7 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Just remember it’s McClure so take with as much salt as required.

The only reason I'd consider Buckley is so we can sack him and bring in a premiership coach.

He has form at taking over from a premiership coach, sending the club backwards then the next bloke comes in and wins a premiership.

2 minutes ago, Wrecker45 said:

The only reason I'd consider Buckley is so we can sack him and bring in a premiership coach.

He has form at taking over from a premiership coach, sending the club backwards then the next bloke comes in and wins a premiership.

People talk about Buckley like the Pies didn’t lose a grand final under him by less than a goal thanks to some Dom Sheed shenanigans.

Should we look at the loses Longmire suffered in grand finals?

I was having a look at what changes the Pies made from 2021 to 2022, and although most people will say it was just McRae that replaced Buckley which yielded their turnaround, there was actually a lot that went on so I think it's a bit short-sighted to say Buckley was the problem.

Here a list of coaching changes that occurred:

IN: Craig McRae, Justin Leppitsch (strategy and defence), Brendon Bolton, Josh Fraser, Neville Jetta

OUT: Nathan Buckley, Robert Harvey, Brenton Sanderson, Damian Carroll

Skipworth and Boyd stayed while Selwood was promoted to midfield coach.

Graham Wright joined in early 2021 as head of football so he was also another change albeit earlier.

In essence, a truckload of changes were done on the coaching end.

The key player changes from their best 22 included:

Nick Daicos, Lipinski, McReery, Ginnivan, Cameron as sole ruck, a fit Elliott and a full season from Moore plus the improvement of Josh Daicos, Quaynor and Noble.

Impossible to say whether or not improvement would have happened if Buckley had stayed, but the assistant coach shakeup was dramatic.

14 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

Hope we get him a petrol card for the drives out to Casey!

Bucks has negotiated transport via chopper

13 minutes ago, Wrecker45 said:

The only reason I'd consider Buckley is so we can sack him and bring in a premiership coach.

He has form at taking over from a premiership coach, sending the club backwards then the next bloke comes in and wins a premiership.

S. Goodwin 2031.

It’s settled.

16 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

It really only needs to be this much for Sammy.

After watching him On The Couch with Gazza and Brownie I have warmed to him over the last year or so and been impressed by his confidence and footy intellect. Also as mentioned earlier he commands respect and could step in and fill the void at the club.

1 hour ago, BW511 said:

I listened to this a while back by chance, it made me really appreciate the journey Bucks has been on post Collingwood - would highly recommend.

Out of Simpson, Longmire and Bucks I’ve become reasonably excited at the thought of Bucks coming on board.

Initially, I was all in on horse but have swung around

Agree, worth a listen.

Like many, I’ve enjoyed disliking Buckley based on my various biases.

Begrudgingly though, I have had to recognise he’s quite intelligent and seems to conduct himself well.

The interview shows his awareness that his ego has been both a strength and a weakness throughout his career.

I think he still has the necessary drive to be a premiership coach but now with greater maturity and balance. Would be a strong play by the MFC.

Please don't just hand the job to Buckley. Go through a proper process and see what other options are out there.

21 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

People talk about Buckley like the Pies didn’t lose a grand final under him by less than a goal thanks to some Dom Sheed shenanigans.

Couldn’t script a more Melbourne result circa 2023-2025.

7 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

I'm actually distinctly warming to Buckley for all the reasons you mention.

Think he has a good mix of approachable mate coach, but also able to set high expectations and give the team a good rev-up when they need it. I think he was set up to fail the way the transition worked at Collingwood under Malthouse and with Eddy in the background. His closeness to some in the playing group probably didn't help either.

I initially defended Horse's initial reaction, but the more I reflect it seems he really doesn't want the job. I'm also somewhat turned off by his shocking GF record. Asides from the one premiership he actually won with them, Sydney were pretty much trounced in every other GF they played under him, which isn’t a good sign for me.

As a real left field thing - could we coax Roosy back?

Roosy should at least be on the selection panel. Even better an advisory role for the next footy department.

He seems still really invested in our club and seems to want us to succeed.

What if Instead of department reviews when things go south every few years, we had someone like Paul Roos provide an oversight role to the club. Maybe a consilierge role to the coaches.

I guess it worked to in the original handover. What would it be like to have him involved again?

He's so well respected by everyone at the club. Let's see if we can use him in a part time basis to help us continually improve rather than reviews when things turn to poo.

9 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Danny Daly is a happy medium between experienced and untried.

Sure he hasn't coached an AFL game, but he's had experience in assistant coaching and administration so he knows how an AFL football club is supposed to be run.

He's also obviously been instrumental in Brisbane's rise to become a perennial top 8 contender for the last 7 seasons, as he and Fagan have been a tremendous duo for that club.

But the thing I like the most about him is his media interviews. He comes across as respectful, knowledgeable, transparent and full of common sense.

The only reason Lions have been successful is they keep falling into F/S top 5 picks and northern academy stars. Sure the coaching panel have been successful, but they have the keys to a Ferrari and have 5-lap head start on most other teams. Pretty hard to stuff that up if you ask me.

12 hours ago, Demonland said:

How often do you here am aspiring head couch, sitting in waiting that he is not going to apply. That is very unusual - unless he wants to stay at MFC as he’ll not likely land the job and be left in an untenable position. Nevertheless something off about this.

43 minutes ago, GS_1905 said:

How often do you here am aspiring head couch, sitting in waiting that he is not going to apply. That is very unusual - unless he wants to stay at MFC as he’ll not likely land the job and be left in an untenable position. Nevertheless something off about this.

There are people I want to leave the club, Chaplin is most definitely not one of them. He is (to me) our only highly rate assistant. I hope that whoever we get in is able to worth with him and I would send him back to being the defensive line coach.

I wonder if his immediate refusal is more to do with him knowing the direction the board want to go down and he's basically saying "I'm not going to waste my time".

I reckon there'd be more chance of both Trac and Clarry getting back to their best, or near best, under Bucks than under an untried senior coach like Enright or King.

Enright or Skipworth ............. A new broom and the chance of a new era. Roos did it to get Goodwin AND we were successful. If Enright coaches like he plays (look at AWM efforts @ Saints) then we would be laughing and enthusiastic at the change, rather than going back to recycling .

10 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

People talk about Buckley like the Pies didn’t lose a grand final under him by less than a goal thanks to some Dom Sheed shenanigans.

Should we look at the loses Longmire suffered in grand finals?

If close losses counted as wins Goodwin would have a 3 peat and we wouldn't be having this conversation

18 hours ago, Mickey said:

Also interesting Chaplin said the playing group will have a new coach in 5-6 weeks. Would suggest we aren't running an exhaustive process that takes a long time, and matched up nicely to the BnF on 9 September.

world wide search according to Mr Green?

17 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I don't like it when clubs put on the "We want an experienced coach" blinkers on.

5 minutes ago, lorn said:

I don't like it when clubs put on the "We want an experienced coach" blinkers on.

Normally the clubs just leak that to essentially gently let down a wave of assistants who might apply when the club has a pretty good idea who it’s going to be. In our case gently saying we’d rather one of Longmire, Simpson, Buckley or Hinkley.

the fact we’ve already said no to Chaplin says it all really, he’s a very good assistant who I’d be shocked if he isn’t a senior coach in the next 2-3 years

56 minutes ago, Wrecker45 said:

If close losses counted as wins Goodwin would have a 3 peat and we wouldn't be having this conversation

Losing a grand final by under a kick is very different to losing 4 finals in a row and never even making a prelim post a grand final win.

I think had we made a prelim post 2021 things would be different.

Buckley may be the wrong guy for the job, but discussing him like he’s been a total failure at the Pies is simply wrong. It’s like saying Longmire was a total success but ignoring his grand final record.

7 hours ago, Pates said:


There are people I want to leave the club, Chaplin is most definitely not one of them. He is (to me) our only highly rate assistant. I hope that whoever we get in is able to worth with him and I would send him back to being the defensive line coach.
I wonder if his immediate refusal is more to do with him knowing the direction the board want to go down and he's basically saying "I'm not going to waste my
Chaplin has been there to long toome to go.

They need to get the best candidate and that means tactical, communication with players and an ability to predict the development of the game and what players present and the future we will need to challenge for a premiership. My gripe with Goodwin is that most of the premiership backbone was achieved under Roos and that under Goodwin, this list bottomed out and we spent too much time recruiting rubbish from other teams.

Edited August 8Aug 8 by Ugottobekidding

59 minutes ago, lorn said:

I don't like it when clubs put on the "We want an experienced coach" blinkers on.

Its not just any club though hey.

A club waiting for a no footy experience CEO, waiting for the pres to start, generally on the nose with the media, home base issues, a leaky and factioned board, whipping boy for head office to change rules via the tribunal.....

A newbie won't cut it (or at least is very unlikely to) The head coach position is far far more than just coaching - he(or she) will instantly become the figure head of this footy club - the face that represents every facets going forwards. It requires an unwavering approach in the face of every piece of [censored] that gets thrown at it from the media, a seasoned coach with super strong links at head office, the media and has the gravitas to inspire our current underperforming stars and attract new actual talent not just the scraps that no one else wants. It 100% HAS to be one of Buckley, Longmire, Simpson or Hinkley.

I am now absolutely convinced Buckley is the right man for the job