With hatred clouding their judgements and incapacitating their ability to see things logically, of course the AFL world doesn’t think Collingwood will play finals in 2017.
Certain clubs such as St Kilda, Melbourne and even Essendon are seemingly looking to surpass the Pies and leap-frog them as frontrunners to surge into the top eight, but there are many reasons to suggest otherwise.
These thoughts, however, were revealed before the 2017 fixture was released, and at second glance, David King and Glenn Luff confirmed Buckley’s comments from 2016 on SEN, suggesting that if the Pies don’t make finals in 2017 then he won’t expect his contract to be renewed.
“Nathan Buckley is probably the one person in football that enters 2017 under the most pressure,” King said on SEN’s The Run Home.
“I think if you’re going to start the year like that then there’s going to be darts thrown at him left, right and centre. I don’t think this year is going to be any different to 2016.”
Despite this, King does believe that 2018 will be Collingwood’s year.
“There’s a lot of talent there but it’s maybe just one year shy on the experience chart and on the age profile,” he said.
Luff agreed, and says that the main concern for the Pies is their backline.
“Their midfield is really strong. I think forward of centre they don’t get the credit. I think when fit, their forward line is OK. It’s behind centre which is the concern,” he said.
“It’s all about the system. Can they get that system right to protect that back six? They’ve brought in Lynden Dunn… he’ll do a job. I know people will say that they got rid of (Jack) Frost and Nathan Brown but I don’t mind Lynden Dunn.”
As touched on before, another dimension to look at when dissecting why the Pies will struggle next year is the fixture.
Collingwood finished 12th on the ladder in 2016 meaning they are on the bottom of the middle-six grouping.
This resulted in them getting a tougher draw than Richmond who finished one spot below them in 13th, and a similar draw in terms of difficulty to finalists North Melbourne and West Coast.
In 2017, Collingwood will only face one bottom-six team – Essendon, a side that is a big unknown for next season and could prove to be not such a benefit at all.
But if there is anyone in footy who will relish the tough conditions for next year, it’s Nathan Buckley, a man who admitted it is a do-or-die season for him personally.
There are huge positives for Collingwood next season, some which far outweigh the negatives.
The Pies have added in plenty of experience for next season, something which they craved in 2016. On top of Dunn, Daniel Wells and Chris Mayne joined the Pies on medium-term deals which will prove to do them wonders for depth.
The Mayne inclusion caused some controversy and speculation that Buckley is desperate to save his job, but he would have been silly not to pounce on the former Docker. One, they get him for nothing, and two, his fierce forward-line pressure is second to none in the AFL.
Mayne, who has not been able to regain his best footy in the past couple of seasons, is someone who should thrive given the opportunity in a new environment, and with Collingwood a better team at moving the ball than Freo, he is more than capable of having a 30-40 goal season.
Even Wells, who turns 32 in February, is a skilful midfielder who can turn a game upside down. There is no doubt that if fit, opposition teams will be looking at the Collingwood line-up in the build up to a game and discussing how to nullify Wells’ influence.
It’s not a bad pick up at all.
There are also many players who had limited exposure in 2016 who come into calculations for a Round 1 start next season.
From the line-up that came agonisingly close to causing Hawthorn to finish sixth on the ladder as opposed to third in Round 23 last season, there are a dozen players who did not feature that would be near walk-up starters for 2017.
At the top of that list would be Jamie Elliot, who failed to play a single game due to an ongoing back injury.
This should see the Collingwood forward line really blossom and cause opposition teams major headaches next year, with the added talent of Alex Fasolo, Elliot, Mayne and ex-Giant Will Hoskin-Elliot.
The forward line is set despite the absence of spearhead Travis Cloke. It will give Darcy Moore plenty of space and game time to improve as a genuine full-forward.
The talent is there, and with a star-studded midfield already consisting of Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom, Adam Treloar and Taylor Adams, the Pies should be no less confident in the way they can dictate a game from the midfield than a finals side from 2016.
Do they have the players to kick the goals? Tick.
Do they have the players to get the ball down there? Tick.
The one area which will, put simply, define Collingwood’s season is the backline.
While people sit there and judge how lacklustre the Collingwood defence is shaping up for 2017, they forget the Western Bulldogs won a premiership with an undermanned line-up. They proved this year that a champion team will always beat a team of champions and this will remain true for years to come.
Gone are the days where you need pure key defensive stocks and a stack of players who can play one-on-one with the game’s tallest forwards.
Year by year the game is changing, and while people continue to judge, the AFL will continue to evolve in some way.
So with the pressure that Buckley was always expecting, 2017 may well and truly be coming at the wrong time for Collingwood given its difficult fixture for 2017. But in spite of this, underestimate the Pies at your own peril.
Teams take time to gel, yes, and Collingwood has been sliding down the ladder since 2012, but in 2016 Buckley finally got the team he wanted and the talent he needed.
To sack Buckley at the end of 2017, as weird as it sounds, would be extremely premature. You would be getting rid of a coach who the players want to play for and respect. Patience is something that Collingwood fans truly need.
Persistence is key, and if the Pies win ten or more games next season then it should be a pass mark.
Though subtle, this would still be an improvement, and axing the coach for not making finals (after winning more games than in 2016) would be on the back of public pressure.
To sack Buckley in 2017 is to miss out on a grand final appearance in 2018 or 2019.
There’s one word which matters: patience.
With another pre-season under their belts and the young guns gaining an extra year, the Magpies may be the team to surprise the football world next season.
Collingwood’s possible Round 1 line-up
FB: L. Dunn L. Keefe B. Maynard
HB: J. Howe B. Reid T. Varcoe
C: J. Crisp S. Pendlebury D. Wells
HF: J. Elliot J. White S. Sidebottom
FF: A. Fasolo D. Moore C. Mayne
R: B. Grundy A. Treloar T. Adams
INT: J. Smith L. Greenwood J. Aish W. Hoskin-Elliot
EMG: J. Blair T. Goldsack T. Langdon
Not included: M.Cox, M.Scharenberg, J.De Goey, B.Sinclair, J.Ramsay, A.Oxley, T.Broomhead
Tricky
Guest
Wow PD, thought Cal & the author were optimistic but mate you take the cake! lol For starters he's gotta make your 22........................... lucky to make the Footscray 22. If he does get in he won't get 10 kicks let alone kick 10 out of bounds. Ha ha - but don't worry you'll still smash us by 10 goals anyway!
Pumping Dougie
Roar Guru
10 goals that is!
Pumping Dougie
Roar Guru
Haha, not when my mate, Big Trav, comes out and kicks 10.
Katfish
Roar Guru
care to elaborate, Maxirius?
Tricky
Guest
Geez I wish I had your enthusiasm, I'm gonna call this on the optimistic side
Cal
Guest
Well just believe! haha that's corny! But yeah success immediately or destruction. I think Buckley will know in the first four weeks whether or not he keeps his job. You watch Collingwood back him though. If the media started dropping comments about where us Pies are headed and all because of Buckley... I wouldn't wanna be the Dogs or the Hawks that weekend. I'd put my money on a 3 - 1 start.
me too
Guest
Melbourne and St Kilda already leapfrogged Collingwood. I think you mean the Pies will need to leapfrog them if Buckley is to retain his job. I also wouldn't be using David King's opinion as worthy support - this is the guy that declared the Saints would go 0 and 22 in 2015. Collingwood has self destructed under Buckley in a way that no premier has - sure they occassionally make us sit and and take note, but what club doesn't. Hanging their hat on shock wins over GWS does not make them an equal, in the same way the Saints wins over the Dogs does not make them equal - despite a 2-2 record in the last four games. They have spent five years building under Buckley and they don't appear even halfway there - what other coach would expect to keep the job if next season sees more failure?
Maxirius
Guest
What league ad of bollocks I feel sorry for people who's understanding of the game is on a 15 year lag
Gecko
Guest
Jarryd with a heading like that you were bound to get plenty of comments. Well done for stirring up Collingwood supporters and haters alike. As a Collingwood supporter, I'd like to see the Pies start really well (with Buckley proving that he can motivate human beings) or really badly (with Buckley removed ASAP so we can get a coach that can get players passionate). Please, no more middle-of-the-road results that fuel articles like this. And please give Goldsack a game ahead of Chris Mayne. Plays the same role but is heart-and-soul Collingwood.
Kiama Chris
Guest
Every year, every club says it will do better. No exception here. Only Hawthorn from the 2016 top 4 appear to have gone backwards. The Dogs may be even harder to beat with Boyd finally finding his place. Adelaide seem to have missed opportunity to improve much but will still contest. The Eagles may struggle to do as well. North are shot. So the Pies, Saints, Dees and Port (at least, maybe Tiges, Bombers, Freo?) will all be battling to take 2 or 3 possies in the 8. They can't all do it. They need significant improvement. My personal call is that there isn't enough improvement in the Pies to get there.
Lroy
Guest
Agreed, I think ten wins is probably where most neutral pundits have them.. and Im not sure that is enough for Eddie to justify extending Buck's contract.
Xray
Guest
Come the half way mark of the 2017 season and it will all be over for Buckley.
Connection
Guest
Don't forget Dunn; a 30-year old, slow, undersized hack who is well past his use by date and should have already been retired, So much for Buckley's hypocritical 'youth first' policy, which is now conveniently being ignored.
Connection
Guest
Sinclair like Maynard is one of Buckley's little pets. Sinclair throws himself around and can always be relied upon to make the wrong decision in terms of using the ball, which when combined with his abysmal disposal skills makes him an A-grade spud. Maynard is kind of Pendlebury in reverse; a slow witted dufus who is constantly making mistakes and putting his teammates under pressure. Anyone who manages to fumble the ball in the defensive goal square, when attempting a kick to himself after a point has been scored, only to then allow the opposition close from 25 metres and score a goal, has no place in league football.
Kaks
Roar Guru
To be the best you need to beat the best, this is why I hate it when I see arguments that a team had a 'hard start' and therefore we should be cutting them some slack, and I say this as a Pies and Buckley fan. After everything that has been invested into Buckley, I hope he has next year to show us what he can do - but if he has another year like last year then I am all for finding a replacement.
Katfish
Roar Guru
Seedsman is actually getting a game (when not injured) at a club that finished one game off minor premiers when Buckley barely played him after ANZAC Day. Wellingham, Freeman and Young have all struggled with injury. Thomas has struggled with injury and was well past his prime when the Blues picked him up. Kennedy is doing no better or worse considering he was/is on the fringe for both clubs.
Katfish
Roar Guru
Sacking Buckley at the end of the 2017 season would be anything but premature. Each of the last 5 years of his coaching has seen the Pies lose ground on where they were the previous year. Had it not been for Collingwood being the club it is, Buckley surely would have driven the Pies to the bottom 4. Had this team been one from another state, it certainly would not have attracted the likes of Howe, Adams and Treloar who very much carried the team this year (with the help of another couple players). In his 5 years at the helm, Buckley has failed to show any sort of tactical prowess and failed to drive standards and development within the group. And now, when he has an opportunity to develop some youth, he brings in the likes of Wells and Mayne in a pointless attempt to momentarily reach for 8th spot. It has been clear for a while now that Buckley is not the right man for the job It should not take 6 years and 4 missed finals (5 if they wait a year as you suggest) to make it clear to them that Buckley is the man. Their list is extremely talented, particularly through the midfield with young, developing players like Adams, Treloar, De Goey, Aish, Broomhead and Crisp joining the more experienced Pendlebury and Sidebottom. It took the Crows, with a perhaps less talented midfield, only 2 years of missing finals to work out that Sanderson was not the man to guide them to their next premiership and look how well it has taken them. Only 1 win off the minor premiers in Pyke's first year. It should not have taken Collingwood this long to remove Buckley and it certainly should not take them any longer
Tricky
Guest
Firstly Reid is the obvious sherriff down back, with Keefe and McClarty needing games under the belt - we are a bit raw down back if not as a list in whole Taylor Adams? He's a grunt inside mid - won't be going down back Forwards? Jess White will need to continue his late season form to give an alternative target from Moore who I'm guessing will be double teamed anyway just as Cloke was as Cox is still raw and I'm not sure you'd play all 3 on any 1 week regardless - too tall and immobile Dogs didn't win with just small forwards - contested possy, swarm to outnumber and win footy then handball handball handball whilst outspreading the opposition to recieve the outside ball. This takes superior in close disposal as well as gut running especially if you lose the inside and have to double back! We don't have the hand skills in close to achieve this - yet
Johnny
Guest
Sinclair is pox
Cal
Guest
In the second West Coast game I reckon we saw a turning point in the way we will play defence. Marsh and Brown are two of the AFL's worst lead holders and Darling and Kennedy are two of the AFL's best leading forwards, and on top of that we have no real general in the backline. Does Reid become that one? Certainly not Dunn in his first season! If Scharenberg was entering his third season maybe, but it looks like Taylor Adams will get that role, and when he did through the last season we really missed him forward of defence. I think Ben Reid is the key there. I am still worried about our forward talls though... I s'pose the Dogs did it with small forward pressure though...