Nathan Buckley says 2017 was his most enjoyable time since assuming Pies coaching role

NATHAN Buckley’s position was a source of constant debate last year but the Pies legend survived. And now he says the tumultuous season was his most enjoyable as Collingwood coach.

NATHAN Buckley says the final dramatic months of the 2017 season were the most enjoyable times of his coaching career.

Buckley’s six-year coaching career has been punctuated by controversy, no more so than last year when at times he seemed certain to be sacked.

The Pies won two of their first eight games, won three in a row, then after a four-game losing streak extracted four wins and a draw from their final seven matches.

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Buckley was eventually handed a new two-year deal after a football review by Geoff Walsh and said he still loved senior coaching.

Fun times ... Nathan Buckley with Eddie McGuire as the club announced the coach’s contract extension. Pic: Getty Images

Asked whether he enjoyed coaching last year, he said: “You really only judge that in retrospect. If I told you the second half of last year was my most enjoyable time as coach, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to a lot of people.

“But it was. You turn back inside to the connections inside the club and that was an important realisation for me.

“Coaching is helping people to be better. Sometimes we’re actually coaching the people and their relationships outside of footy.

“We’re a strong club and we’re a good club and we want to be great and there’s a bit of work to do but a lot of that happens outside the bright lights.”

Collingwood’s players remained staunch behind Buckley, who said the review’s positives were about those connections with players.

Buckley was under pressure throughout 2017. Pic: AAP

“(It was) largely about relationships. It’s really easy to listen to the external stories. The only people in control of our stories is us,” he said in a Fox Footy interview to air during Thursday night’s clash against GWS.

“The challenge for us is to understand our actions will define us and tell our story.”

Buckley believes the Pies have a strength in two ruckmen who can also play forward, hopeful the Pies midfield-forward connection will click this year.

“We were able to get the ball inside 50 and our contested possession was pretty good (last year),’’ he said.

Magpies fans were right behind the coach. Pic: AAP

“We weren’t able to maximise scoring from it or field possession. We think we have got a competitive advantage with Brodie (Grundy) and Mason (Cox) as ruckman that can swap into the forward line.

“We think they’ll give us more direction in our offence. We need to get our forward mix right.”

Though Daniel Wells was again battling achilles issues after a strong pre-season, Buckley said the players held each other accountable after he returned in poor shape last year.

“He’s been around for a while and he knows what’s expected of him,” he said.

“The players are driving each other. Their expectations are high and they are driving the standards and expectations.

“He’d like to be fitter for more games and play more games this season than last.”