You can’t mention the Collingwood Football Club without thinking about Nathan Buckley.
From player to coach, Buckley has done it all for the black and white.
On Sunday afternoon, the Magpies legend will coach his 200th AFL game as he hunts an elusive premiership.
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Sidebottom leaves Pie’s hub
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It has been a tough slog since taking over from Mick Malthouse in the 2011 off-season.
A major revamp in the playing list led to multiple down seasons, with the Pies finishing in 11th, 12th, 12th and 13th between 2014 and 2017.
It led to Buckley nearly losing his job, with Damien Hardwick’s success in 2017 – after Richmond’s mellow years – undoubtably playing a part in the Pies sticking with the club great.
“I disagreed with the appointment of Nathan. I thought they should’ve reappointed Mick,” Hawthorn legend Dermott Brereton explained on Fox Footy’s Saturday Countdown.
“But discount that, since then they deliberately closed their own window down to rebuild that team. Very rare do you see a team that starts on the decline, that is going down. Very rare do you see that coach go right through the other side.
“They let go some very good players and it was on the back of I’m paraphrasing – ‘culture’.
Bucks is still yet to win a Grand Final as a player or coach. Photo: Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images.Source: Getty Images
“They said they wanted a better culture. If you let good players walk out of your club you’re not giving them the best chance to win. You can’t dispute that. They are have re-resigned and recruited beautifully.
“Adams, Treloar, Howe. He (Howe) has became one of the best intercept defenders. Very rare a coach takes them all the way up to the top.
“You can say, does he need a premiership? You can say, yes. But he got them to a Grand Final and if not for the judgement of one bloke, Jeremy McGovern, they would’ve won it.”
Since a number of underperforming years, the Pies have finished in the top four, going narrowly close to winning the 2018 AFL Grand Final.
Having spent 25 years at Collingwood, there hasn’t been a flag for Buckley as a player or coach.
Pie brutally knocked out
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But David King believes his feats at the club can’t be solely judged on the biggest event of the year.
“I think if you are judging it on premierships, there are going to be a lot of failed coaches,” said.
“(That means) 90 per cent of coaches are going to fail. it has got to be clearer than that. I think it is the hardest thing to get right.”
Herald Sun chief AFL writer and AFL 360 co-host Mark Robinson can see Buckley coaching for the at least the next five or six years at the club.
“Things have to fall apart with a relatively full list for him not to get another contract,” Brereton added.
Buckley cleared for fist bump
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Season 2020 might not be tracking as fans expected.
But a win over Carlton will put Collingwood at 8-1-5, keeping them alive for a premiership tilt.
While the Pies are far from premiership favourites, as past seasons have shown, you’d be brave to write them off as a pretender.
