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Craig McRae's call for Collingwood players to act like winners has been heeded by his charges ahead of Saturday night's semi-final against Fremantle.

Craig McRae has been pleased with Collingwood players' response to his rally cry imploring them to act like winners.

The coach raised eyebrows following the Magpies' narrow qualifying final defeat to Geelong, when he revealed he told players he did not want to see them slumped on the turf after the siren.

"For me, that's not a winner, that's acting like a loser," McRae said post-match.

"We lost the game, we're not losers, so I just made that point.

"For the lifetime I'm sitting in this chair, maybe barring a grand final, if we don't win, don't lie on the ground."

The comments were a topic of debate in the days that followed and drew praise from former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, who hailed McRae's winning mentality.

On Thursday, McRae dismissed suggestions he had "blasted" his players for lying on the ground.

"It was a conversation around, 'Hey boys, you should be really proud of what we just did but we've got more work to do so there's no time to lay on the ground and rest and think about it, we've got to get up and get busy'," McRae said.

"On Monday you walk in and you wouldn't know if we'd won or lost, and that's been our theme for the whole year.

"Our players are hungry, they're getting back to work and they've got more work to do."

McRae has been trying to generate positivity throughout his first season in charge and will take that vibe into Saturday night's do-or-die semi-final against Fremantle at the MCG.

"This time of year you need energy. You've got to fill your cup back up," McRae said.

"There's the games itself and the longevity of the season takes a lot out of you.

"So we're looking at ways we can energise our playing group and positivity and feeling good about things is maybe one way of doing that."