{"id":54069,"date":"2025-07-13T13:17:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T13:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54069"},"modified":"2025-07-13T13:17:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T13:17:09","slug":"how-collingwood-fell-from-afl-grand-finalists-to-cellar-dwellers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54069","title":{"rendered":"How Collingwood fell from AFL grand finalists to cellar-dwellers &#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"d79db4796efc26332eabfc3f5dafbc76\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<div class=\"hb-ad-inarticle\">\r\n    <div class=\"hb-ad-inner\"> \r\n    <div class=\"hbagency_cls\"  id=\"hbagency_space_111930\"><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>How Collingwood fell from AFL grand finalists to cellar-dwellers &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Collingwood\u2019s dramatic fall in the AFL has stunned fans. Just two seasons ago, the Magpies surged to a Grand Final, playing exhilarating, high-pressure football under Craig McRae. Now, they find themselves near the bottom of the ladder in 2025.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-54071\" src=\"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/images-2025-07-13T141508.295-300x168.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/images-2025-07-13T141508.295-300x168.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/images-2025-07-13T141508.295.jpeg 739w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Injuries to key players like Darcy Moore, Jordan De Goey, and Nick Daicos have disrupted team chemistry. Veteran fatigue has also crept in, with aging stars like Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom struggling to keep up. Recruitment misfires and a lack of emerging talent have added pressure.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Opposition teams have decoded McRae\u2019s game plan, exposing structural weaknesses. Confidence has drained, and close games that once fell Collingwood\u2019s way are now going the other direction.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The club insists it\u2019s rebuilding and remains committed to its long-term strategy, but for now, the Magpie Army watches nervously as its once-mighty team fights to avoid the wooden spoon.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How Collingwood fell from AFL grand finalists to cellar-dwellers &#8230; &nbsp; Collingwood\u2019s dramatic fall in the AFL has stunned fans. Just two seasons ago, the Magpies surged to a Grand Final, playing exhilarating, high-pressure football under Craig McRae. Now, they find themselves near the bottom of the ladder in 2025. Injuries to key players like [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":54070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[721],"class_list":["post-54069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-collingwood-football"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Collingwood fell from AFL grand finalists to cellar-dwellers ...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How Collingwood fell from AFL grand finalists to cellar-dwellers ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54069\" \/>\n<meta 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