It’s not all black and white with Buckley

Hunter G Meredith
Jul 20, 2017 · 6 min read

Critics have said that Nathan Buckley has failed as a coach, and that Collingwood has gone backwards under his tenure.

I would like to argue however, that while Buckley hasn’t helped himself with some aspects of his coaching, like team selection and game style, the club as a whole is more to blame for the Magpies failed transition.

It was very obvious that not everyone was happy with the transition from Mick Malthouse to Buckley.

This has had a lingering effect on the club, and even Buckley has been on the record saying that the politics surrounding the transition has had an effect on results and club morale.

Buckley has also conceded that when Malthouse decided to leave Collingwood to coach against “his boys” it hurt the football club more than they thought it would and left Buckley without a senior assistant to guide him through his opening years as a head coach.

Well… this is awkward…

The playing list that Buckley inherited went from winning a flag, to being runners up to now languishing well outside the Top 8.

People’s first argument against Buckley continuing as Collingwood’s head coach is that ”he had a premiership list” and that he “should have created a dynasty.”

When you go through the list “ins and outs” since that premiership era, apart from Dayne Beams and Heath Shaw — who would make the Collingwood list better?

The Pies still have a couple on their list and all the others have either retired, delisted or were traded with good reason.

It really annoys me when people bring up the “dynasty theory” on talk back or social media. Their argument is flawed, and the proof for the contrary is there, making it so easy to rebut that I won’t spend too much time on it here.

The main problem however, that hasn’t been addressed either in the media or by the keyboard warriors is Collingwood’s football department.

When Malthouse left, they should have swept everyone out straight away with who wasn’t on board with the new direction for the club.

The in house division has affected the club’s culture and caused issues behind the scenes from players to backroom staff especially the first few years after it happened.

I feel lately that Collingwood are starting to repair this within their playing group, and they look to have some strong on-field leaders.

The backroom from the president down seems to be a bit wobbly however, from bringing in Gubby Allen last year and shafting Neil Balme up to Gary Pert seeming to be on the outer according to news sources.

Eddie McGuire is trying to fix this on the run, while at the same time overseeing a review, which is even looking at his role.

Eddie doesn’t like what he is seeing but who’s fault is it?

This is a massive review of multiple aspects of the footy club, for the first time in a long long time, and it was well overdue.

Hawthorn’s success came on the back of a strong football department and a strong coaching panel.

Sydney in similar fashion have been a strong on-field club for the last 10–15 years all due to the fact their football department is a solid, unified operation and the fact that they have great leaders and assistants.

This is all culture driven, with other clubs like Geelong, operating in a similar fashion.

Even with Hawthorn dropping away this season from their elongated stay at the pinnacle of the game, their fans can still see the light and know they will bounce back, sooner rather than later.

Collingwood seems to lack this culture and backroom cohesion since the Malthouse-Buckley handover.

They have gone through a few assistant coaches since then, and a few of them seem to carry a chip on their shoulder, like Ben Hart, who is always too happy to throw a knife in when Collingwood start to struggle. (Funny how quiet he was however, when Collingwood had their five-week good patch earlier in the year.)

Ben Hart is about the only one smiling in Magpie Land at the moment…

Collingwood’s football department has had similar issues, and has seen the departure of Neil Balme and Rodney Eade to name but a few.

Richmond, Melbourne and Carlton recently went out and got their backhouses in order and surrounded their senior coaches with trusted assistants and respected football directors — and look at the results.

Carlton and Melbourne are helped with the amount of top end talent at their disposal from a few years at the bottom of the table, however Richmond’s list would be on par if not below Collingwood’s in terms of talent and the individual player stats back up this notion.

Richmond’s list seems to “give more” though and they are having a great year as a result of their stability, faith in their system and having the right senior people at the club.

“I’m sorry Cotch, can I come play with you guys now?

Now, look at Collingwood and tell me why the same approach hasn’t been adopted yet?

It’s been a revolving door of staff and players since 2012 when Buckley took over.

Is this Buckley’s fault, Pert’s or perhaps even Eddie’s?

Hopefully this ‘big footy review’ will enlighten the club and they can fix it before the 2018 season because with a club the size of Collingwood, their supporters won’t take this sort of on-field and off-field performances well.

Collingwood need to create some stability. They can’t shuffle players or staff every year, otherwise where does that culture and ‘club ethos’ come from?

In times of trouble it is always good to go back to your mission statement.

The biggest issue Collingwood have had however, is their drafting — which is again a football department issue.

Yes, Buckley sits in on these decisions but it is predominantly a football department issue not head coach one.

While I feel Collingwood have done the best they could have via trades and free agency, (except for the continual search of that Leigh Brown type player) their drafting of kids has been an issue.

Collingwood’s 2014 draft report looks to be a good one and in 2015 they may have picked up two good late picks but the rest of their draft history since ‘transition’ reads pretty poorly.

While they got Brodie Grundy, who looks to be a 250 game ‘A-Grade’ ruckman, it was during the 2012–2013 drafts where the Magpies missed out. They drafted in low number picks, who through either injury or not being good enough, have never really have played consistent AFL footy.

Yes, Scharenberg and Broomhead are still finding their feet, but it doesn’t look like they will be A grade players which especially for the likes of Scharenberg, is what you are looking for from a Top 10 pick.

Collingwood’s list profile doesn’t read too poorly from an age perspective however, look at players like Taylor Adams, Adam Treloar, Darcy Moore, Brodie Grundy and Jordan De Goey. They are all 24 and under and coming into their prime.

I really think that if Collingwood stick with Buckley and he is allowed (and embraced) to develop his own game plan while also improving the list’s kick skills and decision making then Collingwood aren’t actually that far off.

After just 129 games into his coaching career, Buckley has won more games than Alistair Clarkson, Mark Thompson and (perhaps most importantly) Mick Malthouse at the same stage of their coaching careers.

Six premierships as coach between them but none in their first 129 games.

Unlike Clarkson who was gifted a team with high end talent and lots of draft picks to build from, Buckley has had to — and will have to continue to — reshape his list with the added pressure of having to win matches on a regular basis.

Clarkson — albeit one of our greatest ever coaches — penned the blueprint to “rebuilding with continued success” and I’m backing in Buckley to replicate the blueprint, but this time in black and white.

Sporting Chance Magazine

Long form sports journalism that gives an insight into sports of a variety of codes and levels.

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Hunter G Meredith

Written by

Ramblings, half-baked thoughts, tidbits and shares from the corners of the world and my mind.

Sporting Chance Magazine

Long form sports journalism that gives an insight into sports of a variety of codes and levels.

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