Nathan Buckley is the AFL’s Bill Murray in Groundhog Day after another Hawthorn humbling

NATHAN Buckley might believe people are “always” waiting for him to fail, but his side doesn’t give us any reason to think otherwise after another disappointing loss and Tom Mitchell masterclass.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley.

NATHAN Buckley might believe people are “always” waiting for him to fail, but his side doesn’t give us any reason to think otherwise.

That might sound harsh, but we can only go on the evidence in front of us and that evidence had a raging sense of deja vu about it in Saturday night’s 34-point loss to Hawthorn.

As it stands, Buckley is the AFL’s Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.

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An injury list containing some of his most exciting players, a forward line that struggles to capitalise, a glut of kicking clangers and a season-opening defeat for the third straight year.

Granted, Buckley’s future has had a bigger run in the media than Cliffy Young ever produced, but at the moment there’s a sad familiarity about Collingwood.

That sameness includes the opposition. In Round 9 last year, Tom Mitchell became only the seventh player in history to gather 50 possessions when these sides met at the same ground.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley during the loss to Hawthorn.

But after a game the Pies won, Buckley said Mitchell won the ball “by stealth” and argued he wasn’t damaging - comments that Alastair Clarkson described as “pretty ballsy”.

Less than 12 months later, Mitchell had it 54 times against the same opponent to set a new VFL/AFL record for most disposals in a game.

Again with no tag, Mitchell generated a game-high 727m gained to go with a game-high nine clearances and eight inside 50s.

“It’s not something you go into a game aiming to do ... but we had a strong win so I’m pretty happy,” Mitchell said afterwards.

There was a difference in class between these two sides and nowhere was it more obvious than in the respective forward lines.

The ongoing source of frustration for those in black and white is that the Pies show the want and the desire, but they don’t have the skill to frank it.

Tom Mitchell racked up 54 disposals against Collingwood. Picture: Michael Klein

A dejected Ben Reid and Steele Sidebottom after the loss to Hawthorn.

From 16 inside 50s in the second quarter they only kicked three goals. Hawthorn went in 17 times in the same term for 6.3.

And when the Pies were pushing in the last quarter, their 19 entries yielded a horrific 2.7. Again, in the same period, the Hawks kicked 2.2 from only nine entries.

That hurts.

Jamie Elliott, Alex Fasolo, Daniel Wells and Jordan De Goey were among those watching from the stands. That’s a lot of X-factor not playing and we don’t want this to be a total Pies bashing.

Because A) It’s Round 1 B) Sam Murray, Jaidyn Stephenson and Ben Crocker showed a bit and C) We need to talk about the side that beat them.

Here’s a newsflash - the Hawks are still pretty darn good.

Cyril Rioli hasn’t missed a beat, with all those cat-like smothers, tackles and taps in full effect. The antithesis of Collingwood, he was again small on numbers, but big on damage.

Cyril Rioli celebrates his goal in the third quarter. Picture: Michael Klein

James Sicily might be the All-Australian centre half-back at seasons end. He cruised around the backline like a 1960s Chevy Impala, plucking balls out of the sky and full of poise under pressure.

A finally fit Jaeger O’Meara might just be the player everyone thought he would be. His 27 possessions were highlighted by five centre clearances.

Jack Gunston once again looks comfortable playing forward, where Luke Bruest (four goals) and Shaun Burgoyne (two) were clinical.

But it’s the Collingwood storyline that again promises to roll on this year. It’s crazy to think that a Round 1 win could have eased some pressure, but that’s the landscape when you’re coaching Collingwood.

And Greater Western Sydney come to town next week.

BEST

Hawthorn: T.Mitchell, J.Sicily, J.O’Meara, J.Gunston, L.Bruest, I.Smith, S.Burgoyne

Collingwood: S.Sidebottom, S.Pendlebury, A.Treloar, J.Thomas

VOTES

3. Tom Mitchell (Haw)

2. James Sicily (Haw)

1. Jaeger O’Meara (Haw)