Magpies have no plans to trade out veterans

New Collingwood coach Craig McRae does not plan to overhaul the club’s list as the Magpies enter a new era.

The Pies have a number of veterans on their list, including the likes of Scott Pendlebury, Jeremy Howe, Steele Sidebottom, Jordan Roughead, Mason Cox and Jamie Elliott.

When asked if they would trade members of that senior core, McRae says he doesn’t plan to offload older players for draft picks and cut the list back as we have seen other clubs in similar positions do.

“Not in the short-term. The answer is probably no in the short-term,” the Collingwood coach told Sportsday.

“What’s there at the moment is some excitement around the youth and we heavily invested in the draft last year and potentially the number one pick this year (in Nick Daicos), I think there’s enough young talent there.

“The balance for me, and I learned this at Hawthorn this year, you can’t have too much youth. You need a balance of experience around them because it really does stress the others out too much.

“That’s going to be a delicate balance all year, finding the right mix that doesn’t stress too many of the better players.”

The Magpies are currently without a list manager, with Troy Selwood recently stepping away for health reasons.

McRae said that head of football Graham Wright plans to run the show during the trade period.

“As far as I’m aware that’s the case (that Graham Wright will handle the trade period and draft),” he said.

“I don’t have any concerns around that. His experience and his reputation speaks for itself.”