Mirror moment: Everything old is new again at Collingwood

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Collingwood chief executive Craig Kelly was with football manager Graham Wright in the middle of the MCG, along with footy father of the year Peter Daicos, soaking up the Magpies’ premiership late on Saturday afternoon, when it suddenly occurred to Kelly that they were standing on the same spot that they had together in 1990 as premiership players themselves.

Also with them in 1990 was Denis Banks, who was not out there on Saturday, but did bob up – along with 20,000 others – at Collingwood’s celebration at the AIA Vitality Centre on Sunday. Alongside them, too, in 1990 was the late Darren Millane. Kelly has a framed picture of the quintet in his office.

Collingwood’s 1990 premiership team at their 20-year reunion in 2010.Credit: Pat Scala

The 1990 win was the breaking of a 32-year drought and the celebrations were riotous. This one has more of a sense footy’s biggest club righting itself again. “I was just saying to my wife this morning that I’m probably enjoying this one more than 1990, weirdly enough” said Kelly. “You’re 22 years old, you think it’s just going to happen again. It doesn’t happen again.”

Wright agreed. As a player, he said, “you worried about where’s the next beer”. In his role now, he worries about everyone – and thing – else. “The excitement’s the same, but it is different,” he said.

Daicos senior’s priceless footy IP was a readymade source for his sons on Saturday. “I lean on Dad a lot, and that was one thing, the experience of playing in grand finals,” said the precocious Nick. “He just said to me that once the game starts, you know what to do and the team knows what to do, and it’s just another game.”

And so it was, just another Collingwood game in the Craig McRae era: Daicos starred and the Magpies won by less than a kick. All that junior of the Daicos juniors noticed was that the half-time break was longer than usual.

The Daicos boys, Nick and Josh, with the 2023 premiership cup.Credit: Getty Images

Collingwood are in a league of their own in three aspects: supporter base, grand final appearances and bloodlines. They can trace their lineage through the generations and their ups and downs. After 1990, the Magpies lost their way, before bobbing up again in seven grand finals this century and now two more premierships.

Darcy Moore was at all of them, watching with a particular mindset. As the son of a Collingwood great – albeit ill-starred in grand finals – he could dream not just of playing league football, but playing for Collingwood.

Now the club captain, it’s why he made a point of thanking past players from the podium on Saturday. “Collingwood’s not just any other team,” he said. “We really feel it when we interact with past players and see how they still care and are invested in our journey, so to be able to share it with them was cool.”

So what did past player-superstar-father Peter say to son and captain Darcy as they hugged minutes before the first bounce? “He just said, go get ’em,” Moore said. “I just said, I love you.”

Nathan Buckley was another of the line, achieving everything as player and coach of the Magpies except a premiership. He was enfolded into the celebrations on Saturday night. “‘Fly’ [McRae] spoke of how important he was,” said Kelly, “because a lot of the development of these boys came through him. Unfortunately for ‘Bucks’, he didn’t get what we got this time, but he’s very much a part of it.”

When the Magpies plummeted to 17th in 2021, and as the Eddie McGuire era gave way to the Jeff Browne era, the Magpies began to remake themselves with old boys Kelly and Wright in the back offices, but a fresh-faced outsider as coach (albeit that McRae had worked at the club previously).

It’s worked if not beyond their wildest dreams, then sooner than anyone thought they could be realised. Wright thought Collingwood was in for a painstaking rebuild. “‘Fly’ came in and his whole mantra is about winning and acting like winners in everything we do,” Wright said. “He’s been enormous for setting the standards. Everyone has bought in. We always talk about having deep wins and shallow losses. This’ll be a deep win.”

Kelly said that sometimes change was necessary for its own sake. “The difference is that maybe a few people who did not believe in themselves got the opportunity to play some different roles,” he said. Maybe the shackles came off. Maybe the new style of play that “Leppa” (assistant coach Justin Leppitsch) and the coaches brought in came at just the right time.

Collingwood 1990 premiership players, and now chief executive and football manager respectively: Craig Kelly (left) and Graham Wright.Credit: Getty Images

He also said that stability from boardroom to boot room was crucial.

So it was that as the change agent McRae paraded his triumphant team before the faithful this day, dotted around the background were several faces familiar from the galleries and honours boards. Call them ghosts of grand finals past, the friendly variety.

“That’s what footy clubs are about,” said Kelly. “Generations and relationships and bringing it all together to play their roles. It’s important. Sometimes you bring too many people back and it’s too much and not good, but Jeff’s done a good job of it.”

In 1990, the finals were extended by a week because of a Collingwood-West Coast qualifying final draw, which meant that the Magpies premiership celebrations flowed straight into the Copeland Trophy dinner and the next day into a flight to London. Some didn’t sleep for days.

Collingwood players celebrate with the 1990 premiership trophy.Credit: The Age

“We ended up at the airport very ordinary to fly out to London to play Essendon again,” said Wright. “We beat them again, which was a surprise because we weren’t in great nick.”

There was a break-in at Kelly’s house on Copeland night, which left him with less than 24 mostly unslept hours to get a new passport. “I like to think the boys will be a bit better prepared going into next year than Wrighty and I were,” he said. “I certainly was carrying about 30 kegs too much and we didn’t get going until midway through the year.”

On the stage on Sunday, McRae did caution the sea of fans that some of the players were “dusty” and he didn’t mean Martin. Nonetheless, true to the McRae coaching philosophy, all were able to, let’s say, play their roles.

Wright now has played in and overseen premierships at Collingwood as well as helping Hawthorn to build Alastair Clarkson’s four premierships. He celebrated quietly, for a good reason. “There’s no better feeling than waking up on the day after you’ve been involved in a premiership,” he said. “It was great waking up today.”

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