Nathan Buckley could be perfect fit for AFL role if his circumstances change at Collingwood, writes Jon Ralph

COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley has been touted as a left-field option to join the AFL executive and he ticks every box, writes JON RALPH.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has the qualities that the AFL would value. Picture: Getty Images

THE conga line of punters who flock to talkback radio demanding AFL House “leave the game alone” have had a key victory.

Gillon McLachlan was adamant on the weekend that AFL supporters would notice not a single difference in how the game is played or run with the departure of his head of football, Simon Lethlean.

He is right to a point, given we have a judiciary that runs itself, a set of rules that do not change mid-season and a talented team behind the scenes running football.

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But to lose a head of football five months into his role — just as he was getting a handle on his massive portfolio — will still have a significant effect.

As McLachlan said, Lethlean’s key role was to look at the big picture — putting his stamp on the way the game is played and evolves.

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The one guarantee if the league appoints a new head of footy in September or October is he won’t want to rock the boat.

Whoever that person is, they will be from outside the AFL and will likely hasten slowly as they get their bearings.

So potentially changes that should be made — restrict interchange further, minimise footy’s ruck and maul — might wait a year.

Lethlean this month told the Herald Sun the AFL was to again review interchange this year after two years at a cap of 90.

Simon Lethlean resigned as AFL football operations manager last week. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

The league continues to consider solutions for congestion, be it starting points on grounds or a last-touch free kick.

Lethlean had already shown himself to be an interventionist by appealing an AFL tribunal decision for the first time in history.

Now the next bloke in has to start all over again.

Any way you cut it, three separate heads of football in the AFL within six months is a disaster.

Acting head of football Andrew Dillon, already the AFL’s legal counsel, now becomes the clear second in charge at AFL House, which creates an opportunity for an ambitious football administrator.

McLachlan is 39 months in and going nowhere and Dillon is a widely respected star administrator.

The chance is there for a new administrator who makes a success of the footy role to quickly rise up the ranks inside AFL House.

Collingwood president Eddie Maguire watches training with coach Nathan Buckley at Gosch's Paddock. Picture: Getty Images

Nathan Buckley has already been thrown up as a left-field option, which he must be given he currently has a job coaching Collingwood.

But if events change it is hard to see how he doesn’t tick every box the AFL would require.

He has a stunning array of AFL contacts built through a lifetime in footy, he is process-driven, he has a feel for the game and its tactics, he is a former laws of the game member, and he is widely respected.

And he is a man of unquestioned integrity — a quality you would think might be highly prized inside AFL House given the events of the past two weeks.

For Buckley it doesn’t hurt to be in demand, either, at a time when Collingwood’s powerbrokers have six weeks to decide his fate.