AFL 2021: Collingwood can still play finals says new president Mark Korda
New Collingwood president Mark Korda hasn’t given up on finals this season as he sheds light on the process to review Nathan Buckley’s contract.
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New Collingwood president Mark Korda says the club is not in crisis and can still play finals, despite its worst start to a season since 2005.
Korda has also revealed he had breakfast with Magpies’ footy boss Graham Wright on Monday morning, when he “emphasised” the club was “relying” on Wright “to run the process” surrounding coach Nathan Buckley’s future.
On making the finals, Korda said: “We hope to make finals. If we had have won (on Sunday) we would’ve been only one game out of the eight, so we still mathematically can make it … We hope so”.
The freshly-minted Magpies president has also attempted to play down the prospect of a Jeff Browne-led coup.
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On his post-Anzac Day breakfast with Wright, Korda said: “Graham is a very, very experienced football (manager) and we all trust his experience.”
Korda denied the uncertainty over Buckley’s future was affecting the players.
“I’ve talked to Bucks and Graham Wright and we genuinely don’t believe it has an effect on the playing group,” he said.
Asked if he had a preference about Buckley staying on, Korda said: “We should say, let’s go through the process … Do I think Nathan’s a very good coach and a great person? Yes.”
Korda denied it was “crisis time” for Collingwood.
“Clearly we’d rather be better than one (win) and five (losses), but we’ve been around for 129 years and we’ve survived,” he said.
“We need to play better, we were right in the match yesterday, we were one point in front during the last quarter but we just couldn’t finish off.
“Our younger players got very tired at the end.”
Korda also said that he would catch up with potential rival, ex-Channel 9 boss Browne, over the next week or two.
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Some influential Collingwood people including powerful player agent Craig Kelly and former Pies solicitor Francis Galbally were in Browne’s corner for the presidency, but Korda said “we finished our process on Sunday.”.
“I understand Jeff may have put up his on Monday, so the process was finished,” he said.
“If Jeff wants to be involved in the club, we’re more than happy to (talk).
“Jeff will only do what’s in the best interests of Collingwood Football Club.”
Asked if he could work with Browne, Korda said: “Everybody who loves Collingwood will work in Collingwood’s best interests.”
Korda was satisfied that he and the club were doing their part in reaching out to former player Heritier Lumumba, whose claims about racism led to the explosive report that cost Eddie McGuire his job as president.
“We’re working through that at the moment, but I think it’s fair to say that he (Lumumba) was very happy that we reached out,” he said.
“Our report talks to structural racism, that exists in the world, exists in Australia, exists in the AFL, exists in Collingwood.
“It’s fair to say most of us don’t have a very good understanding of these complex issues.
“Are we going to do something about it, absolutely.
“With Lumumba and all of our past players … we will build our processes., so reaching out is only one small step in a long journey that we’re on at the present time.”
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Originally published as AFL 2021: Collingwood can still play finals says new president Mark Korda
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