Collingwood coach Craig McRae reveals vow he made to his wife after having their baby just hours before the AFL Grand Final – and her hilarious reaction when she found out he’d broken it immediately
Craig McRae has revealed he had no intention of ‘telling the world’ about his baby joy after the AFL grand final.
But the ‘euphoria’ of Collingwood’s dramatic win over Brisbane prompted the Magpies coach to announce his incredible news to the footy community as he lifted the premiership cup.
McRae, 50, couldn’t contain his joy on Saturday after welcoming his first child with wife Gabrielle on the morning of the grand final.
Just hours after Maggie’s birth, McRae oversaw a famous victory for the Pies, ending their thirteen-year wait for a premiership.
“Today has already been the best day of my life as my wife gave birth to a baby girl at 7.45am this morning,” he said on stage at the MCG.
Craig McRae has revealed the promise he made to his wife Gabrielle which he promptly broke
The Collingwood coach welcomed his third child, Maggie, on grand final day
“So honey, I’m coming home with the cup tonight – I love you!”
However, he has now revealed that he had no intention of telling the public about the baby news, and that his wife was surprised by his revelation.
“I have to say this, I am a private man,” McRae told Fox Footy. ‘My wife and I are really private.
“This is how private we are, I said ‘I’m not telling anyone we had the baby’ and then I started saying ‘ah, maybe I’ll tell the players’ and then there’s footage of me kind of going crazy in the rooms.
‘Then I told the world after the match! She says ‘what happened?’ I don’t know, it was just the euphoria of it all.”
McRae, who had two daughters from his first marriage, lifted the lid on the special moment he became a father.
“(I’m) I’m trying not to cry, but it’s such an incredible thing,” he said. ‘Just the joy. If you are lucky enough to be a father and have a baby in your hands, the appreciation for what your wife did and continues to do and how special this moment is.
‘You wipe away tears for two hours and then you have to go to the grand final. It will be a day that will never be repeated.”
McRae married Gabrielle last year and she was in the rooms after Collingwood’s victory over GWS in their preliminary final last week.
Speaking to Channel 7 after Saturday’s win, McRae added: ‘My wife is incredible. She gave birth yesterday afternoon, didn’t tell me, she just said she wasn’t feeling well.
‘I got a call this morning around a quarter to six saying, ‘You better go to the hospital, this baby is coming.’
‘Great day, it’s already the best day of my life – it just seems to have gotten a little better.’
McRae’s two other daughters are named Charlie and Chelsea, while he has worn a message on his collar all season that Collingwood’s playing list is his 44 sons.
Gabrielle planned to attend the grand finale but went into labor
“All the players had something in their jersey that they wanted to be remembered for,” he said. ‘It was an action.
‘In mine I had 44 sons. I now have three beautiful daughters. I don’t have a son, but I consider all these guys on the team to be my sons, so I wore them under my collar today.”
“Everyone I hugged (during the celebrations), I just told them how much I love them.
“I love them very much.”
Gabrielle had planned to attend the grand finale to support her husband, before Maggie’s arrival scuppered those plans.