Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley slams his side’s performance against Richmond

COLLINGWOOD delivered its “worst three quarters that we’ve played all year” Friday night, with coach Nathan Buckley left ropeable.

Nathan Buckley. Picture: Mark Dadswell

COLLINGWOOD delivered its “worst three quarters that we’ve played all year” Friday night, with coach Nathan Buckley left ropeable after a complete dissolution of his team’s defence.

The Magpies led four goals to the Tigers’ no score before things went south for Buckley’s men, who eventually fell 15 points short of Richmond at the MCG.

“Our offence and our connection forward were good — contested ball clearance was in the green (in the first 10 minutes),” he said.

“And then we proceeded to play the worst three quarters that we’ve played all year and we were still two points up with eight minutes to play.

Nathan Buckley was disappointed with his team’s effort against Richmond. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

“It was a disappointing night all round, and there were probably a couple of individuals that played really well.”

Buckley said Collingwood simply allowed the Tigers to run rampant with the ball, and by allowing that to happen, they only made their own job harder — particularly in defence.

But while they were presented with exactly what they expected from the Tigers, Buckley’s charges simply failed to counter it.

MATCH REPORT: UNDER FIRE TIGERS RESPOND WITH STATEMENT WIN

“Richmond (was) able to move the ball far too easily,” he said.

“It’s something we’ve done particularly well ever since the bye, and it’s part of the reason that we’ve been more competitive. That was the most disappointing part.

“They moved the ball exactly how we thought they would. They were clean and slick, especially through the back. Their defenders had ridiculous numbers of marks and kicks and touches.

“Our finish, first, to be able to win one-on-ones was poor in the front half. We couldn’t win a ball at ground level, and then our complete inability to pressure their backs on the way out was probably the biggest challenge that we had. It’s pretty hard to win games against an opposition that wants to kick it around if you can’t get that right.”

Scott Pendlebury finished Friday’s match on the bench with an ankle injury.

Captain Scott Pendlebury was the biggest casualty in the loss, sitting out the last 20 minutes of the game after suffering an ankle injury in the final term.

“It was sore, which indicates to me that there is something amiss,” Buckley said.

“We’ll find out more in the next couple of days.”

Buckley has been left wishing he could turn the clock back to the post-bye form his side showed against the likes of Carlton and Greater Western Sydney.

“We do want to finish the season off strongly,” he said.

“We want to see more of our post-bye, positive form and less of what we saw for the most part of tonight.”

Originally published as Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley slams his side’s performance against Richmond