Craig McRae is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er.

Originally from South Australian National Football League

South Australian National Football League

The South Australian National Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the governing body for the sport of Australian rules football in South Australia....

 club Glenelg, McRae was drafted by AFL

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 club Brisbane

Brisbane Bears

The Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995...

 as the 22nd pick in the 1994 draft and had an immediate impact, kicking two goals in his first game in 1995, and played every game of that year. McRae was renowned for his ability to kick goals from not only beyond the fifty metre line, but also for his scouting of the ball spilled from the hands of taller players.

McRae was known for his determination and fierce tackling. The respected small forward/goalsneak retired from professional football after the 2004 Grand Final loss to Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide Football Club

The Port Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, which plays in the Australian Football League and the South Australian National Football League...

, which included playing in Brisbane's 2001, 2002 and 2003 premierships.

McRae and his wife Jodie celebrated the birth of their first daughter, Chelsea in 2000.

Career highlights

• Premiership side 2001, 2002, 2003
• SA state-of-origin representative 1999
• International Rules representative for Aus
  AUS
  AUS or Aus can refer to: Australia using ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code* Assam University, Silchar* American University of Sharjah* Application Update Service, the service for updating Mozilla products* Aqueous Urea Solution, see AdBlue...
  
   v Ireland
  Ireland international rules football team
  The Ireland International rules football team is the representative team for Ireland in international rules football, a compromise between Gaelic football and Australian rules football...
  
   1999
• Played in the 2004 AFL Grand Final
  2004 AFL Grand Final
  The 2004 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Brisbane Lions, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 2004. It was the 108th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football...
  
  

Post football career

Until the end of the 2006 season McRae was involved in a sports administration business and various football broadcasting roles including radio station Triple M

Triple M

The Triple M Network is an active rock radio network in Australia owned by media company Austereo, who also own the Today Network.- History :...

, where he hosted a football programme with former Brisbane teammate Jason Akermanis

Jason Akermanis

Jason Dean Akermanis is an Australian rules football player. He is a Brownlow Medallist and triple premiership player who played for the Brisbane Bears, Brisbane Lions and Western Bulldogs...

.

In October 2006 McRae was appointed to the newly created position of Player Development Coach with the Richmond Football Club

Richmond Football Club

The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

 necessitating a relocation to Melbourne. In the middle of the 2009 AFL season, McRae took up the head coaching position at Richmond's VFL affiliate club, the Coburg Tigers, when former coach Jade Rawlings

Jade Rawlings

Jade Rawlings was the caretaker coach of the Richmond Tigers Football Club, and is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the AFL with the Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs and the North Melbourne Football Clubs....

 became caretaker coach at Richmond. McRae will took up a development coach position at the Brisbane Lions. He is currently the development manager at Collingwood

Collingwood Football Club

The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

.

McRae is also a qualified primary school teacher.