Having spent a lifetime in footy, Craig McRae brings a culture of success as he joins the Hawks coaching ranks in 2021.
McRae is set to take up an assistant coaching role at Hawthorn, primarily looking after the forwardline.
And a look into McRae's resume suggests the forwards will be in good hands...
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Originally from South Australia, the man now affectionately known as Fly was a mature-age selection when the Brisbane Bears called out his name with Pick 22 in the 1994 draft.
It didn't take long for the small forward to acclimatise to the standard at the elite level, playing every game and booting 28 goals.
He continued to build on his debut season, culminating in arguably the best individual season of his career in 1999, when he booted 41 goals.
But, while that might have been a personal highlight, the true heights of McRae's career came from 2001 to 2003 as he helped the Lions to an historic threepeat.
It was the first taste of team success in McRae's AFL career, but it was a taste that wouldn't soon subside.
After 195 games and 232 goals for Brisbane, McRae announced his retirement following the club's grand final loss to Port Adelaide in 2004.
By 2007, McRae was back in the system, beginning his first stint at Richmond as the Player Development Coach.
Maintaining this role for three years whilst also head coaching the Tigers' VFL affiliate side Coburg in 2009, he then returned to Brisbane in 2010 to take up another development coaching role.
He remained at his former club for just one year though before moving back to Victoria to take up a Head of Development role at Collingwood.
Five years in the position saw Fly recognised as one of the leaders in this caper throughout the industry, with his strong people skills and ability to understand the variation in different players' needs.
This reputation saw Richmond come back for more, with McRae serving as an AFL assistant coach and head coach of the club's reserves side in the VFL from 2016.
He led the VFL side to a losing grand final in 2017 before winning a premiership in 2019 at VFL level.
This was all while maintaining a role at senior level where he helped oversee the Tigers become a dynastical force, winning in 2017, 2019 and, of course, 2020.
Playing and coaching in seven AFL and two VFL grand finals, McRae has played a key role either on or off field in seven premierships over his time.
He will now play a key role in helping to return Hawthorn back to these heights.
