Eastern league: Steve Buckle opens up on Doncaster East exit, coaching future
Could one of local footy’s most successful coaches of the past decade pop up elsewhere? Steve Buckle reveals his future in the game.
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He’s one of suburban football’s most successful coaches of the past decade – and he’s now a free agent.
But outgoing Doncaster East mentor Steve Buckle says he won’t rush a return to the coaches box – if he returns at all – following his exit from Zerbes Reserve.
The Lions parted ways with Buckle last week, after an eight-year tenure which took in five finals series, four grand finals, two premierships – and promotion to the Eastern league’s top division for the first time in club history.
He finishes at Zerbes Reserve with a win-loss record of 84-42 from 126 matches – a winning percentage of 66.6, after previously leading Heathmont to the 2011 Division 4 flag.
The triple Eastern league premiership coach said Doncaster East had been “a massive part of my life” after steering the club from 2014-2021, but stopped short of completely ruling out a return to coaching.
“Thinking about coaching anywhere else at this stage is probably the furthest thing from my mind … I couldn’t see myself doing anything against Doncaster East in the immediate future,” Buckle said.
“It’s all pretty raw and all I can think about is that footy club and how much it’s meant to me and my family … all I can think about is supporting the club and the boys with whatever they do next.
“That’s where the head’s at at the moment, but you never say never … if the right (coaching) fit came along, then possibly down the track.”
Buckle said while he was keen to continue at the Lions next season, he understood the tough decision made by close friend and club president Peter Sowersby along with the board.
Sowersby said the decision stemmed from the club needing a “new voice” after eight years.
“Obviously being close mates with all of them it was always going to be a hard decision,” Buckle said.
“It’s sad, but we’re all realists (that) it had to come to an end at some stage and I agree with their thinking … I would have thought the same – when’s too long enough? Do the boys need another voice? Am I hampering some of their development as well by not having a new coach?
“All I want for them is to have the best environment possible and if that means that’s without me, I’m comfortable with that as sad as it is.
“I would have loved to have kept coaching but at some stage it had to come to an end … I fully respect and support that decision as well.”
The only regret? The coronavirus crisis putting paid to the Lions’ debut Premier Division season in 2020 with no football played, followed by a stop-start season in ‘21 where the club could only play nine matches.
“To be perfectly clear, (I’m) definitely not (cheated) from the club’s perspective. From a COVID point of view, I would have loved to have had a clean run at it and get the boys to have had a clean run at it too, to see where they could’ve gone without all the interruptions,” Buckle said.
But the challenge of developing a playing group – as he did with Doncaster East and Heathmont – is one Buckle said he could warm to again in the future.
“If I did entertain the thought (of coaching again), I think it would be doing what I’ve done in the past and grabbing a club that I see some upside to with a good junior program and try to develop them and bringing them through the ranks. I think I prefer that challenge,” Buckle said.
And coaching Doncaster East into the Premier Division sits top among the list of achievements across the past eight years. The Lions had managed just one flag in the 20 years prior to Buckle’s arrival, but claimed back-to-back flags for the first time in the club’s history across 2018-19.
“Definitely getting them to where they aspired to be is the proudest achievement,” Buckle said.
“That and being able to make them such a close-knit group ... it’s like a club I’ve never experienced before.
“The culture we built where we basically lived in each other’s pockets and that wasn’t forced, it just became the norm and to hopefully leave that legacy, I hope that’s what I’ve left.
“I hope I’ve left them in a better place, not just in a different division, but hopefully taught players not just in footy, but life lessons along the way.”
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