Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has addressed speculation that this season could be his last in charge of the club.
Speaking on Fox Footy's AFL 360, Buckley, who has held the top job at the Magpies for 10 seasons, admitted that he would have conversations with the club if "changes need to occur".
Buckley is out of contract at the end of the season as the Pies slumped to a 1-4 record ahead of their blockbuster ANZAC Day clash against Essendon.
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AFL 360 co-host and Herald Sun journalist Mark Robinson on Monday night questioned Buckley's desperation and his future at the club.
Check out the conversation between the two below.
Mark Robinson:ย Thereโs been a re-track for Collingwood, I think. Youโre bringing in a lot of kids, youโre trying say Keane down back, Darcy forward. A sort of semi-rebuild of your list is going on, whatever you want to call it. Youโre setting out on this path of doing this.
Do you desperately want to continue next year, and continue rebuilding this football club? Because itโs begun, itโs begun in the first five weeks this year. So itโs a real reset for the club and for yourself. Are you super keen to coach next year, or do you think thatโll be a decision that you and the club will have to make at the end of the year?
Nathan Buckley:ย I think itโs a discussion that clubs and coaches make at different points of their journeys. My journey with Collingwood has been intertwined for a long period of time; on the field, off the field.
I have a great passion for the club, I have a great passion for helping young men make their way through it, and weโve been challenged quite a bit on and off the field as an organisation. And I think weโre taking great strides towards being a better organisation - and we want to be a better team as well.
You look at our win-loss right now, weโre 1-4; Iโm accountable to that, I take responsibility to that, but I also donโt think itโs dire.
I think we have some youth to look forward to, but we also have some connection pieces that we havenโt been able to find at this point that Iโm pretty sure when we find them, we can be a very good team in the short-term. So itโs not just about next year or the year after. I do still think we can be a good team this year.
MR:ย Do you desperately want to coach this football club next year?
NB:ย Iโm desperately doing that right now, and doing it to the best of my ability.
MR:ย And next year?
NB:ย Well, Iโm contracted until the end of the year. So I understand where youโre trying to go with this.
MR:ย I just want to understand your passion. I know your passionโs strong. You shouldnโt have to beg for your job, and go on TV, but-
NB:ย -and I wonโt.
MR:ย Iโm just trying to get a handle on how desperate-
NB:ย I donโt have any desperation in me at all. Iโm really focused on what Iโm doing right now, and I believe that if Iโm doing that job to the best of my capacity, and the people around me are thriving and blossoming, then thatโs what a senior coachโs role is. If theyโre not, and if change needs to occur, well then Iโll be apart of having that conversation as a club.
(Graham) Wrightyโs been in the chair now for 11 weeks, and he knows the game pretty well, and Iโm pretty sure he brings fresh eyes to have a look at hat. I value his opinion and his perspective. Our CEOโs been there for three or four years, you know, weโve got a fairly established leadership group in the playing group and our coaching panel is largely established.
So thereโs enough fresh ideas there, but weโve just got to execute. If you donโt win, if you donโt perform well on the weekend or over a period of time, a player has selection feedback. I think that happens for us (coaches) on a little bit longer timeline, but it happens.
"Do you desperately want to coach this football club next year?"
STORY from #AFL360: https://t.co/fypNGPR9GK pic.twitter.com/SKP8NB1oa9
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) April 19, 2021
Collingwood has slumped to 16th on the AFL ladder after five rounds, coning off a tumultuous off-season that included the 'Do Better Report', Eddie McGuire's resignation and notable player exits.
After their ANZAC Day clash, Collingwood face the undermanned Gold Coast and the winless Kangaroos in a potentially-career defining month for the Magpies coach.
