COLLINGWOOD coach Craig McRae has two daughters. And 44 "sons".

When one of those sons, Jack Ginnivan, recently found himself the focus of intense media scrutiny after being filmed taking an illicit substance, McRae was there for some tough, fatherly love.

"I think we have handled it really well as a footy club, to be honest," McRae told AFL.com.au of the Ginnivan matter, which saw the 20-year-old suspended for the opening two matches of the season.

"The only parts I will share about it, and I told the playing group this, I don't have a son. I have two beautiful daughters who I love so much. But I don't have a son. And I told the players, I've got 44 though, and I treat you all like my sons.

"I know I am not going to condone the things you do all the time. I will challenge you, and I will have accountability and responsibility on things I don't agree with, or things that don't suit being an AFL footballer. But at the end of the day, once we have addressed that and we have accountability, I will show love and support, like you would with your own child. So, accountability, responsibility, love and support.

"And they heard that really clearly. So they got to work on that. Whether it's Jack or whoever it is, what is the responsibility amongst this? I think we handled that at the time really well, then we got to work on supporting and educating, then we got to work on loving one of ours."

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With an extraordinarily action-packed debut season of 25 matches now behind him as coach, it is a more settled McRae who is about to enter 2023.

This time last year he admits he was anxious, unsure of how he was going to cope in charge of the AFL's biggest club. He says he's now used to "all the little extras but I'm still not used to people staring at me and calling me out, that's been the big change".

His relationship with the Magpies has got meaningful time behind it, absorbing an opening nine-match sequence that went two wins, three losses, two wins and two losses, before just one more loss in the home and away season. Then came a six-point qualifying final loss to eventual premier Geelong, a 20-point semi-final win against Fremantle and then a one-point loss to Sydney in a preliminary final.

Packaged up, and given that before the year started seemingly only McRae felt Collingwood wasn't in a rebuilding phase, the Magpies of 2022 provided the AFL with one of the more exciting seasons in the history of the game.

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Coming from second-last in 2021, in 2022 there were 11 wins by less than 12 points, nine of those by a single-figure margin. On five occasions in the regular season, crowds were beyond 70,000, with three of those occasions getting into the 80,000s. They averaged nearly 50,000 in their 22 games.

The two finals they lost could clearly have gone their way, and arguably were their finest performances of the year.

"I still haven't watched that game, it popped up on my social media the other day, the Swans (preliminary final), the last two minutes," McRae said.

"I had deliberately wanted to keep moving from it. I don't know if I will ever watch that game. It was a remarkable year and credit to the players again – it's not often a team loses a preliminary final interstate and gets clapped off by the opposition.

"It's not something you go searching for but it was great recognition and affirmation for our playing group and how they never gave up. I hadn't seen it until it popped up, and geez, I couldn't believe how good Jack Crisp was in the last two minutes. He'd had a good year, but he was incredible."

McRae's public words in 2022 were as refreshing as his team's style.

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In the 2022 pre-season, he said on many occasions he wouldn't be placing a ceiling on performance or outcome. It was an attitude which immediately pervaded his organisation.

Then there was a round eight media conference where, having just lost to Richmond, McRae nonchalantly volunteered: "We're eight rounds in, eight dates in a relationship if you like, and they (Richmond) are married with three kids."

Asked about the current relationship status, McRae said: "I thought you might ask this - maybe we got engaged in the off-season, I'm not sure. We're 12 months in a relationship. It's stronger. You'd like to think all the little connections are better. You still have your little fights here and there, but we like each other a lot more."

McRae said he was unaware of the love heaped by rival club supporters on the traditionally hated Collingwood in 2022 until late in the year.

"Subsequently, I have (become aware)," he said. "I have had supporters of other clubs say, 'hey, look, you've almost got me to like Collingwood'. The little drive-by comments. I didn't know the extent of it. Pendles (Scott Pendlebury) said it late in the year and I thought that's not happening.

"We do want to be fun to watch. We don't want to be boring. We want to be brave with the ball. We want to make mistakes and be OK with that. The number of close games probably allowed people to watch us for longer."

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With 11 of the 16 wins of 2022 being by two goals or less, McRae is well aware that even finals would have been beyond reach if some of those games were lost.

"I reflect on all of that, at the time and subsequently after the season," McRae said. "We lose two or three of those games, and we are out of the eight. That's real. Percentage doesn't lie, we were about 10th. We understand our list wasn't in a position to be able to win by more. But what we had was an incredible desire to win. And it just grew, and it grew momentum. And then we had great method. Because we were in those situations so often, we practised like no one else would've.

"And we reviewed it like no one else would have. It was our reality. I was confident our method was strong. If anything, we got better at it. I reflect on the Melbourne game (round 21) in particular. They didn't score in seven minutes, and that is really difficult to do against quality opposition. That was probably a season-best of hanging onto a lead. But, the bounce of the ball here and there, we understand that. A missed set shot against Essendon. All those things, I get. But ideally we won't be in as many of those situations because we're looking to improve ourselves."

In keeping with his unique ways, McRae is not afraid to highlight one individual when it comes to his personal favourite moments of 2022.

"There were two moments I think I look back on and really enjoy - one was Jamie (Elliott) after the siren (against Essendon, round 19), that was really hard to go past," he said.

"But the last minute against the Blues in the last round was … I love Jamie! He's a fan in our house. If you watch those games back, they are unbelievable. When you're in it, you're immersed in it. But when you sit out, and watch it back, wow, they were just incredible games. Footy's in good shape."