Richmond mentor well suited to Gold Coast
Dan Silkstone | July 13, 2008
AS THE AFL and its Gold Coast team lick their wounds today and wonder how their chosen leader, Michael Voss, got away, they could do a lot worse than cast an eye over one of the former Brisbane captain's less celebrated teammates.
Craig McRae looms as a candidate capable of fulfilling many of the requirements for the job of guiding a team of Gold Coast teenagers into the AFL.
McRae, a development coach at Richmond, was loathe to put up his hand for the job yesterday. The 195-game player said he had no plans to leave Punt Road.
But McRae is an ambitious man, well known in Queensland and with an impeccable record of developing junior talent. Anyone head-hunting for the vacant Gold Coast job would be derelict in their duty if they did not look closely at him.
"I'm not in a position to put my hand up or anything like that. Others will decide if I'm worthy or not. I'm quite happy at Richmond and concentrating on my role. It's up for others to judge," McRae said yesterday.
For the past two years McRae has been responsible for guiding players in their first four years at the club.
Before that he coached the Queensland under-18 side for two years, winning the division two national under-18 title and producing a string of AFL draftees, including Ricky Petterd, Jarrod Harbrow and Kurt Tippett. In 2006, under McRae, Queensland had a record 18 players drafted into the AFL.
With the Gold Coast job requiring the ability to bring a group of youngsters into the TAC Cup, develop and coalesce them in two years into a team capable of competing at the elite level, McRae's development pedigree marks him out. The three-time premiership player is also a qualified teacher, a background that he said was key to his coaching.
"I see myself as an educator, not really just as a coach. I go down the path of educating the players," he said.
He said he was proud of the work he has done at Richmond. In his time at the club, youngsters such as Brett Deledio and Trent Cotchin have caught the eye but they were high draft picks, expected to shine. There are others, though, where McRae feels he has made a real difference.
"You look last year at Jack Riewoldt, Shane Edwards … they are are all playing now this weekend over in Perth. You get great excitement seeing those players come on. Last year Jake King was a rookie player promoted and he made a great impact … there are little wins along the way that give you faith in what you are doing."
McRae said he did not see himself as a career development coach. He has his eye, eventually, on bigger prizes.
"I've got great aspirations," he said. "I aspire to be a coach. At what level depends on a lot of things but I aspire to be the best coach I can be."
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