1 hour ago, demoncat said:

Jeez Caro just took a big whack at the club didn’t she?

Never mind that Bucks has already said that that coaching the club would be “compelling” because of our list, history etc

Tasmania will be a great gig for a coach who doesn’t mind developing a team over the course of many years, but if Bucks wants a chance of winning a flag in the medium term the choice between the two is clear

What she is also saying is that Buckley would be a great get for Tassie. Which infers he would be a great get for us to fix some of the lack of unity at the club. Therefore, she is also inferring we should be chasing hard. I hope we are.

17 minutes ago, Howard_Grimes said:

Buck's wants a premiership, and whilst the Tassie gig has its own list of unique perks and positives, even he knows being head coach at a time where the Devils are ready to challenge is unlikely.

I mentioned it earlier in the year as countless others have. We've been in contact with him since the start of the season, a lot of prep has already gone into this. And letting go of Goodwin three weeks to go before the end of the season gives us the best chance of getting a settled coaching group together, RETAINING certain players and hitting the trade and draft period knowing exactly what we're going to do from a list strategy POV.

I think the second point has been missed a lot around here with those who think someone like Buckley is the wrong choice.

I bet my bottom dollar that part of why we're keen on Buckley is to retain Petracca as well as get a spike in performance from our senior core group who will be more inspired and motivated by an aura like Bucks. As well as the assistants that will be brought along.

Supporters forget how important this is.

It's happening, get on-board and leave your silly Melbourne-bias anti Collingwood nonsense behind. Buckley is the one.

If this is the case, best Buckley STFU! Goody only left the building days ago. Show some respect (albeit this is unknown concept to Buckley)

8 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

Horse scratched.

Bit more time in the paddock before returning for the Tasmanian Cup.

Don’t know how these things play out timeline-wise but I’d certainly prefer we had the bloke taking the reins next year involved in immediate list management decisions and player exit interviews after the last round.

Can't blame longmire for dropping out. He has a job still with Sydney, probably doesn't want to move to Melbourne, probably enjoying the non stress of coaching & enjoys his weekends back

30 minutes ago, Howard_Grimes said:

As well as the assistants that will be brought along.

Can't we give the job to a highly regarded assistant and bring in new assistants coaches like Collingwood did very successfully?

Edited Saturday at 01:582 days by lorn

31 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

Horse scratched.

Classic 👌

26 minutes ago, Nietaphart said:

If this is the case, best Buckley STFU! Goody only left the building days ago. Show some respect (albeit this is unknown concept to Buckley)

What’s he said that’s upset you? He was asked if he’d like to coach again and said we are an appealing option with a great history. How dare he?! Should have said I would never coach that loser club!

7 minutes ago, lorn said:

Can't we give the job to a highly regarded assistant and bring in new assistants coaches like Collingwood did very successfully?

I don’t know if the club would have enough pull to do that on its own merits unfortunately

Rightly or wrongly there is a certain perception of the club at the moment and I’m concerned that if we bring in an inexperienced coach we may not attract further talent in the FD, and may be setting them up to fail

Someone like Buckley would attract talent on his own merits, and it would be a big vote of confidence in the club if someone with his reputation wanted to coach here

Again he may or may not be the ‘best coach’ of everyone available, but he would bring a lot of other benefits that would be exclusive to him

4 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

i though jay wrote 'took over a premiership list and took it down, then back up and got close but no cigar, then down again'

1 hour ago, demoncat said:

Jeez Caro just took a big whack at the club didn’t she?

Does that really surprise anyone, cranky old …………

Welcome to the MFC Bucks

32 minutes ago, Nietaphart said:

If this is the case, best Buckley STFU! Goody only left the building days ago. Show some respect (albeit this is unknown concept to Buckley)

Tell us what you think of Buckley though?

Blind Freddy can see that it’s going to be Bucks now. I know the bloke is arrogant but there’s not a chance he’s sourcing out assistant coaches without clear knowledge of where he stands in the queue.

Some people on here are going to hate him right off the bat but I think this is the right choice, especially with Horse out. An untried assistant would be great if we nailed it but is just too risky (it was 14 years ago but I haven’t forgot the Mark Neeld hype), and Adam Simpson is just too uninspiring, in fact keeping Goody would have been preferable to that!

5 minutes ago, demoncat said:

I don’t know if the club would have enough pull to do that on its own merits unfortunately

Rightly or wrongly there is a certain perception of the club at the moment and I’m concerned that if we bring in an inexperienced coach we may not attract further talent in the FD, and may be setting them up to fail

Someone like Buckley would attract talent on his own merits, and it would be a big vote of confidence in the club if someone with his reputation wanted to coach here

Again he may or may not be the ‘best coach’ of everyone available, but he would bring a lot of other benefits that would be exclusive to him

Great post, agree entirely and what you've outlined is missed too often amongst supporters.

3 minutes ago, Bang Bang Bang said:

Blind Freddy can see that it’s going to be Bucks now. I know the bloke is arrogant but there’s not a chance he’s sourcing out assistant coaches without clear knowledge of where he stands in the queue.

Some people on here are going to hate him right off the bat but I think this is the right choice, especially with Horse out. An untried assistant would be great if we nailed it but is just too risky (it was 14 years ago but I haven’t forgot the Mark Neeld hype), and Adam Simpson is just too uninspiring, in fact keeping Goody would have been preferable to that!

Yup. Strange play to sus out potential assistants when your unsure if you even want to coach, don’t know how many vacancies the club in question has or what the soft cap situation is, and don’t know where exactly the role is.

this is definitely an indication that bucks is at least in his mind down the path quite a way. And the MFC have provided him with some insight about what a team around him and its structure might look like.

I would expect bucks to be announced before finals to be honest

40 minutes ago, Demonland said:

That’s unfortunate but we don’t want to have to twist the arm of a coach to convince them to come On board.

We want someone who wants to coach us and believes in our club and list.

Looks like Bucks is that one.

On 05/08/2025 at 12:42, Little Goffy said:

Who is the best collaborator, and can bring in the best full panel of coaches? Even on a rough sketch we're looking at ten positions I would want to see filled with top quality people.

Senior.

Footy Dept Manager.

Veteran coaching mentor.

Development.

Conditioning.

Forward, back, clearance, transition.

Casey.

Goalkicking

14 hours ago, Demonland said:

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

10 minutes ago, DemonOX said:

Does that really surprise anyone, cranky old …………

Has anyone ever seen her write a positive article about anything? She could have been a decent journalist but chose the ambulance chasing and sinking the boot in style of tabloid gossip that sells papers albeit written more eloquently than most of her peers.

59 minutes ago, binman said:

My take on the next coach:

Short version:

Despite my misgivings about Buckley i think appointing him coach would be a good move and i'll fully back him in if they do.

Long version:

I'm ambivalent about Buckley. He was a famously defensive coach that, yes came close to a flag but was sacked on the back of a woeful season and his replacement turned much the same list into a competitive unit immediately.

And the knock on him as a coach was that he wasn't a great manager of people and had a propensity to judge others by the myopic, hyper driven standards he set for himself as a player.

Add to that I've never much liked him.

Against those misgivings i think the following counter arguments hold significant weight:

• Personally i think we need to go with an experienced coach like Buckley or Longmire that has gravitas and would not need to 'earn' the respect of players the way any new coach would

• I agree with Goodwin and Langdon that we're actually not far away from being a contender again, meaning we are not in full rebuild mode - a scenario that suits an experienced coach

• (on that point, the fact that Buckley is even interested suggests he also believes we are not far from being a contender - no chance he is up for years long rebuild like McQualter and Yze)

• An experienced candidate like Buckley or Longmire would also have the power, within limits, to call the shots on key hiring and firing decisions which will be important as we need a broom

• Buckley would demand veto on assistant coaches and no doubt create his own team of line coaches, something that i think is very much needed (ie new assistant coaches)

• I think some tough calls also need to me made about our high performance program - Bucks, who was ahead of his time on the fitness front, will have firm views in that space and I suspect would drive change

• It is reasonable to think Mcrae built on the foundation Buckley built - I think that's particularly true in regards to driving training standards

• They were clearly already a super fit team when Mcrae took over and their success under Mcrae's would simply not have been possible without that base given his method is so aerobically taxing

• Landing Buckley soon would go a long way to assuage my concerns the executive made an ill considered, vibe based decision to both sack goody and do so three games from the end of the season

• Many have noted Buckley has mellowed and he himself has acknowledged he has to chill a bit in terms of his interactions with players, particularly those that are perhaps less driven than he was as a player

• He was on a bit of a hiding to nothing at the Pies as the whole legend player becomes coach of their team narrative arc often has an unhappy ending (Voss being one such example)

• Buckley is unquestionably a good media operator and whilst it would be great if that wasn't such an important KPI for s senior coach the reality is it is - particularly for a club that has relied on the senior coach and captain to front the media for the last three years

So, all things considered I hope we land Buckley and I'll fully back him in if they do.

There would certainly be an irony in Buckley coming in and having immediate success with a team that had struggled in the previous two seasons.

By the by, in terms of choosing bucks, or indeed any coach, I'm of the view that whilst the coach is of course important the impact of an AFL coach is hugely over rated.

I'm more concerned the clubs sorts its governance and get the high performance stuff right.

It maybe an overly complicated solution, but we could have Bucks come in as a head coach for 1-2 years, and then have a transition plan to another coach such as Daly.

3 hours ago, Demonland said:

Wtf is this article? Lmao [censored] off Caro.

I wanted Horse because as others have said, our club has a vacuum of football heads at the club. Without knowing him personally or really following him closely, to me he also had an aura similar to Roos that I feel we need. Someone who could clip the ears of those who needed it and wrap his arms around those who needed that.

Now, if Bucks is the option we go with, I just hope he is treated the same as all other candidates and has to impress during his interview and isn't given the job on name value. Buckley has been out of the game for a fair while. Which can be seen positively and negatively. His last few years at Collingwood actually remind me of Goody this season. Trying to change a gameplan with a team who couldn't hit a target. Hopefully, his time away has made him reflect on what went wrong and he has gotten new, fresh ideas.

One thing I saw mentioned in this thread which has concerned me a bit, is that he is sounding out his old assistants. Get 1 or 2 in sure, but I think as a club we need to enforce that we want the best assistants available. Jobs for mates always bothers me.

I think we really need a new FD head. Lost trust in Richardson these past few years. Need someone well respected who can support Buckley (or whoever takes the job).

26 minutes ago, demoncat said:

I don’t know if the club would have enough pull to do that on its own merits unfortunately

Rightly or wrongly there is a certain perception of the club at the moment and I’m concerned that if we bring in an inexperienced coach we may not attract further talent in the FD, and may be setting them up to fail

It's also possible that Buckley's assistants will have the same perceptions of the club and won't come along

10 minutes ago, reynolds46 said:

Has anyone ever seen her write a positive article about anything? She could have been a decent journalist but chose the ambulance chasing and sinking the boot in style of tabloid gossip that sells papers albeit written more eloquently than most of her peers.

No. I thought that article about the security guard was very insensitive and self serving. She is such a sour puss.