AFL fans have turned on Collingwood coach Craig McRae for his backhanded compliment to Fremantle after the Magpies’ loss on Sunday.

The masters of tight finishes since McRae took over in 2022, Collingwood were stunned by Fremantle in a one-point classic at the MCG on Sunday.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Craig McRae dishes out backhanded compliment to Fremantle.

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Collingwood led by 22 points early in the final quarter against the Dockers, but conceded the final four goals to go down in one of the games of the season.

Often accused of playing a dour and boring style, the Dockers won the match off the back of run and dare in the thrilling finale.

When speaking to media after the match, McRae said Freo should play like that more often.

“They play a good brand of footy when they’re up and going fast,” McRae said with a smirk on his face.

“Maybe they should play a bit more of that at times.

“It’s a good version of them.”

Fans reacted angrily to the comment, calling out McRae for being a sore loser.

“Disappointed in you Craig. Loved you at the Lions, but that comment was just salty,” one fan said.

“Gee that’s rather disrespectful. Bloody sore loser,” another one said.

“A backhanded compliment if ever I’ve seen one. You’re better than this rubbish, Fly,” another added.

“Fancy having a jab at the team you just lost to,” said another.

“What a sore loser, McCrae is,” another added.

“Well McRae just dropped a few pegs in my estimation,” added another.

“I don’t love this from Fly. Worry about your own backyard,” another said.

“How patronising,” another said.

While the majority of fans turned on McRae, some Fremantle supports agreed with the advice.

“Well… he’s not entirely wrong. We should,” one fan said.

“As a Freo fan I agree with this ....it’s no coincidence that Freo when down late open up and play attacking footy and it’s beautiful but (Longmuir) can never balance it out,” another said.

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said his side aimed to be braver in the final term.

“We tried to open up the game a little bit at three-quarter time and I thought we were a bit braver with the ball, especially with our hands, and created some opportunities,” he said.

“Probably outside of periods in the third quarter, every time we went forward, we looked dangerous. Our forward line worked really well.

“So we knew if we could get enough supply, we’d be able to hit the scoreboard and got a little bit more supply in the last quarter.”

McRae did praise Fremantle’s performance after the Dockers made the most of their opportunities up forward despite losing the inside-50 count (40-63).

“I had this real inner trust and belief that we were doing enough right in the game ... the pressure was there,” McRae said.

“It shows how we thought Fremantle were really, really good.

“When they needed to get the job done, they really came hard.”