When he informed his team of the birth of his daughter on grand final day, Collingwood coach Craig McRae admits that he made a shocking error.
Before Collingwood’s victory in the grand final, Craig McRae made the critical mistake of telling his team members about his impending pregnancy.
McRae, 50, gave birth to his first child with wife Gabrielle on the morning of the championship game, and he was overcome with happiness on Saturday.
Only a few hours after Maggie was born, McRae presided over the Pies’ illustrious victory that put an end to their 13-year drought for a championship.
oday was already the best day of my life, because my wife gave birth to a little girl this morning at 7:45,’ he said on stage at the MCG.
Prior to the first bounce, McRae revealed the news to his Pies squad, who he has acknowledged as his ’44 sons’ throughout the season.
But he made an unbelievable mistake when disclosing the joyful update.
‘I thought I’d be really emotional,’ he told SEN. ‘I had a plan prior to little Maggie being born, the 44 sons on my shirt as a legacy thing.
‘I thought I’d get quite emotional about it. I didn’t want to be emotional, I wanted to be joyful.
‘Anyway, in my madness of trying to get it out I actually said “boys I’ve got 44 sons on my shirt and today’s already the best day of my life because we’ve had a son!’ but we had a girl!
‘That’s how crazy it was. The players are erupting and then I put a picture up where it says Maggie and they said “that’s a strange boy’s name”. I was all over the place.’
McRae earlier revealed that he did not plan on telling the public about the baby news, and that his wife was taken aback by his revelation.
‘I’ve got to say this, I’m a private guy,’ McRae told Fox Footy. ‘My wife and I are really private.
‘This is how private we are, I said ‘I’m not telling anybody we’ve had the baby’ and then I started to go ‘ah, maybe I’ll tell the players’ and then there’s footage of me going a bit silly in the rooms.
‘Then after the game I told the world! She goes ‘what happened?’ I don’t know, it was just the euphoria of it all.’
McRae, who had two daughters from his first marriage, lifted the lid on the special moment of becoming a father.
‘[I am] Trying not to cry but it’s such an incredible thing,’ he said. ‘Just the joy. If you’re lucky enough to be a father to have a baby in your hands, the appreciation of what your wife did and continues to do and how special this moment is.
‘You’re wiping away the tears for two hours then you have to go to the grand final. It will be a day that will never be repeated.’
McRae married Gabrielle last year and she was in the rooms following Collingwood’s win over GWS in their preliminary final last week.
After his victory on Saturday, McRae told Channel 7 that his wife is “incredible.” She didn’t tell me she was in labor when she went into it yesterday afternoon; she simply said she wasn’t feeling well.
‘You better come to the hospital, this baby’s coming,’ said the caller at around 6:00 this morning.
It simply seems to have gotten a little bit better, yet this is already the best day of my life.