I sympathise with Buckley. I got a divorce once. Killed me financially. Had to liquidate my St. James Glen Iris Cricket Club memorabilia and all. She got 50%. So down to my last $7.85M.

[Oh, and I had to rollover my Rangy lease for an additional 12-months.]

Edited September 11, 2025Sep 11 by Queanbeyan Demon

My strong preference is still Buckley but I can’t help but be intrigued by James Kelly. I’ve got a feeling he’s going to be a very good coach when he does get a gig with us or someone else

11 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

My strong preference is still Buckley but I can’t help but be intrigued by James Kelly. I’ve got a feeling he’s going to be a very good coach when he does get a gig with us or someone else

It's a bit of a quirk that so few senior coaches have come out of Geelong's assistants. A bunch of former Clarkson and Hardwick protegees but no one seems to get the guys who learned the craft under Scott.

Think Hinkley is the only one but he was only at Geelong during the Thompson years.

26 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

My strong preference is still Buckley but I can’t help but be intrigued by James Kelly. I’ve got a feeling he’s going to be a very good coach when he does get a gig with us or someone else

I also have a good feeling about Kelly. I am hoping it is him. Outside of Buckley the other candidates just worry me. Not 100% sure why.

Surely king or Kelly wouldn't be bad choices. I mean they've been part of a club that never bottoms out & consistently makes finals

Giansiracusa wouldnt be a good option due to the issues spelling his name in the 'Is Giansiracusa the right guy' and the 'time for Giansiracusa to go' etc threads

1 hour ago, Ted Lasso said:

My strong preference is still Buckley but I can’t help but be intrigued by James Kelly. I’ve got a feeling he’s going to be a very good coach when he does get a gig with us or someone else

I agree with this from what I've heard about Kelly.

Does the selection panel have the intestinal fortitude to select him knowing the scars we all bear from Neeld?

Definitely warming to James Kelly. Not that I didnt like or rate him, just thought he didnt fit the bill of being a fairly experienced assistant coach.

I mean, anyone thats been in such a successful organisation as Geelong cant be too bad..

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

In my opinion Bucks has the brand and charisma to attract sponsors. He speaks well in the public eye and has great connections in the cooperate world considering he is always a guest speaker whever he goes.

I follow him on Instagram and there is no doubt he he has pulling power with the way he conducts himself professionally.

Where we sit currently with memberships and sponsorship, if there was one guy that could really be the face for this footy club and build our brand back up again, it would be Bucks.

Buckley would be great for these reasons. But I'm not convinced he can coach for the modern game.

At the end of the day it is about winning. Would the media have cared much about what Hardwick or Clarkson had to say prior to them winning flags? Would someone like McCrae and Kingsley quickly command respect of the media without their onfield success?

I think we would get a bounce with Buckley - but if we have similar seasons to the last two then the shine will wear of pretty quickly (as it would with any of the other assistants admittedly). So I hope this is not a factor unless it is neck and neck on their ability to coach us to another premiership.

Buckley has his pros and cons, Kelly has his pros and cons. Reckon we’ll have done well with either.

Sounds like it’s down to those two.

1 hour ago, Dannyz said:

I agree with this from what I've heard about Kelly.

Does the selection panel have the intestinal fortitude to select him knowing the scars we all bear from Neeld?

I fear they don’t.

42 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Definitely warming to James Kelly. Not that I didnt like or rate him, just thought he didnt fit the bill of being a fairly experienced assistant coach.

I mean, anyone thats been in such a successful organisation as Geelong cant be too bad..

I knew you’d join us on eventually 😜

37 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Definitely warming to James Kelly. Not that I didnt like or rate him, just thought he didnt fit the bill of being a fairly experienced assistant coach.

I mean, anyone thats been in such a successful organisation as Geelong cant be too bad..

It’s a bit of a reach but if you count Kelly’s last two playing years as coaching - which was a big part of what he was at Essendon to do - he’s been in a somewhat coaching role since 2016.

Played under Bomber and Scott, coached under Worsfold, Rutten (for a preseason before going F this, I’m going to be a dad for a season) and Scott.

To me it’s enough experience, the only thing you’d love would be if he coaches his own side but with the nature of the afl system plenty of good coaches never do.

19 hours ago, Chook in Perth said:

So here is the lay of the (Demon?)land from what I can gather.

Melbourne want Buckley. Buckley wants Melbourne. But...

There are forces at play outside our control. There is an AFL Commission Chairman on the nose. There is an AFL CEO with non of his predecessors gravitas, and an ever growing penchant for getting it wrong.

Individually, and collectively, they need a win. It sure isn't flying a kite about Opening Round getting a run south of the Murray.

So they don't want the figurehead they've earmarked for Tasmania being lost to little old Melbourne.

So what to do? Well Tasmania don't have a soft cap. "Name your price". "What do you need?" "What do you want?"

This is how the AFL operate. They stink. They get their media operative Caro to drip feed enough to make it look fair without appearing to be duplicious bullies.

We are pawns in a game. Docklandsare playing along with our process for the optics only, ready to step in when there's a gap in the content echo chamber.

If we get Buckley it will be because he wants to do it enough to turn down the keys to the castle.

No one could blame him for walking away though.

Maybe we just tell the AFL to give us the $30m we need for Caulfield and guarantee we never play in Geelong again and we will pass on Bucks and take Kelly or the best young Coach.

I'd take Kelly on a three year deal with KPI's and a base salary half of what Buckley is asking. That would soften the Goodwin payout pain and perhaps give us room for another or a better assistant.

Buckley will give us a one off membership boost of 10k. We all know that no one will give us a significant boost on the win/loss ratio. At best we're a 7-12 ranked team

It's mathematics as to which coach is the better for us.

The Board will never be criticised for choosing Buckley and thus I think he will be the one

1 hour ago, Roost it far said:

I fear they don’t.

I knew you’d join us on eventually 😜

I guess you could say the buck stops with that.

Kelly, king as senior assistant and Bartel as head of strategy as suggested would be a good starting point. Combined with Chaplin, jones and maybe we can find a food forwards coach like Caracalla to come on board

4 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

Kelly, king as senior assistant and Bartel as head of strategy as suggested would be a good starting point. Combined with Chaplin, jones and maybe we can find a food forwards coach like Caracalla to come on board

Kelly if he is mates with Bartel, could help to bring him on board.

I couldn’t see King leaving the Cats for another assistant role.

Kelly wouldn’t have the same status as Bucks, but could be a better Coach.

3 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Kelly if he is mates with Bartel, could help to bring him on board.

I couldn’t see King leaving the Cats for another assistant role.

Kelly wouldn’t have the same status as Bucks, but could be a better Coach.

The entire cats culture has been built around respecting opposition, being yourself and being selfless on and off the field. I think a Kelly/bartel double has the potential to transform the club. It would be a risk, especially if Buckley is keen. But if we make that call I won’t be unhappy

5 hours ago, KozzyCan said:

Most AFL players have boxes and boxes of memorabilia in their garages gathering dust that they eventually auction off. Goodwin was doing the same thing a couple of years ago.

5 hours ago, SFebes said:

OK, I thought I read somewhere he was doing it tough after the divorce and had to sell memorabilia etc. Yes we all know that re Buckley, however he has also been enjoying his cushy media role too.

I think you have mixed up Nathan Buckley with Nicholas Cage which is understandable.

15 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

Caracalla

Is that the Roman emperor out of Glads 2?

5 minutes ago, Fritta and Turner said:

Is that the Roman emperor out of Glads 2?

Built a good set of Baths.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baths_of_Caracalla

2 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Built a good set of Baths.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baths_of_Caracalla

So we are getting a....plumber...as our new coach? (I thought it was Nibbles)

27 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

Kelly, king as senior assistant and Bartel as head of strategy as suggested would be a good starting point. Combined with Chaplin, jones and maybe we can find a food forwards coach like Caracalla to come on board

Caracella is Richmond's midfield coach. Their forwards coach is Chris Newman, who had a long career playing as (checks notes) a defender.

3 hours ago, rufus said:

I also have a good feeling about Kelly. I am hoping it is him. Outside of Buckley the other candidates just worry me. Not 100% sure why.

Kelly was also at Essendon for three years and they were not much chop. He walked into Geelong, who were already strong and were beaten by a more dominant force in 2021, us! He will not have the recruiting power that he had at Geelong. Their midfield is stacked and they continue to add to it every year. I'd be careful about attributing Geelong's success to assistant coaches.

I'm always a bit worried when an untried senior coach nails an interview. Sure it shows they can communicate and what tactics they prefer etc. But it doesn't demonstrate they can lead a team of players and coaches or if they can execute a game plan.