Craig McRae responds to startling claims about Collingwood players and Bailey Smith

Collingwood coach Craig McRae has denied suggestions his players have been told to distance themselves from Bailey Smith, amid growing speculation the Western Bulldogs star is a top target to replace the recently retired Nathan Murphy. Premiership defender Murphy rocked the AFL this week after announcing his retirement at the age of 24, on the advice of medical professionals.

Murphy copped a concussion in last year's grand final and hadn't been able to return to the field this year. Murphy informed teammates of his decision on Tuesday morning, before Collingwood released a statement on his behalf. The defender suffered multiple concussions before his AFL career even started, and copped a number of head knocks during his 57 games for the Magpies.

The devastating development has left Collingwood with a huge hole to fill in their defence and Bulldogs star Smith has been heavily linked with a move to the Pies. Speculation has only intensified after a photo emerged of Smith posing for a photo alongside Collingwood gun Nick Daicos, when the pair were involved in pre-season training in the US together.

McRae has refused to confirm whether the Magpies were interested in chasing the signature of Smith. But the Collingwood coach denied suggestions that club officials had told players to tone done their online association with Smith, as the rumour mill kicks into overdrive.

“There’s no one in the building that has suggested that is true,” the premiership-winning coach said in response to a question about Collingwood players being told to keep their distance from Smith. “There’s no reason to think we would say that to our players.”

Smith won’t play in 2024 as he continues his recovery from an ACL injury but he would undoubtedly make a quality replacement for Murphy when he does return to full fitness. McRae said he was deeply saddened by his defender's bombshell retirement this week and revealed the club could look to the mid-season draft to find a replacement for the premiership winner.

Craig McRae hints at mid-season draft move for Magpies

“We’ve been working through that the moment Murph wasn’t available for round zero,” the Magpies coach said. “We’ve got some area on our list we are constantly evolving. We are not there and not finished and there are a lot of sleepless nights working out what the next move is.

“We’ve got what we’ve got and have to keep working with what we have.” McRae said Murphy, who will have the final two years of his contract paid out, which could be worth as much as $1m, would not be “lost” to the club with an ongoing role being mooted. “This is something that has been stewing in the background for a while, so there wasn’t a sudden moment of shock,” he added.

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“Anytime one of your valued players and cultural guys decides to walk away from the game, it’s difficult, you want to support the payer, love and support the player and his family, he’s not lost to us. We’d love to see him in and around the club for the next period. Whether it’s coaching or in another part of our club, it would be sad to lose him.”

McRae's side come up against high-flying Port Adelaide at the MCG on Saturday, fresh off a bye from the last round. The Pies started the season 0-3 but have won their last two games straight and the coach admits former captain Scott Pendlebury will be “hard to leave out” for the Port clash, having recovered from broken ribs and trained fully on Thursday morning.

with agencies