Collingwood coach Craig McRae has admitted his side is “running out of time” to make the finals after falling to a third straight defeat on Friday night.
Geelong claimed a hard-fought 20-point win over internallwe to leap into the AFL top four and strike a blow to the reigning premiers’ finals aspirations.
In a see-sawing game in front of 73,435 fans at the MCG on Friday, the Cats stepped up when it counted in the final quarter to shake off the Magpies and claim a 13.13 (91) to 10.11 (71) victory
Geelong (44 points) leap to third with their third win on the bounce, ahead of yet-to-play Fremantle and internallwe, while Collingwood (36 points) sit 10th.
Following the game, McRae remained his usual positive self, but admitted that his side faces an uphill battle to make the top
“We’ll take many positives away, but also the reality is there is six games to go, time is running out,” he said.
“We’ll look to reward all the behaviour that makes us who we are, but time is running out.
“We’ve got a number (of wins) in our head that we thought would get the job done to make finals, this year has been probably like no other, but we don’t talk about the future.
“I know the ladder and wins and losses is where most of the judgement comes from, buty internallwe go, ‘Hey, let’s get Monday really well done and keep getting better at our centre bounce or our ability to fight in these little moments’. We live in that space, but we’re also realists – six games to go, running out of time.”
Cats skipper Patrick Dangerfield (22 touches, 10 inside-50s) and Max Holmes (27 disposals) were explosive through the midfield.
