Following Collingwood's elimination finals win over West Coast, former recruiter Matt Rendell told SEN's Dwayne's World that Nathan Buckley sent him a bold as brass text message.
It comes after Rendell blasted Collingwood's game plan during the week, stating the club had become too defensive orientated.
Rendell was taken aback by Buckleys text message, saying "it was the "first time [he has] heard from anyone since [he] left."
The former Pies recruiter recalled how he got the message just minutes after Collingwood's one-point win against the Eagles in Perth on Monday's show of SENโs Dwayneโs World
โIโm sitting there (on Saturday) and had a few wines by the end of the game watching two games of footy in a row and I got a text message from (Nathan) Buckley at half-past-11 saying, โthat was for you mateโ with a thumbs up."
โSo, I said, โthanks for thatโ and then gave him some more advice for this weekโs game against Geelong.
โI think heโs had that text ready to go. He must have walked out of the press conference and sent it straight away.
โIt was hilarious when I got that, and I had a laugh.โ
.@BasilZempilas speaks with Nathan Buckley after the game! pic.twitter.com/37jUwZ0dNE
— 7AFL (@7AFL) October 3, 2020
Rendell also said he was very pleased with Collingwood's attacking style of football, reaffirming his belief that the team can get back to the way they were playing in 2018.
โIt took all of one minute (of the game on the weekend) to realise they had completely changed their tact and I said at the time that the Eagles wouldnโt expect it and they didnโt know how to handle it,โ he said.
โThey kept (Mason) Cox deep in the goal square which they shouldโve been doing all the time because he attracts a lot of the attention and allows the rest of the forward line to get opened up.
โThose (forwards) who had gone backwards all looked like they were back to their 2018 best even though (Jordan) De Goey was well held, but he even kicked two crucial goals.
โI was thinking about it afterwards, maybe Collingwood has been doing rope-a-dope the whole year and then when theyโve got to the finals, theyโve started to attack the game.โ
Nathan Buckley joins #AFL360 after the Magpiesโ epic EF win over the Eagles.
โWeโre in it for the long haul, we didnโt set ourselves to leave Perth and continue our season, weโve set ourselves to go all the way.โ pic.twitter.com/n97mIH8TqP
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) October 5, 2020