AFL 2021: Mick Malthouse looks at Collingwood’s issues and Nathan Buckley’s coaching future
Collingwood has paid a price for losing Adam Treloar but it isn’t just his quality as a footballer. It appears there are now trust issues at the club.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
When I first went to Collingwood I was asked if I was ready to coach the biggest sporting club in Australia.
To be honest, I wasn’t prepared for how much attention the Magpies receive from outside the club. And that’s saying something considering I came from a two-team town in footy-mad Perth.
The Pies have been compared to English Premier League giant Manchester United and that is a fair call.
People love to hate them, but that just galvanises the club and its supporters.
Collingwood supporters are magnificent, I cannot stress that enough.
■ WATCH LIVE: Visit heraldsun.com.au after the Collingwood v North Melbourne clash for the live stream of Nathan Buckley’s press conference
In my 12 years in the black and white, the Magpie Army stood with us through thick and thin. They love winning. They idolise the stars and get excited by the kids on debut. They are one-eyed in their loyalty to the president, the coach and the players.
It is perhaps why the Pies attract more media attention than any other club in the country, perhaps second only to the Australian cricket team during an Ashes series.
In a “slow news” week Collingwood will dominate the headlines with some obscure story.
In a “big news” week it will still inevitably get some news, somewhere.
The Magpies’ thumping loss to Geelong in last season’s semi-final meant this year’s early-season form would always come under the microscope.
Stream up to 3 matches every round of the VFL 2021 Season Live & Free on Kayo Freebies. Register now and stream instantly >
But add to that: the club’s trade issues, its racism report, Eddie McGuire’s resignation, and Nathan Buckley’s last year of contract and it became a perfect storm for anyone and everyone to have an opinion on what should happen at the club.
It has divided everyone from footy commentators, to journalists, to supporters from all clubs. But what it can’t afford to do is divide Collingwood.
Football clubs win premierships, not football teams.
It starts with the board and its direction and support of the football department. That filters down to a strong, assistive administration. Then to the coach and coaching panel that can lead and support a very good football team.
If there is a disconnect in that format it is highly unlikely that club will get through to a Grand Final. Without that chain of command it will never win a premiership, no matter how good the team is.
Collingwood rightly or wrongly has made a decision on Mark Korda to be the club’s next president.
What the board must do now is a thorough examination of the inner workings of the organisation. It must be done with due diligence and time and with appropriate consultation within Collingwood, starting with football director Paul Licuria.
Licuria has literally bled for the club. A two-time Copeland Trophy winner, a Grand Final player, a football person who also knows business, his view should be highly sought after.
As football director he can readily garner information from the CEO and football operations manager, the coach and his assistants, the players, and any other worthwhile contributors, to advise the board whose members lack active football experience compared to business knowledge.
The direction of the club is forged by the board, that is the methodology in any successful organisation. A strong board in the face of public scrutiny, supporter spotlight and the media microscope, is what unites a club.
Korda’s suggestion that football operations manager Graham Wright will be charged with the responsibility of deciding Buckley’s coaching future is already an indication of the tail wagging the dog.
Collingwood will be hounded by all sorts of suggestions and opinions from the media, key outside figures, and supporter groups in the coming weeks, regardless of yesterday’s result, and the club could find itself in a very dark place very quickly if the current board doesn’t receive full support from all.
I fear that would drag them back to the dark ages of infighting and feuding.
Like a lot of football people, I picked my predicted final eight in March and left out West Coast and Collingwood. The Eagles because of their likelihood to enter a hub due to West Australian Premier Mark McGowan’s knee jerk reaction to Covid. And the Magpies because of the uncertainty of how the playing group would react and respond to the pre-season traumas.
Collingwood is struggling on the field. It has climbed the ladder and unfortunately for the supporters also dropped a few rungs.
Scott Pendlebury as captain has been a magnificent player but is showing signs that a 16-year, 323-game career is catching up with him. It’s a similar story for 30-year-old Steele Sidebottom.
Brodie Grundy is being harshly judged. It seems that everyone believes he and Jordan De Goey should be winning games off their own boots.
Grundy’s form has dropped from what it was two years ago, but he is still one of the premier ruckmen in the league.
De Goey hasn’t worked out whether he is a forward or a mid or a combination of both. There’s no doubting his talent, but he is the victim of expectation. I do not begrudge any player his salary or the size of it, but if a club pays big, it expects results.
Collingwood has paid a price for losing Adam Treloar and company, but the price is not just in losing a player of Treloar’s calibre to a rival club, but the uncertainty it creates within the playing group. There appears to be a trust issue there.
There are also rays of sunshine in Josh Daicos, Oliver Henry, Caleb Poulter and Trey Ruscoe. None have yet had a major impact on the result — winning or losing — but they show great promise for the future.
Collingwood as a team is far better than second bottom on the ladder.
With 14 games to go the Pies could conceivably win 60-70 per cent of those which would give them a fair look at just outside the top eight. But I wonder whether there is enough harmony within the group, a trust without compromise, to stay the course.
More Coverage
Originally published as AFL 2021: Mick Malthouse looks at Collingwood’s issues and Nathan Buckley’s coaching future
Ablett’s heartbreaking condition reveal
Jordan and Gary Ablett had been reluctant to discuss many details about their little boy’s heartbreaking condition until now.
Waiting game? Dockers continue to keep tabs on Swans superstar
The possibility of Chad Warner asking for a move back to Western Australia continues to make the rounds, but how quickly could it happen? Fremantle have had their say on the matter.