Collingwood Forever

The Collingwood team of 1977 played thrilling football, was packed with stars and went within minutes of securing a flag which would have capped off a historic bottom-to-top season rise.

So if any player could walk straight into that team for the opening game of the following season, he must have been doing a lot right.

That’s what happened with Craig Stewart in 1978. The strong key forward had been starring with Preston in the VFA, winning their goalkicking in 1976 and best-and-fairest in 1977. Residentially bound to Collingwood, Stewart had come down to Magpie training during his time with the Bullants but had soon lost interest and returned to Preston.

In 1978, however, things were different. He stayed for the pre-season, did well in the practice matches and was chosen at centre half-forward for the season opener against Geelong. The following week he was up against Essendon’s feared tough guy Ron Andrews – one of the toughest assignments in football. Stewart took 11 marks, had 21 possessions, kicked four goals and led ‘Rotten Ronnie’ a merry dance all day on his way to almost universal best-on-ground ratings. The Magpies believed a new star had been born.

Coach Tom Hafey said afterwards: “He’s a readymade League footballer. He’s a beauty.” One critic wrote: “Andrews had no answer to Stewart’s strong marking and ground play. His long kicking is a delight to watch and he is also a good team man. Always willing to give a handball to a player running past, Craig really has been a find for Collingwood.”

But Craig’s early success at centre half-forward waned a little, despite kicking the winning goal against Footscray a few weeks later, and he was moved into defence where he proved equally adept. The Magpies quickly realised they had one of footy’s most valuable properties on their hands – the big swingman.

His captain for that season, Len Thompson, was a big fan, and quickly pronounced the quietly spoken Stewart to have been the best recruit in the League for 1978.

“He has performed extremely well in both those crucial positions,” Thompson wrote in a newspaper. “As a forward he proved to be a sure mark and now, in defence, Craig is showing great ability in punching the ball and in creating moves from the back line … he looks a great bet for the future and I’m glad we got him at Victoria Park.”

Craig didn’t end up winning any League awards that year but he did snare both the Best First Year Player and Best Local recruit at Collingwood, making himself an integral part of the Hafey’s Heroes era.

He had arrived as a key forward and played some outstanding games in that role, but also spent time in defence to great effect and in the ruck. He was often thrown around to fill holes wherever we needed him, sometimes to the detriment of his game.

He was a big bloke, standing around 193cm and weighing just under 100kg, but he was agile for his size and good at ground level. His key attributes, however, were his marking and kicking.

He was a lovely mark of the football, with sure hands and good judgement, and his kicking was superb. He was capable on both sides of his body but especially good from a standing start, where he could roost the ball a mile – especially when he got onto one of his ‘torps’ (he was one of the best exponents of the torpedo in the game).

Craig twice kicked six goals in a game, against St Kilda in 1979 and Footscray in 1980, but he remained an underrated feature of Tommy Hafey’s legendary teams. He finished third in the best-and-fairest in both 1980 and 1982, and was part of the losing Grand Final teams in 1980 and 1981. He also played for a Victorian B team in 1980.

In all he played 115 games in the black-and-white, kicking 122 goals (one was only recently added to his revised career total), before getting caught up in the trade wars with Richmond and heading to Punt Road in 1984. He would play a further 35 games in three seasons at the Tigers, giving him a neat career total of 150.

His son, James, was drafted by the Giants in 2012 after the Magpies passed on the chance to nominate him as a father-son prospect, and has gone on to enjoy a fine career, playing with both GWS and Essendon.

Known to teammates as ‘Snaggles’, Craig Stewart was a fine footballer who played a valuable role at both ends of the ground across more than 100 games during the Hafey era. It’s a career he and his family can be mighty proud of.

– Michael Roberts