Bartel encourages McRae to demonstrate ‘disrespect’.
Collingwood fans, don’t give up hope yet; the Pies are still in the running for finals football, despite the fact that they will need a series of unexpected results to fall their way in the final round of the regular season.
After an injury-plagued Carlton upset West Coast on Sunday, the Magpies, who are currently in 10th place, are four points and 10.6 percent behind the Blues in the crucial eighth berth.
Craig McRae’s team is one of four that might finish the home-and-away season with 52 points. However, Collingwood’s percentage of 100.1 is lower than that of Carlton (110.7), Hawthorn (111.8), and the Western Bulldogs (123.8), with one game remaining.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae
This position requires the Magpies to perform a miracle on grass this weekend – but where there is a will, there is a way.
First, if the Pies defeat the Demons by a substantial margin on Friday night and the Blues lose to the Saints on Sunday afternoon before the Power wins Freo in the round’s last game, the Magpies will sneak in.
The exact margin required to “do a Bradbury” on Carlton and the other clubs is dependent on Collingwood scoring a combined 200 points in their win over Melbourne and Carlton’s loss to St Kilda.
This means that if the Pies defeat the Demons by 100 points and the Blues lose to the Saints by 100, a finals berth is still possible.
On Nine’s Eddie and Jimmy podcast, Jimmy Bartel told Eddie McGuire that the Pies must “win by 180 points and hope a couple of teams lose” to finish in the top eight.
Bartel hopes McRae will instruct his players to attack the scoreboard in order to achieve a massive victory over the Dees.
“I actually want to see ‘Fly’ McRae go, ‘Let’s try and kick 200 points,” he told me.
“I honestly want to see him devise a strategy [to kick 200 points].
“I know you’ll say, ‘No, show discipline, and pay respect.'” This week, I expect Craig McRae to treat me completely disrespectfully.
“I want him to say, ‘Nope, we might actually try to run with three defenders and just drive everyone forward’ because it would be fun to see.
“Show me every harebrained idea you’ve got in your book.”
McGuire commented with a grin: “If your job is to make the finals and you’ve got to win by 180 points, you’ve got to come up with something to win by 180 points” .
On Friday night, Melbourne will host Collingwood at the MCG.
