the way the game’s played to be a more go-forward style.
“I’ve long felt teams that go backwards, go backwards - metaphorically and literally - if you try and go backwards.”
After stints as an assistant at Richmond and Hawthorn, Niall believes it was McRae’s fresh perspective that allowed Collingwood to far exceed their 2021 results.
“I think that McRae, being a non-Collingwood type coach in a sense that he wasn’t a (big) name, he wasn’t a favourite son, he wasn’t an ex-premiership coach; he was a guy that came through a process with Graham Wright and they appointed him and no one really knew what to expect,” he added.
“He unleashed this style of play with a team that a lot of people thought would be down near the bottom, they ended up (near the top).
“If Collingwood had won that first final against Geelong … I think they were every chance to win the premiership if they’d won that first final against the Cats, which they probably should have won.”