“I think our forwards were starved of opportunity a bit early, but they looked dangerous,” McCrae said.
“I think we scored nearly every second time we went inside 50 early, so we just needed to get a bit more volume, and our mids got busy.
“We’ve got a pretty simple formula, really – let’s just get the ball going and then turn up and then have fun doing it. And there was some energy built through that.
“I think we looked way more connected today than what we have in previous weeks.”
McRae was quick to praise the efforts of role players Lipinski and Hoskin-Elliott, who is out of contract this year and continues to play for his career.
Taking flight: Collingwood’s Will Hoskin-Elliott.Credit: Fox Footy
“I call Will the Swiss Army Knife because he can play everywhere,” McCrae said.
“He’s done a lot of jobs for us over a long period of time, and we wanted him to go forward today and play a bit taller and it’s pleasing because he takes his marks. He’s a brilliant mark.
“And then for Patty to kick those four goals, you know, he runs enormous patterns for us, and so I am really pleased for both those players.”
McCrae said the Magpies placed a focus on “taking a deep breath and having a bit more time off than we normally do” during last week’s bye to prepare for Port Adelaide and the five-day break leading into Anzac Day.
He said the players arrived at training last Monday with a bounce in their step after having the chance to refresh “body and mind”.
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“I heard Ross Lyon talk about it post game – this game is so, so difficult. Every week is such a challenge,” McCrae said.
“He spoke about his back-to-back five-day breaks, and I’m not sure much gets mentioned around those things, but there is a cost to that – training and then coming in a bit under done versus the opposition, potentially, energy wise.”
McCrae said he wanted to enjoy Saturday’s win, but was mindful of the looming Anzac Day.
On top of their win, the Magpies also celebrated veteran Steele Sidebottom who played his 314th match – and 200th at the MCG – moving into second on the club’s games list behind Scott Pendlebury’s 384. Jack Crisp played his 220th consecutive game.
