Nathan Buckley quietly building his Collingwood and it paid dividends this trade period

WOULD the messiah effect work? The Nathan Buckley is seemingly taking hold at Collingwood after a successful trade period, writes Mark Robinson.

AFL Round 17 - Western Bulldogs v Collingwood at Etihad Stadium, Coach Nathan Buckley leaves the 3/4 time huddle. Melbourne. 26th July 2015. Picture: Colleen Petch.

I DON’T know too much about Nathan Buckley, which might surprise because I saw him every Monday night for 26 weeks.

The truth is Buckley generally arrives after AFL360 has started and leaves after his usual riveting segment with Paul Roos.

What I do know is he’s one of the more captivating, combative, considered and assured people in football. That, and he’s got a good soul. He’s got the right values, family values, and if you listen intently to what he has to say, there’s a goodness which underpins his verbal expression.

Yes, he can answer a question in 55 words when it can be answered in 15, but the wait is mostly always worth it.

That he’s a coach makes him all more interesting.

That he’s coach of Collingwood makes him doubly so.

Similar to everyone, I have observed from afar as Buckley began his coaching career and have wondered, probably similar to everyone, if he would make it a successful senior coach, would the messiah effect would work.

Three clubs attempted it, Michael Voss at Brisbane, James Hird at Essendon and Buckley at Collingwood. The first two didn’t survive.

Nathan Buckley’s time as Collingwood coach has been rocky. Picture: Colleen Petch

Buckley probably hates it when we go back to the end of 2011 when he replaced Mick Malthouse, but unfortunately that period will always be part of the Buckley coaching narrative.

They were challenging days.

Buckley replaced Mick, Mick said the players wanted to sign a petition to keep him, Mick left in a huff and soon enough Buckley took control of a club seemingly pulling in different directions.

It led to tough decisions being made on players, namely the shipping off of Heath Shaw. The others - Krakouer, Jolly, Didak, Ball, Davis, Thomas, Lumumba et al - were shot, or disillusioned and those decisions were largely expected.

Buckley took some hits, though. Jolly called him a coward. Shaw said he and Buckley weren’t friends. Thomas scurried off to be with Mick at Carlton. Beams fled. Lumumba told him to get effed and it’s known Didak thought he had another year in him.

The questions were asked: Did Buckley have the players? Was his personality conducive to being a coach?

Buckley, however, had a vision.

He wanted to change the culture of Collingwood. Make of it what you will, but in 2013, it was revealed a group of Collingwood players had self-reported for illicit drug use. That was under Buckley’s watch.

In that year, he also introduced Leading Teams to empower the players.

Drugs and Leading Teams aren’t bedfellows. In a sense, it was the new world colliding with the old and while some players were under scrutiny, so was Buckley, initially because of the rumours about some players being at odds with the coach.

Those rumours died, however, as Buckley set about massive change to personnel.

In doing so, the scrutiny left the coach-player relationships and landed on the coach-team performance.

In 2013, the Pies were beaten in the elimination final by Port Adelaide which was a line in the sand for Buckley. “The club has got to ask itself questions. We’ve got to ask if we’re making the right decisions in regards to culture and environment, personnel, game plan, coaching staff etc,” he said.

In 2014, the Pies turned 8-3, came home 3-8 and finished 11th.

This year, they turned 8-3 again, came home 3-8 and finished 12th.

Next year will be massive whatever direction the team takes.

Nathan Buckley chats to Travis Varcoe.

The results will be the results, but that’s not the point as we end a tumultuous trading period.

While there were threads of revolt as Buckley dismantled the Malthouse-era team, there is absolutely a thread of positivity as Buckley continues to build his team.

The three players traded into Collingwood in recent days have cited Buckley as one of the main reasons why they wanted to play for the Magpies.

We’ll call it the Buckley Factor.

It was able to convince Adam Treloar to chose Collingwood over Richmond. “The relationship I have with Nathan Buckley ... he coached me back in Under-16s, he was just great, his professionalism ... I can’t wait to work with him again and get started.”

When it was revealed the Treloar deal was done. Buckley sent a tweet to Treloar. “Patience is a virtue @AdamTreloar. Welcome to the club. #kudos’’. Treloar tweeted back a host of black and white circles and a thumbs up. All he left out were the love hearts.

Jeremy Howe sounded in love. He turned down North Melbourne and Gold Coast - and the Suns’ offer was for significantly more money - and opted for Collingwood.

He grew up barracking for Collingwood and he idolised Buckley and even carried a Buckley signature in his wallet, which he was given to him when was 13-years-old. “Playing under him will be pretty exciting,’’ he said.

James Aish wouldn’t take no for an answer. He wanted to play for Collingwood and no one else.

“There were a few main reasons,’’ he said. “Catching up with Bucks, he was awesome. I have a lot of respect for him ... the way he talked to me about my footy, where he sees me and where my development will come, gave me a lot of respect and excitement about what I can do in the next couple of years.’’

They are feelgood stories.

Nathan Freeman wanting out is a concern, but overall the Buckley Factor is as strong as its been at Collingwood.

Whether that leads to a contract extension being announced before next season even starts is not known.

The gut feel says yes because the Magpies powerbrokers are pretty bullish about Bucks and their list.

Originally published as Nathan Buckley quietly building his Collingwood and it paid dividends this trade period