CRAIG McRae says he would like improvements to the AFL’s Brownlow voting and Collingwood’s best-and-fairest format.
The Magpies coach raised eyebrows last week at the club’s awards night as he congratulated star midfielder Nick Daicos on his season.
“He came runner-up in the Brownlow Medal again. Maybe a few more 16-disposal games might get you there next year, Nick,” McRae said, in reference to Brownlow winner Matt Rowell getting three votes for a 16-disposal game during the season.
“That’s cheeky ‘Fly’ coming out.”
On Wednesday, McRae said his comment was not a swipe at Rowell but a commentary on the voting process.
“Maybe it was taken that I was disrespecting Matty Rowell, which is completely not what I said,” McRae said.
“The AFL processes can be improved, that’s maybe where I was targeting the 16 possessions.
“The whole game itself – we need to live in a growth mindset, there’s an opportunity for all of us to improve.
Nick Daicos during the 2025 Brownlow Medal. Picture: AFL Photos
“I look at our best-and-fairest – we have to look at ourselves. We have to keep improving ourselves all the time, about how we conduct the game and what the game looks like.”
Daicos also was runner-up in the club best-and-fairest voting behind ruckman Darcy Cameron.
“The process is in place, I always want to challenge it. Darcy Cameron is a great winner, but I’d look at the process and … there are times when Nick could probably get more votes here and there,” McRae said.
Craig McRae celebrates Collingwood’s win over Melbourne with Darcy Cameron and Darcy Moore in round 24, 2025. Picture: Getty Images
Collingwood’s season ended with the preliminary final loss to premiers Brisbane, and Josh Daicos, Nick’s older brother, said watching the Lions beat Geelong in the Grand Final was hard going.
“It’s probably the toughest watch I’ve had in all my career, just knowing how we were playing during the year, the emotion, the feeling we had as a group,” Daicos said.
“I really did feel throughout the year that we would be there.”
McRae and Daicos were speaking at the launch of the Caulfield Cup carnival, where they are ambassadors.
McRae is part-owner of Feroce, which is running this Saturday in the Toorak Handicap.
“I’m just getting the late mail every day and it seems like it might be a sneaky chance,” McRae said.
