AFL Report Sad news for Collingwood: I want to leave…

Coach Nathan Buckley of Collingwood football resigns, saying “nothing lasts forever.”

Midway through the AFL season, Nathan Buckley will depart Collingwood Football Club due to the ongoing winds of change inside the organization. Following earlier in the day notification to the club’s playing staff and football department, the coach’s impending departure was officially announced at a news conference on Wednesday morning.

In his tenth season as manager, his final game will be Monday’s Queen’s birthday match at the SCG against ladder leaders Melbourne. A permanent replacement will be found in due course, with the goal of starting in time for the 2022 season.

Buckley stated, “I could tell that there was an appetite for change in the program over the last couple of weeks in meetings with Graham [Wright, the club’s general manager].

Nothing endures eternally. At some point, I was going to be tapped. However, this is without a doubt the right course of action for the football team, and I have always had that opinion.

After a dismal start to the season in which his team has only won three times in twelve games, it ends months of speculation regarding his future. The Pies are mired in 16th place on the ladder as a result of their dismal performance.

“We haven’t started the season off as we would have liked to,” stated Buckley. I’ve had a decent shot at leading after serving as an assistant coach for two years in 2010 and 2011. I’ve been in charge for nine and a half years.

“Everyone has their time. My time has arrived, as does the time of every relationship right now. The decision that has been made doesn’t really bother me, and I have faith that the club will be well-run moving forward.

While praising Buckley’s years-long commitment to the Magpies, Collingwood CEO Mark Anderson called it a “important and sad day” for the team.

Anderson remarked, “We will find the right time to honor and respect his amazing legacy to the club.” “We will respect him as a towering figure and legend of the club, and we will give our members and fans the chance to do the same.”

The 48-year-old’s future will not be decided until the conclusion of the current campaign, the club had previously said. However, Buckley—who has led the Pies since replacing Mick Malthouse in 2012—becomes the second prominent member of Collingwood’s leadership to depart the club this year, after former president Eddie McGuire did so in February.

“Coaching this weekend and then stepping out is ultimately another opportunity for new growth, for new energies and new voices. I would have been happy to coach the year out if that’s what the club needed and wanted and we felt that was what was best,” Buckley stated. “Once that decision is made, that is the opportunity that should present itself.”

In order to select a permanent replacement to take over ahead of the upcoming season, Anderson announced that a panel consisting of a “range of people” would be assembled soon. Robert Harvey, Buckley’s longtime assistant coach, will step in temporarily in the interim.

The Magpies are going through a difficult moment as a result of the most recent departure. Boardroom uncertainty exists as former Nine Network managing director Jeff Browne challenges Mark Korda, McGuire’s replacement, to the position of leader. It wasn’t until April that Korda took office as president after McGuire resigned.

Following accusations by former player Héritier Lumumba that there was a racist joking culture at the team, McGuire was forced to resign from his position due to growing pressure following the release of the Do Better study, which examined systemic racism at the team. At the time, Buckley’s handling of the incident drew harsh criticism.

The team faced criticism earlier this year for its disastrous trade period transactions that preceded the current season’s commencement. When asked if the current unrest has depleted him, Buckley replied, “They do have an impact.” It can be depressing when you have faith in a place, even if it could improve as an organization and people don’t think well of it.

In the past six months, this football team has seen a great deal of change, all against the backdrop of an extremely peculiar atmosphere brought on by Covid. The past six months have been as bizarre as you could hope to witness or experience.

After serving as a player and coach at Collingwood for almost thirty years, Buckley left the team. Before retiring in 2007, he had played 260 games, taken home six Copeland Trophies, Norm Smith and Brownlow medals, and seven All-Australian blazers. He had also served as the team’s captain for nine seasons. Two years later, he returned as assistant coach until taking over as head coach in 2012. He managed 217 games overall, leading his team to five finals campaigns and the 2018 grand final.