Nathan Buckley says he doesn’t trust media and finds door stopping players ‘cringe worthy’

COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley isn’t happy with aspects of reporting in the AFL, urging the media to stop a specific practice that he says is “disrespectful”. SEE BUCKS SPEAK

Nathan Buckley speaks to the media at the Holden Centre earlier this season. Picture: Getty Images

COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley has taken aim at the media, saying he doesn’t trust that his message will be accurately portrayed.

In a season where Buckley’s future has been a constant discussion, the Pies coach on Monday night was involved in a passionate debate about the media’s role in the AFL.

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Buckley took up the subject after Channel 9 aired last week’s doorstep interview with Western Bulldogs defender Jason Johannisen.

Buckley said the practice of doorstopping players was “distasteful” and “disrespectful”, and something he found “cringe worthy”.

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The Pies coach argued the practice of doorstopping had been created by intense competition between rival television networks — with each trying to one-up the other — rather than media having limited access to the game’s stars.

“(They say) ‘have a look at this uncomfortable player’ who’s been asked a question that he really doesn’t want to answer at this point,” Buckley said on Footy Classified.

“If we want him to answer it, we’ll put him up.”

Bucks and @craighutchy have gone head-to-head over doorstops, and the role of the media. #9FootyClassified pic.twitter.com/AP4heh84bi

— Footy Classified (@FootyClassified) June 19, 2017

That response led to discussion on just how accessible it was for media to speak to players.

Buckley said he felt his club and its players were “very accessible ... on our terms, not on yours”.

Asked if his view was a result of his own “paranoia” about the media, Buckley said the media’s reporting didn’t always reflect his intended message.

“I don’t think the media can be trusted with information,” Buckley said.

“I can talk for 10 minutes, 12 minutes in a press conference and I know the line that will be used, and it won’t be representative of what I’ve said in the press conference ... the little grabs that you (media) use are not always representative of reality.

“And the media is responsible for how you use those grabs and how you create reality because it’s very far away from where it actually sits.”

Nathan Buckley speaks to the media at the Holden Centre earlier this season. Picture: Getty Images

Buckley said when the media doorstopped a player, such as Johannisen, it “looks like TMZ”.

“He is not on Bulldogs time. He has clocked out when he was walked out the back door, he has clocked out. I think that is an encroachment on his private and personal time,” Buckley said.

“What do you get out of those occasions? I think they are cringe worthy when you doorstop a player or a coach.

“I feel uncomfortable when someone tries to door stop me. It is not right, don’t do it.

... I find it distasteful, disrespectful. I don’t mind when a guy comes “do you mind if we get a grab”, and I go ‘no’.”