Craig McRae has revealed that 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 led the Magpies coach to disclosing his incredible news to the footy community as he lifted the premiership cup.
McRae, 50, was unable to 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 which ended their 13-year wait for a premiership.
‘Today was already the best day of my life, because my wife gave birth to a little girl this morning at 7:45,’ he said on stage at the MCG.
‘So darling, I’m coming home tonight with the cup – I love you!’
However, he has now revealed that he did not plan on telling the public about the baby news, and that his wife was taken aback by his revelation.
‘I’ve got to say this, I’m a private guy,’ McRae told Fox Footy. ‘My wife and I are really private.
‘This is how private we are, I said ‘I’m not telling anybody we’ve had the baby’ and then I started to go ‘ah, maybe I’ll tell the players’ and then there’s footage of me going a bit silly in the rooms. 
‘Then after the game I told the world! She goes ‘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 of becoming a father.
‘[I am] Trying not to cry but it’s such an incredible thing,’ he said. ‘Just the joy. If you’re lucky enough to be a father to have a baby in your hands, the appreciation of what your wife did and continues to do and how special this moment is.
