Craig McRae will soon be confirmed as Collingwood’s new senior coach.
His coaching panel will be revealed in the days and weeks to come, but definitely joining him at the Holden Centre will be his premiership teammate, close mate and former Richmond colleague Justin Leppitsch.
While the specifics are still to be absolutely confirmed, the understanding is Leppitsch’s role will be a newly defined one that stretches beyond the brief of a senior assistant.
He has accepted a role at Collingwood that will see him adopt a strategy portfolio where he will work across opposition and analytics departments. He will come at it with a focus on defence in which he specialises.
He had been linked to Carlton, but the Blues did not pursue him in an official capacity.
There is a real understanding between McRae and Leppitsch given they have shared a successful locker room at the Lions and a successful time together at Punt Road under Damien Hardwick.
The Leppitsch-Collingwood dialogue hasn’t been extensive, but the common thread is that Leppitsch and McRae are both managed by Tom Petroro at TLA.
Leppitsch commented on the prospective move on SEN on Tuesday.