’Stopped taking orders’: Heritier Lumumba rejects Nathan Buckley’s leaked audio request

Heritier Lumumba says he is no longer “taking orders” from Nathan Buckley after the ex-Pies coach responded to leaked audio of the pair.

Heritier Lumumba and Nathan Buckley's broken relationship has been laid bare.

Heritier Lumumba has rejected Nathan Buckley’s latest suggestion as the former Collingwood star doubled down on criticism of how his old AFL club handled allegations of racism.

On Tuesday Lumumba leaked audio of a meeting with Nathan Buckley from 2014, where the ex-Magpies coach accuses him of throwing then-club President Eddie McGuire “under the bus”.

The audio, which comes from Lumumba’s final tumultuous year with Collingwood, was shared to his Twitter account and verifies the 35-year-old’s claim that Buckley was critical of him for condemning McGuire’s infamous King Kong gaffe relating to Swans superstar Adam Goodes.

Lumumba alleges club officials gave him the “green light” to respond to McGuire’s comments, but says Collingwood mistakenly thought he was going to support the president.

“They actually thought I was going to support Eddie in some way, shape or form and you know, as a result of that, I was punished for the remainder of my time at Collingwood for that,” Lumumba claimed to ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday morning.

“And that’s what you will see or hear in the recordings, the belief that I threw Eddie under the bus and that I was the problem.”

Buckley immediately replied to Lumumba’s post of the leaked audio on Twitter on Wednesday.

“Heritier, I offer you the opportunity to put a full and uncut version of our conversations on public record so as to provide context to our conversations and the support that was provided to you above and beyond that which could be reasonably expected in the circumstances,” Buckley wrote.

Lumumba was asked about Buckley’s offer to release recordings in full, before he revealed why he wouldn’t be “taking orders” from his former coach.

Heritier Lumumba has made serious allegations against Collingwood Pic: Michael Klein

“I have not released the full versions because it would be countless hours and what I would say to Nathan Buckley is that this is not a football match,” Lumumba told the ABC.

“I stopped taking orders from Nathan Buckley a very long time ago. So I will share my truth as I see fit.

“This has been a nine-year history and I think what prompted me is the time that has elapsed, the time that I have given him to just own the truth and own the facts of the matter.

“Instead what he has done is undermine my truth, undermine the reality of what took place.

“I just could not accept that anymore. I gave more than ample time, it’s been more than eight years since some of these incidents happened.

“He has got a large platform and he has been undermining the facts and it was just intolerable for me and I had to do what I had to do.”

The audio leak comes after Lumumba levelled a series of new allegations of misconduct at his former club, including the use of a pornographic image in a 2014 team meeting by an assistant coach.

Lumumba has spoken out repeatedly over an alleged racist culture he says existed at Collingwood during his time with the club. He says there was a culture of “racist jokes” and alleges he was referred to as “Chimp” by teammates.

Lumumba, Leon Davis and Andrew Krakouer formally severed ties completely with the club last month over its handling of allegations of racism.

Buckley responded to Lumumba’s claims on radio on Monday morning on SEN, saying: “I’m not going to be drawn into detail and I’m not going to say that Heritier’s right here, wrong here because that is his perspective of the truth.

“But there are other versions of the truth that are a long way away from the way that he perceives it.

“Mine is very different from what he presents, but the context becomes important and the whole idea of the process is to have open dialogue, respectful dialogue so that you can actually move forward in a positive way.

Nathan Buckley has defended his handling of the situation. Pic: Michael Klein

“It seems that Heritier doesn’t really want to move forward unless, I don’t know, heads need to roll. I don’t know exactly what he’s looking for or what his requirements are to feel like he has been heard.

“He has been apologised to – I’ve apologised to him; the club has apologised to him … for the environment that he’s been in – and not just Heritier – but the other Indigenous players that have come through.

“I haven’t been perfect as a leader. I haven’t been perfect as a person.

“I consciously thought of this – I put my head on the pillow last night and I slept well because I know that I have owned my imperfections and I’ve owned the things that I’m responsible for.

“My conscience is clear in that regard – it doesn’t mean I’ve been perfect, it doesn’t mean I couldn’t have done things better – but I’m open-minded to continue to learn and I think the club is as well.”