Compare the bookends of the game. Collingwood lost Scott Pendlebury, 37, and the league’s oldest player, in the first five minutes to a calf issue – known as “the old man’s injury”. In the final minutes of the game, Brisbane’s youngest seized their moments.
Second-season star Logan Morris landed a 50-metre pass on a handkerchief to Charlie Cameron for a goal. Ty Gallop, a teenager in his fifth game who would most likely have been sitting in the stands if not for an injury to Eric Hipwood, clunked a third contested mark to kick a third goal. And Kai Lohmann, in his fourth season, booted the sealer. The Lions had eight aged 22 or under, the Magpies just three.
Pendlebury’s early exit hurt, robbing the Pies of his on-field organisation in a game where they conceded 10 of 15 goals from stoppage, but Jarrod Berry’s injury in the second term mitigated the numerical advantage of the Lions, who were missing more of their best 23.
The Magpies topped up last year, spending significant draft and player capital, and salary cap space, to bring in Dan Houston, who had an ordinary first year in black and white. Harry Perryman came as a free agent, and if he has paid his way, it is by only a small margin. Tim Membrey has fortified the club’s forward line but is 31.
The strategy helped them to the final four but is unlikely to take them any further.
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The Magpies did take a first-round pick last year. In a weakened draft, their first pick this year is at 34. Ed Allan is their only first-round selection to have played senior football since they recruited Nick Daicos in 2021, but he cannot cement a place in the team. Four of his 13 games this year have either started or ended in the vest.
McRae has foreshadowed more of a presence in the draft this year.
“Last year I said we wanted players, not picks,” McRae said. “It won’t be that extreme this year, but there will be balance.”
Where does improvement come from in a preliminary team that fielded just three players with less than 50 games’ experience, three players aged 22 and under, and will have 10 players aged 30 or more by round one next year?
A fit Jordan De Goey gives them a powerful one-two punch in the middle with Nick Daicos. Brilliant two weeks ago, De Goey paid the price for an interrupted season with a quiet preliminary final. Bobby Hill can again be a match-winner if he can sort out his off-field issues.
But they missed out on Jack Silvagni to future-proof their defence as Jeremy Howe battles the ravages of age. In a team that has struggled to kick goals, their two leading goalkickers – Brody Mihocek and Elliott – have not signed the two-year deals tabled by the club.
Elliott, with 60 goals in a career-best season, was commanding against the Lions and will be a huge loss if he leaves. That the Pies kept wheeling out Mihocek, 32, with a ripped tendon in his toe does not say much about Dan McStay, 30, or their faith in the youth coming through. No wonder they have thrown a Hail Mary to land Charlie Curnow.
Perhaps the Magpies can turn to Geelong, the club whose average age record they broke this year. The Cats, whose preliminary final team included 12 from their 2022 premiership, have rejuvenated on the run, adding the likes of Ollie Dempsey, Shannon Neale, Connor O’Sullivan, Lawson Humphries and Oisin Mullin. Only O’Sullivan is an early pick.
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Skipper Darcy Moore remains optimistic the Magpies can remain a challenger, not despite their old list but because of it.
“I think drafting 18-and 19-year-olds, generally speaking, takes a lot of resources to develop them to be ready for AFL footy,” Moore said.
“Another thing I’ll say is that I think the way we go about it, the way we design our training program in terms of training loads, player management, structures, processes, the way we lead [and] our leadership group functions is designed for players to play longer.
“So we are clearly proof of that with guys well into their 30s playing great football for our team, so we’ll continue to be that team and be that program, but by the same token, you know, we want to be a place where young players can come and, you know, work hard and fulfil their dreams as well.
“I don’t think both are mutually exclusive – we can do both things.”
It’s time for them to start.
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