JUST IN: Collingwood coach Craig McRae has Apologised to Magpies and made a Promise…see more 

Collingwood’s coach Craig McRae has said sorry to the fans after his team lost badly to Hawthorn by 64 points.

This is the second largest defeat since McRae became coach, and the team’s final score of 46 is also the lowest since he took over. The loss happened during Steele Sidebottom’s 350th game, who is a two-time premiership player.

Now, the Magpies have to win their last two games – one against Adelaide away and another against Melbourne at the MCG – just to have a chance at being in the top four. They were once 10 points ahead on top of the table just six weeks ago. McRae said, “I want to apologize to our Magpie army – that performance was disappointing, and there’s no excuse for it.”

He added, “We owe more to Steele Sidebottom – he’s a true legend of our footy club. “

McRae mentioned that the team showed a lack of organization and effort, which made them vulnerable. Early in the game, they lost Jeremy Howe just two minutes in after he had a heavy crash with Jai Newcombe, which knocked him out.

He was taken to the hospital for some check-ups and was found to have a concussion. McRae stated, “I don’t want to make excuses. “

He explained, “That incident shook us up and affected our staff too.”

He continued, “There are no excuses, but we really hope he’s okay, and that his family is fine too. Those things are tough to watch during a game. ” The Magpies only made 42 tackles even though they had 76 fewer possessions in a game that moved quickly, which played into Hawthorn’s style and gave their forwards many chances to attack the Magpies’ defense, which fell apart.

Hawthorn scored 110 points, the most the Magpies have given up this season, and it’s only the second time they’ve allowed more than 100 points, even though they came into this round with the best defense in the league.

McRae said, “With 114,000 members, people expect a certain level of effort, and we didn’t deliver, so it’s disappointing. “

He explained, “This happens because we have players out of position, we aren’t moving the ball well into the 50 area, and we’re not connecting properly. “

He added, “There are many aspects to pressure, and that’s something we’ll work on. When players wear that jumper, there’s an expectation to perform better than we did tonight. “