As the sun set on the Wednesday of the bye round, Collingwood gathered for a team meeting in the MCG changerooms.
It was all in. Players, coaches, staff.
Coach Craig McRae spoke, so did senior players, video packages captured both attention and imagination and then, with the stands empty, the group walked up the race not to the deafening welcome of the Magpie army, but silence.
Split into small groups, players wandered the hallowed turf and chatted before enjoying a team dinner in the Jack Ryder Room.
What does @masonsixtencox remember most from that famous 2018 prelim final win?
— ESPN Australia & NZ (@ESPNAusNZ) September 18, 2025
Well, sometimes it's the quiet moments that resonate the loudest.
FULL EP of Red Time 🎧 : https://t.co/SwczRJkv7r pic.twitter.com/Weg65CZRfH
Could the excursion prove to be another Craig McRae motivational masterstroke? Premiership Pie Billy Frampton thinks so.
"Fly (McRae) is really good at coming up with themes, he does that stuff outside of the usual week-to-week routine really well. It was a really nice moment and hopefully something that if we can get it (winning the flag) done we reflect on and talk about," he told ESPN ahead of Saturday's preliminary final against Brisbane at the MCG.
"Spending that time with teammates brought us that little bit closer together and added some really good connection coming into an important time of the year."
Frampton was grouped with fellow defenders Jeremy Howe and captain Darcy Moore, and they shared their 'whys' and 'whats' -- why they do what they do and why they get up in the morning.
"Mine is to be able to look back on my career and know it wasn't easy but it was something I can be proud of because I never gave up, I always fought through, got the most out of myself and competed for the team, against the best, whether I played well or not," he explains.
"I'm not going to be a 200-gamer or an All-Australian but giving my all is something I can be really proud of."
For Ned Long, who, along with Ed Allan and Roan Steele spoke about challenges, the midweek outing set the scene for September.
"It was pretty amazing. Really cool walking around on the 'G and having a good chat, some really cool conversations in small groups, going a little bit deeper than we would typically," the 22-year-old midfielder said.
"With no one there, it was so peaceful and so quiet you were able to think quite clearly and imagine what could be.
"That night in particular, and across the last few weeks, the guys have been really helpful with helping that inexperience I've got and guide me through. It's been about keeping it as simple as possible, and that was true in the game against Adelaide -- not doing anything different to the previous 23 weeks of the season."
While Long is on finals debut and on the verge of his first MCG final, the 2025 campaign has already been a new experience for Frampton.
Dropped for the 2023 qualifying final, he replaced the injured Dan McStay in the Grand Final against the Lions and would win a flag in his first year at Collingwood after crossing from the Crows.
"This time around has been a lot more linear and straight forward which has been nice, knowing I'm playing and putting my energy into what I need to do to play well. I wouldn't change last time for the world but this has been easier," Frampton said.
"I missed the qualifying and preliminary final in '23 and it was hard to stay motivated and ready. There's a very slim chance an opportunity will come up but I had to find a way to keep in a good mind frame so if you are picked you can perform. It fell my way and I was proud of how I conducted myself."
Frampton and Long were beginning high and primary school respectively when teammates Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom played in their first premiership in 2010.
Sidebottom, preparing for his ninth preliminary final, has won and done it all in September, and October, and thinks the 2025 Pies have what it takes.
"I think our game plan is stacked and built around the finals pressure," he said.
"Every team wants to be playing their best football at the end of September and we're no different. I feel like we've had a good four weeks of getting to work on some things that haven't been at a level we wanted so let's hope Saturday, and maybe a week after that, we are at our peak and firing."