Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley has revealed he still has the coaching bug and is intrigued by the prospect of joining the Tasmania Devils as their inaugural head coach.
Buckley coached the Magpies for almost a decade, leading them to the 2018 grand final before stepping down in 2021.
The 52-year-old, who has since moved into the AFL media, has met with Devils chief executive Brendon Gale to discuss a senior role with the expansion club.
Tasmania have a licence to enter the AFL in 2028 and plan to enter a team in the VFL next season.
“There’s a chance,” Buckley told SEN on Monday when asked if he could coach the Devils, adding he had met Gale twice last year.
“The initial one (contact) was from him and then the second one was from me to understand the challenge that the Devils faced and how they are going to build that club.
“To put my two cents’ in, I suppose, and then to learn as much as I possibly could about it.
“There’s a couple of really good football people I believe would go really well down there.
“I put their names forward and put them in front of Brendon.”
Gale this month made two key list management appointments, headlined by landing former Collingwood list guru Derek Hine as head of recruiting.
Experienced recruiter Scott Clayton was also made a part-time future talent consultant.
The Tasmania Devils foundation jumper is revealed. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Buckley is “still exploring” what the challenge of coaching Tasmania would look like.
“That coaching bug is still there, (but) I’m really enjoying what I’m doing at the moment,” Buckley said.
“An existing club versus the Devils; they’re two very different propositions.
“So to understand more about the Devils is to understand whether you think it fits and whether you’re energised by it.
“That challenge is so different to what I’ve experienced.”
Buckley is yet to taste the ultimate success as a player or senior coach at AFL level.
He twice captained Collingwood in losing grand finals against Brisbane (2002-03) and coached the Magpies in their grand final loss to West Coast in 2018.
Buckley was an assistant to coach on Mick Malthouse’s staff when the Pies won the 2010 premiership.
“If you go back into coaching you want to win a flag,” Buckley said.
“That may or may not happen with the Devils in their first four or five years.
“The pragmatic version would be, ‘No, that won’t happen, you’re setting it up to leave a legacy for generations down the track’.
“I understand that as well. That’s all part of it (the decision-making process).”
Hird ‘nearly fell off my couch’ over comeback talk
James Hird “nearly fell off the couch” when he watched a report claiming former Essendon chair Paul Little wants to get back on the Bombers board with him as coach again.
Hird was banned for the 2014 season over the performance-enhancing drugs culture that was uncovered at the club and didn’t last much longer the following year when he regained the reins and resigned.
Apart from a brief stint as a GWS assistant three years ago, he has shied away from the coaching ranks but a Seven report on Monday night suggested Little was keen to return to the boardroom and wanted Hird to head up the coaching staff.
“It’s news to me and I haven’t spoken to Paul Little for months,” Hird told Nine. “I nearly fell off the couch when I heard it.”
James Hird (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
AFL CEO to meet coaching critics
The Scott twins – two of the AFL’s most high-profile critics – flanked league chief executive Andrew Dillon as they arrived for a coaches’ dinner in Melbourne.
Essendon coach Brad Scott and Geelong sibling Chris walked into an inner-city Melbourne pub on Monday night either side of the AFL boss.
Given the commentary over the last few weeks, it made for eye-catching TV news vision.
The Scotts have been fierce in their commentary over issues such as the coaching soft cap and match review decisions.
It is understood that North Melbourne’s Alastair Clarkson and Melbourne’s Simon Goodwin were also at the dinner, which was a series of catch-ups that Dillon is having with the 18 senior coaches.
“It’s good to be here with the coaches, to talk through all things footy – a bit of soft cap, we’ll talk about the MRO and see what’s on the coaches’ minds,’ Dillon told the Seven Network.
“It’s great to sit down, talk, face-to-face. get a really good insight into what’s going on in the coaches’ minds.
“I’m sure there will be plenty of robust discussion.”
Dillon also spoke about the possibility of the AFL having a mental health round in the wake of the Selwood family’s latest tragedy.
West Coast premiership player Adam Selwood died on Saturday, just three months after his twin brother and fellow former player Troy also died.
“What we want to do is focus on making sure that all of our players – our past players, current players and future players – just have all the tools and the access to everything they need to make sure they’re okay,” Dillon said.
“How that plays out, that’s something we’ll take advice on from the experts.”
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The Roarhttps://https://ift.tt/PFJBMvN News: Bucks ‘a chance’ for coaching return, Hird floored by Dons comeback plot, Dillon to front coach critics
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