Photograph: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos/Getty Images
As Collingwood prepared to run out at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, Craig McRae was in a side room meditating. Whether you’re coaching them, plotting against them, or taking them in as a neutral, centring yourself for ten or 15 minutes isn’t a bad strategy because just watching the Magpies can leave you jangled.
It makes sense that Collingwood’s psychologist sits on the bench during games, a few seats up from the coach. She hammers home key messages and puts her arm around some of the more hot-headed youngsters. We could all use a calm, reassuring voice during Collingwood games. Instead, we’re at the mercy of the Channel 7 commentary team – with their verbal jujitsu and their stationwide policy of stating the freakin’ obvious. “Did you see that?!” Luke Darcy asked about 100 times on Saturday night. We did, fella. We’ve been seeing it for well over a year now.
