Premiership coach Craig McRae has been called out for a “clever” act during the tense final term of the enthralling battle between Collingwood and Hawthorn on Thursday night.
With just a handful of minutes left, Collingwood cleared the ball from Hawthorn’s forward line and the ball went out-of-bounds, near McRae and his bench.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Collingwood coach calls for ball during tense final term
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A banged-up Collingwood were hanging onto a seven point lead at the time, and the quick-thinking McRae got up on his feet as the ball landed in the hands of a Hawthorn fan in the crowd.
The fan was wondering where to throw the ball, and a desperate McRae could be seen pleading for it, hands out.
McRae’s action, of course, was not to get the ball back quickly, but waste a few more seconds to allow his team of veterans to get set-up for the stoppage and, indeed, waste a precious second or so.
As the fan threw the ball to him, McRae quickly turned his back and walked towards the bench … letting the ball just roll on by.
Eagle-eyed fans were, of course, all over it.
“Oh, this is very clever by Craig McRae, calling for the ball from the fan so the boundary takes a little bit longer,” said the tragic sports fan social media account.
7AFL’s social team shared the pick-up, calling it, “Quick thinking from Craig McRae 👀.”
However, the moment has raised eyebrows with some fans comparing it to a similar incident in Round 2 that became a hot-button topic.
In that game, Adelaide’s Ben Keays instructed a member of the crowd to hang onto the ball when it went out of bounds, resulting in a free kick to the Western Bulldogs.
This battle was also in the balance, with the Crows leading by a goal at the time (but the Bulldogs would go onto win it by six points).
AFL expert Kane Cornes later described the Keays moment as “one of the smartest things I’ve ever seen on a footy field”.
But it was also described as “time wasting” by fans.
After the Keays incident, the AFL told Adelaide it did not want to see a repeat of his actions.
“It wasn’t a formal warning – but could escalate if it becomes a trend,” gun 7NEWS reporter Xander McGuire revealed at the time.
The AFL does have rules around time wasting and in 2022 the league declared that umpires would be “less lenient” towards players “who deliberately delay the play”.
Under existing Law 19.2 (f) it states that “a Free Kick or 50-metre Penalty will be awarded” against the player who deliberately delays the play.
