Nathan Buckley can’t, and surely won’t, be coach of Collingwood next year. The only question should be how long into this season does the club put an end to his reign.
The consensus of several media types is that Buckley should be offered a contract extension because he is proven as a good coach and is likely to be better than whoever his replacement will be.
There’s no doubt that Buckley is an intelligent observer and communicator about football. He speaks as eloquently as any coach in the caper. His playing record and life in the game speaks to his credentials as a football man.
But, really, so what. These things don’t guarantee you an unprecedented length of time in the senior chair without delivering success. And not just a lack of success, but a vast history of regression.
At the end of this season, Collingwood will have gone backwards in nine of the ten years Buckley has been in charge. Nine out of ten!
And it’s not as if he hasn’t had talent at his disposal.
Scott Pendlebury is in any conversation about the greatest players at the club. Dane Swan isn’t far behind. Travis Cloke was a top-ten player in the league under Buckley. Brodie Grundy is a generational ruckman. Dayne Beams, Heritier Lumumba, Ben Reid, Taylor Adams, Steele Sidebottom are or were All Australian quality. Plus a host of very good players were in support along the way.
Scott Pendlebury (Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
And then we get to Darcy Moore.
It was a good coaching move to try Moore forward, as Buckley did against West Coast in Round 5, and it worked for a while too. He kicked a goal in the first term, presented well and took marks, and the Pies took a lead into quarter time.
But when the Eagles peeled off 11 of the next 12 goals through the second and third quarters, with ten of them to tall forwards, Moore had to go back.
When Gold Coast’s Josh Corbett, Ben King and Chris Burgess combined for 37 touches, 23 marks and seven goals on the weekend, in a game the Suns won by 24 points, Moore had to go back. He had to go back.
He is arguably the best key defender in the game, and is more than capable of preventing several of those marks and goals. Instead, he was up the other end touching the footy once a quarter.
It all just speaks to the current disarray under Buckley, which we explored last week.
As for the future, Collingwood only has one player on their list that has a Rising Star nomination in the last four years. It would have been three if not for the ruthless culling of Tom Phillips and Jayden Stephenson. Oops.
Buckley has been in charge for 212 matches, which places him fourth on the list of coaches to have lengthy tenure without delivering a flag. None of those above him started coaching this century.
Ted Whitten coached Footscray for 228 games, but in two separate stints (1957-66 and 1969-71).
Neale Daniher led Melbourne for 223 matches from 1998-2007. And while the Demons were renowned for their yo-yo performances under him, at least they improved in five different seasons under ‘The Reverend’.
Wally Carter has several stints at North Melbourne in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, for 220 games. It was a different time.
So if Buckley is not just extended, but even allowed to coach out the year, he will be the longest serving continuous senior coach without a premiership in the history of the game. And only one grand final in that time too.
Sorry, but you just don’t get to keep going. Common sense says it. 125 years of football says it. The fact the Pies are a rabble says it.
It’s over. All that’s left now is when the guillotine will come down.
MarkD
Guest
Now i know I'm a petty vindictive bloke when it comes to Nathan Buckley but watching him lose has been a source of great enjoyment over the years and the Lion's winning premierships at his expense was the creme dela creme of his playing days. His coaching career was the cherry on top Given his arrogance towards the Bears for daring to take him as their no 1 pick , followed by their 3 premierships would have, Should have been enough to teach him some humility . Alas, his handling of Stephenson and Treloar could have done with some humility but he chose instead to be the arogant sod he is , and tell a rather nasty mean lie in an attempt to move Treloar on ! He than lies about telling the lie. Seems he lacks integrity as well. It would be a brave club to give him the senior coach role but my love of loathing him knows no bounds and deep down i hope the misery continues .
Chris
Guest
Collingwood needs to rid itself of the Eddie McGuire Syndrome and all its sequelae. Reduce salaries by dumping the overrated and bring in a coach who is capable of developing youth so that salary cap issues don't rear their ugly head again. Mark Williams is such a coach and has the pedigree to succeed. 1999–2010 Port Adelaide 273 (150–121–2) 2008 Dream Team 1 (0–1–0) 2019–2020 Werribee 20 (12–8–0) He has coached his teams to 162 wins out of 294 games which is a success rate of 55.10% Whereas Buckley's figures are as follows:- 2012– Collingwood 212 (114–96-2) giving him a success rate of 53.77 %. There is not much separating them but Willaims has a flag and significantly contributed to Essendon's, Richmond's and Melbourne's successes. Bring the prodigal son back home!
Robert Harvey was made defensive coach this year I believe? If this is the case, he has made a poor fist of it in recent times with some pretty ordinary match ups in the backline. No doubt this has been compounded by the moving of Moore to the forward line and the loss of Howe. Hard to see Harvey staying next year irrespective of whether Buckley is appointed. I cannot imagine he will be lined up as an interim coach should Buckley go.
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
Stirling Cornes??
Chanon
Roar Rookie
The Roar headquarters must be run by an Adelaide football identity!
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
I wrote an in depth reply to your post, and it's dissapeared into the internet. I can't write it all again lol, to hard
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
I'm a bit different, I supported Essendon in the VFL and Port in the SANFL, I'm from Darwin, so at the time I didn't really understand it all. Now though it all seems petty from the SANFL, if they had of waited they would have got Norwood in, which would have been better. People say Port shafted the SANFL, but my observations since I've lived in Adelaide are that the SANFL has gone out of their way whenever they could to inconvenience Port, maybe due to the dominance Port had before my time, it was no wonder Port wanted out, if only to escape the clutches of the old timers in the SANFL You know what old baby boomers are like, stubborn and set in their ways, and the SANFL is the ultimate baby boomer club. One wonders how long it would have taken to get an SA club into the league if Port hadn't have initiated it, my bet is that it wouldn't have happened in the 90's, who knows if it would ever have happened, Stubbornes runs deep in the old families of SA, until recently this place was just a big country town stuck in the past. So in a way the Crows fans should be thanking the Power, but they won't.
Kevo
Roar Rookie
The quality of cattle is not really a relevant point. Most of those All Australians were at their peak under Mick, and then we're either getting older or getting injured in Buck's time. Still think Buckley could have handled that generational changing of the guard and passing on of the cultural baton much better. The club's a mess and the game plan terrible and the Treloar legacy and the Heritier Lumumba history hang over the club like dark shadows. It's not all Buckley's fault. I'd like to see a big and deep cultural shift in the club rather than focusing on the coach. But his assistants should go. They need to come clean about the whole salary cap fiasco and pierce that toxic boil once and for all, in regards to if Buckley had a large say in the player movement and the media circus. If he did, then I suspect he'd probably move on. Once trust and respect is gone the player culture is shot.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Good stuff mate!
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
Shoulda been Norwood every day of the week The whole joint seems plastic. At some stage in the next 20 years Port will resume their rightful place as the biggest club in SA, it's already happening.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Do you feel dirty that your team was pipped for a AFL license I would be personally!
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Hard to admire a team the SANFL put together like Frankenstein with a silver spoon
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
It’s easy to dislike each other over here, Crows get all the media, have all the radio hosts, Graham Cornes piling on every chance he gets etc. For them, we’re Port, the best club ever to come out of SA, that’s all they need. As much as I like a player of theirs here or there, I just can’t bring myself to like the team, their captain or coach…….ever. C’mon the Pear !!!!!!
DingoGray
Roar Guru
I'm not sure any other person not Named Nathan Buckley, would of last as long as he has at Collingwood with the results that he has achieved. He's basically over seen a turn over of two lists. No-one gets that sort of opportunity without Premierships. Well almost everyone. Brad Scott probably the only other one who I can remember having such a long tenure without Premiership success. Time for a new Voice, a new message. Bucks needs to go do something he's good at. Commentary- he's so well media trained. Would fit like a glove.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Heard the SANFL blocked your bid in 1990 and the Adelaide Crows took your place that’s another reason why the hatred still exists deep in your veins, what do you reckon Brendon ?
Benowa Boy
Roar Rookie
Having fond memories of journeyman Leigh Brown when at the Pies, I recall him saying that he wanted to coach on retirement. He is doing that by building a strong foundation, managing talented young players and staying focussed. He is a man with the ability to coach the Pies. Its time they used some imagination, a quality sorely lacking for 10 years.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Pyke is a good choice
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Not sure about Blake Caracalla he’s from Essendon if you go with Collingwood latest coach history Leigh Mathews from Hawthorn l reckon Collingwood place hawthorn identity on a high pedestal that’s why l reckon it will be either Clarko or understudy Mitchell
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
I have my money on Don Pyke or Blake Caracella for the next coaching gigs that come up. Voss maybe but hes a little bit like that bloke that follows every girl he meets around desperately asking for a date
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
Yeah I get that, he's a pretty good coach though, didn't he so some pretty good stuff with Port Melbourne. Maybe he should chuck his hat in the ring as well?