A reported rift between Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley and premiership defender Harry O’Brien overshadowed the build-up to Friday night’s AFL blockbuster between Carlton and Collingwood at the MCG.
O’Brien was left out of Collingwood’s side because of an ankle problem. However reports surfaced on Channel Nine’s The Footy Show on Thursday night that O’Brien had clashed with Buckley mid-week at a team meeting and hadn’t been seen at the club since.
O’Brien, who won premiership and All-Australian honours in 2010, has been granted personal leave for a few days and is expected to return to training on Monday.
“He’s got an ankle injury at the moment … anything else over and above that, we’d be dealing with that behind our four walls,” Collingwood’s forwards coach Matthew Lappin told Channel Ten on Friday night.
“I can’t go any further into that. Obviously he’s out of the team tonight and we’ll just focus on our 22 players out there tonight.”
O’Brien’s teammate Dale Thomas, who is also out of action with an ankle injury, said he had no knowledge of any so-called rift between coach and player.
“It’s a strange one. My Twitter was blowing up,” Thomas told radio 3AW.
Thomas said he had asked the club’s media department if he needed to be briefed on anything before he did media interviews on Friday and he was told ‘no’.
“I think he (O’Brien) has been given time to go away and rest that ankle and just freshen up,” Thomas said.
“I presume there were meetings,” added Thomas, who has been doing injury rehabilitation work away from the main group in recent weeks.
“I doubt there was anything out of the ordinary (in the meetings).”
Jermayn
Guest
Totally agree... Bigger ego than Ben Hur!
A Mans Not A Camel
Guest
Please link me on on where it's been confirmed. I've read every article I have found, and not one of them confirms there is a rift there, they all state "reported rift" or a "rumoured rift", and, not one of the articles have even close to a confirmation from any player or official who was in that room. Remember a few weeks ago, the rumour of Krak's leaving the pies? How'd that story turn out? There's loads of articles written every day that have less than 5% truth - don't be a mindless zombie about it, just because the article is written does not make it so. Otherwise, I might just have to write an article on why I think Tony Abbott is an alien from a galaxy far, far away. Once it's posted, it has to be true.
Gezza
Guest
Logic 101 - FAIL!
micka
Guest
Does anyone else think that Harry O'Brien gets waaaaaayyyyyyyy more attention than he deserves? Why am I so up to date with what Harry's views are on every social issue affecting the globe? Pull your head in Harry, you can kick a prune, you're not the second coming.
Gordon smith
Guest
A legitimate article. Has been confirmed that an incident. Occurred and Harry is in port Douglas. Afl website has a report on it. Worthy of discussion.
Mitcher
Guest
Yet here we are. Reading/commenting. You're a part of the 'problem'.
Shmick
Guest
I thought this was a sports website... what's with the celebrity gossip piece?? Stick with actual sports journalism and leave the speculative off-field nonsense to the glorified gossip columnists like Caroline Wilson and Damien Barrett.
talisman
Guest
+1
Gezza
Guest
Speculation is not news - can these rubbish stories please!