Nathan Buckley has conceded he has no relationship with former coach Mick Malthouse.
A candid Buckley acknowledged he is perceived as "an enemy' by Malthouse after the publicised succession plan.
โMick and I donโt get on,โ Buckley said on 1116 SEN.ย
โHe doesnโt want to know about me. I am now an enemy in his eyes. He will rewrite history to make sure that was always the case.
โBut I think I understand Mick. He was a young kid scrapping to put that next meal on the plate and that drove him. That was his attitude through his whole life.
โI think understanding that, I can see the positive in who he is and what he has been able to do, let alone the numbers.
โSo, we've just got to humanise this, just see people for who they are, respect them for who they are and understand them for who they are.
โI think we will be better off in a bigger sense as much as in our personal dealings.โ
Buckley's comments come a day after Malthouse was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
Malthouse said yesterday that he expected to stay at the Magpies as coaching director after Buckley took over as senior coach.
โThe idea was to have a coaches' director, but he didn't want me in the box, he didn't want me on the bench and he didn't want me talking to his coaches,โ he told the AFL website.
โSo it's very hard to be coaching director if you can't have access to the coaches. I thought if that's the way he wants it... I respect the coach and what he wants to do.
โYou don't want to be encumbered by something you don't want, so it was best for me to leave.โ
