McRae will guide the Lions reserves through the season, replacing Craig Brittain and a rotation of assistant coaches who have guided the team in recent seasons.
“It is good to be back,” said McRae, who spent several years as an assistant at Richmond.
“I love Melbourne but the last couple of years at Richmond were tough.
“Working closely with the players and the support staff that we have here, and the likes of Vossy and Manny Lynch, it’s a pretty exciting time.”
Despite the trials at battling Richmond in the latter stages, McRae looks back positively on his experiences.
“I learnt a lot down there and was given a great opportunity in my role,” he said. “Things didn’t work out and it was a great opportunity to come back here.”
The Lions reserves have won a solitary QAFL premiership, back in 2001, and have not won a final since then, despite regular appearances.
“We’ve looked long and hard at the best way to go about it,” McRae said of guiding the reserves side. “We’ve got 47 on the list and ideally won’t have a lot of injuries so we’re going to have a lot of depth.
“Our philosophy is certainly that development comes first. If that means winning, time will tell. But winning is a good part of development.
“We’re excited about the year.”
McRae added the club had recruited well in the off-season and was happy to nominate some players who should impress during the QAFL season.
“Ryan Harwood attacks it pretty hard, Jesse O’Brien is impressive and we’ve got a couple of kids who haven’t played yet because of knee reconstructions - Callum Bartlett and Mitch Golby - who will probably come back in the first month or so who have impressed as well,” McRae said.
McRae will take the Lions Reserves' reins this Saturday afternoon in what promises to be a blockbuster practice match at the Gabba.
The Lions Reserves will play the new Gold Coast AFL franchise in a curtain raiser to the senior game at 3:20pm in what will be the first official meeting between the soon-to-be cross-town rivals.
Click on the 'Lions Reserves' tab on the Club's homepage for more QAFL news.
NB: An Internet activity report from last season showed that Reserves news was a popular section on our website so we are looking at providing more material in 2010.
