Collingwood premiership coach Craig McRae will step back from coaching the Pies in their AFL pre-season matches, 7NEWS Melbourne’s Mitch Cleary has revealed.

The 50-year-old is only entering his third year leading the team but has already decided to hand over some power to upskill his assistants.

‘Fly’ McRae will linger in the background as Jordan Roughead and Hayden Skipworth take charge against North Melbourne (February 21) and Richmond (February 27) respectively.

The 33-year-old Roughead is barely 18 months into retirement but already a highly rated coach.

He was involved with Collingwood’s AFLW team while still playing in the AFL and was later in line to become Fremantle’s AFLW senior coach before deciding to stay at the Pies.

Roughead has been promoted to backline coach this year after spending the 2023 campaign as a development coach and opposition analyst.

Skipworth recently became McRae’s senior assistant and has taken over as midfield coach following a reshuffle among the coaching staff.