Nathan Buckley says he wants to continue coaching Collingwood beyond this year

Collingwood’s stuttering start to the season has ramped up speculation about Nathan Buckley’s future. And now the coach has opened up about his plans.

Is Nathan Buckley coming to the end of his time in charge of Collingwood?

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says he wants to continue coaching the club beyond this year but will wait until the back half of the season to discuss his future.

The 1-5 Magpies have made a poor start to the season and will attempt to revive their slim finals hopes in a must-win clash against Gold Coast on Saturday at the MCG.

Collingwood’s stuttering start to the new season has ramped up speculation about Buckley’s future but the out-of-contract senior coach said he had no plans to vacate the top job just yet.

He said formal discussions on his future would begin about “two-thirds” into the season.

“Do I want to continue? The short answer is yes,” Buckley said.

“Do I want to coach? Yes. (Beyond this year?). Yes. (At this cub?) Yes.

“But as we have been really consistent with, and there still comes questions with it, we will have that conversation in the back half of the year.

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Nathan Buckley says he wants to continue coaching Collingwood beyond this year. Picture: Getty Images

“That’s what I want to do. Regardless of what I think I want to do for Nathan Buckley, the only thing that matters is what is best for the Collingwood footy club.

“Every day that I am here, our performances or otherwise or our growth or otherwise, the connection of the playing group or otherwise, the environment of the football department is going to be part of determining whether I am the best person to be at the helm and be the senior coach.

“There are plenty of other leadership roles, plenty of other impressive, inspirational positions at a football club, in a football program that makes a difference.

“The one that gets scrutinised heavily is my role, the senior coaching role. I understand that.

“Whatever transpires when we sit down and have that conversation probably two thirds the way through the year, or on the other side of half-way, will be what is best for the football club.

“There is plenty of water to go under that bridge that is going to give us more information, (and give) me more information on the best course of action that the club can take going forward.”

Nathan Buckley talking to his players during the Anzac Day defeat. Picture: Getty Images

Buckley said he agreed with president Mark Korda’s view that the team should still aspire to make finals despite a clear move to regenerate the list at the end of last season.

He said star forward Jordan De Goey was set to take on the Suns along with key defender Mark Keane.

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For all the theories regarding what ails Collingwood, the simplest version might be true.

Right now between the top-line star power and large group of raw kids, the Collingwood list just isn’t all that talented.

When Nathan Buckley was asked about his season expectations after the Anzac Day loss to Essendon, he didn’t mention the stars he had lost.

Is Nathan Buckley coming to the end of his time in charge of Collingwood?

He talked about an erosion of the club’s depth and role-playing talent.

“Our list is very different to last year. It’s not just the trades speculated upon,” he said.

“It’s the number of AFL games that went out, it’s the experienced players that went out. Not a lot of them played a lot of games of footy. (Ben) Reid, (Travis) Varcoe, (Lynden) Dunn, (Tom) Langdon, (Dayne) Beams, even Matty Scharenberg.

“We are not quite as experienced across the board and that does have an impact in the short term.”

In an AFL world where draft picks are still king, Collingwood’s list cleanse went so much further than handing over Adam Treloar after offering up two first-rounders to secure him from GWS.

In all they stripped around eight first-round picks worth of talent from their list as well as critical role-players.

Using those trades and next year’s future first-rounder, they secured six kids within 44 selections.

Ben Reid has been one of many major losses for the Magpies.

But no club can lose that much draft calibre and not take a short-term hit.

Beams played nine games in his second stint at Collingwood but cost two first-rounders and pick 56, with picks 41 and 44 in exchange.

Treloar cost the Pies two first-rounders (with a second-rounder back) and was traded for pick 14 and a future second-rounder, but with the Pies handing back picks 26, 33 and 42.

Jaidyn Stephenson was a No. 6 overall pick, Ben Reid was a No. 8 pick, Tim Broomhead a No. 20 selection, Matt Scharenberg a No. 6 selection.

Tom Langdon was a steal (pick 65) and Tom Phillips was a find, too (pick 58) and yet Langdon retired prematurely.

The Pies were desperate to trade Phillips the year before to Geelong for a quality pick and yet got very little (pick 65) from the Hawks.

By year’s end, Chris Mayne will likely join Levi Greenwood in retirement, with the Pies spending $2 million on free agent Mayne and pick 25 on Greenwood, now 32.

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None of it is to re-prosecute the Pies failures of the summer.

It is to say that with juniors like Reef McInnes and Ollie Henry not quite ready and Finn Macrae a baby, the Pies are playing players like Jack Magden, Will Hoskin-Elliott and Josh Thomas that might not get games in many other sides.

Buckley hailed Josh Daicos’ continued growth, Darcy Cameron’s “breakout” game and Isaac Quaynor’s continued growth post-match, while Beau McCreery looks a ripper.

But Buckley admitted the Pies’ kids faded badly late, labelling it a lack of killer instinct.

On gut feel, the Pies need to take another step back before they go forward.

Their next premiership surge might be three or four years away even with Nick Daicos on their list in November, and no one sees Buckley lasting until 2024.

The biggest conundrum for Buckley right now is whether to play every kid he has got or play every game to win.

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Because playing every kid is good for the long-term future of the club but will definitely see him sacked.

And playing the likes of Levi Greenwood and Chris Mayne might result in a short-term fix but put the development of those juniors back.

Twenty-two years ago, Collingwood coach Tony Shaw knew with 10 weeks to go his time at Collingwood was up but committed to coaching out the year while playing the kids.

“I said with 10 weeks to go, “I probably won’t go on next year if this is to continue, so we will coach for the person in the role next,” he told the Sacked podcast recently.

Could Buckley do something similar?

If this is the beginning of the end for Buckley, he will surely coach out the year knowing he didn’t have the cattle in 2021 but trying to fast-track those kids for the club’s next premiership tilt.