Judging Bucks

[RudeBoy]

Given we are at the half way mark of the season, I thought it was time we assessed Bucks as our coach.

I reckon Bucks has been a very good coach since he assumed the role. Having to initially deal with the deliberate undermining from "perceptive fellow" Malthouse, the inane egotistical ("look at me, look at me") ramblings of Lumumba, the out-of-control ("it's not my fault, I've got ADD") Heater, the loss of Beams, the worst injury run in the AFL last year, plus the loss of 2 important players on the eve of this season through drug violations, any other novice coach would have crumbled under the stress. Instead, Bucks has been all class, always keeping the players eyes on where he wants to take them. Regardless of where we finish up this year, I'm thrilled we've got Bucks as our coach. He fills me with confidence and it seems that's how the players feel too. Congratulations Bucks. Go Pies!

[MightyMagpie]

[Mugwump]

He has been very good, I think. That 2011 team was already on the wane when he took it over (it was slaughtered in Rd 22, just scraped through the prelim,then was demolished in the main game). Its mainsprings, including Jolly, Davis, Thomas, Didak and Ball were all on the wane, and we had few top draft picks to replenish, as we'd been up for years. The Malthouse game plan had been superseded and needed to be reinvented.

Despite all of this, we have avoided a crushing bottoming-out, and buckley has epitomised grace under pressure through the downturn, enhancing the reputation of the club through his gravitas and maturity, while building a great platform for the future. I'm not sure I'd exoect better results form any other coach in the AFL, right now.

[Bob Sugar]

I'm willing to admit my early fears about his coaching are diminishing, i think we're a lock for finals this year and that's a pass mark for me, if we make finals I'd be happy to give him another 2-3 year extension, if we miss finals I'd probably hold off contract talks to the end of next season.

[droversdog65]

Rude I think you need to check back 3 years for the complete picture on injuries, it's possibly the worst run this year but would certainly be the absolute worst run in history for injuries over three years - particularly in newly drafted players.

Mick left behind a landmine field of discontented players and assistant coaches which any coach would struggle to deal with - let alone a debutant.

We have recruited well to bolster our strength and alleviate our weaknesses but that unbelievably sustained run of 3 years injury ravaging of the list has painted a false picture of where the club is presently.

[AN_Inkling]

I think Buckley has done a decent job in recovering from the disastrous handover decision (to say that our list was inevitably headed for decline is ridiculous, it's the handover that made certain of it) and we are now, over 3 years later, close to recovering that lost ground. A different personality could have handled the situation more smoothly and with less player discontent, and while it's possible we may be better off in the long run, that is yet to be seen even if the signs are now looking good.

For mine, this is the first season under Bucks where we are performing at or above expectations. Finish the season off in the same way we've started and it will be a big tick for 2015.

[droversdog65]

It was Mick's infantile posturing at the end of the '11 H&A series that made it a disastrous handover.

I don't know about the list but the gameplan was certainly shot half way through '11 and Mick doesn't do plan B's.

So yeah we were toast and the rest, as they say is history.

[Mugwump]

[Jezza]

My faith in Buckley's coaching ability has been tested on a few occasions but I'm really starting to see something positive building at the club under his coaching reign and I think it's evident that the players are becoming more united and are playing for him, the game plan is starting to emerge and most importantly the culture of the club has improved with higher standards and expectations from the playing group.

We started embracing a rebuild at the end of 2013 and since then the club has been better off for it even some periods have been painful and made us question the direction of the club, but overall it's been amazing that we haven't bottomed out but managed our list turnover extremely well in comparison to many other clubs like St.Kilda and the Bulldogs who needed a total cleanout to become good sides again.

Buckley became coach of the club at a bad time in my opinion as the benefit of hindsight demonstrates. The team had come off a Premiership in 2010 and was so close to going back to back in 2011 until it fell short against Geelong but nevertheless we were just past our peak and the inevitable decline was going to occur. The forward press gameplan started to get found out, some players weren't as hungry for more success after 2010 and were content with one Premiership, some players would have been unhappy with the coaching handover as personality clashes became evident in Buckley's early years and most importantly the team probably wasn't going to reach the heights of 2010 and 2011 again.

I hear a lot of arguments especially from opposition supporters that Buckley destroyed a golden team but I think this is incorrect. I do believe had Mick stayed one more year in 2012 that we may have had success again but beyond that I think we were no chance and our premiership clock was over. The recruitment of Young, Lynch and Russell were examples of us still trying to go for a flag in 2013 but in reality we were nowhere near it and we went backwards as a result. Nevertheless, Bucks did a good job in 2012 and we were just a little short of being better than the heavyweights in Sydney and Hawthorn that year so he was far from disgraced that year.

The 2013 season was the turning point of the season and demonstrated that a new direction had to occur or else we would face a big decline if nothing changed in our personnel and progress.

[Golden Gordon]

I've already given my opinion on Nathan Buckley on another thread. This has been his breakout year. He is slotting into the coaching role like we expected he would, but it all takes time. This year he is communicating better with the players, and I am confident the future holds wonderful success for Collingwood with Bucks as coach.

Anyone who watches AFL360 on Monday nights can hear for themselves how strong Buckley's grasp of footy strategy is.

[AN_Inkling]

[RudeBoy]

[Mugwump]

[John Wren]

is it not possible to make a judgement on this season without the need to rehash old ground? it's realy fukking boring to read about it over and over again. for me, it is not just bucks who we should be judging, it's the whole club. stability is going to contribute to improved performances.

i applaud the conservative approach to the way injuries have been managed. steve grace's move to the forward line working with anthony rocca looks like it is paying dividends. our younger guys have a better understanding and knowledge of the game plan and have another year under their belt in learning to execute it. our defence is getting better with the team defence aspects of the game and we're running more players through the mdfield and forward lines. we're looking more versatile which will stand us in good stead from next season when the sub (hopefully) disappears.

[perthmagpie]

I fully believe our team development is a whole year behind schedule. The injuries since mid 2011 and the stunted careers of much our best young talent has delayed us seeing Bucks's plan. If we had a decent run with injury and had Scharenberg, Freeman, Broomhead, Kennedy, Grundy with full pre seasons since they arrived we would be praising the plan greatly. Instead here we are in 2015, not 2014 starting to believe in the future. Seems pretty clear to me where we are headed and there is still some significant change ahead with our team before we have it all assembled for our tilt.

If you look back at our young premiership team it is sad we didn't grab another flag. The handover could be argued as been badly timed. But those injuries and suspensions in 2011 is what caused our decline. Too many players also lost sight of what brought them to the pinnacle. In 2012 we we on a trend down. What did Bucks do? He assessed we needed to cut and he took a gamble and got rid of a raft of experienced players who he thought would not improve. And he was right. The performance of many who left has shown those players had no improvement in them. He traded back into the draft to bring in elite talent who he could bring up in a newer culture that had less individuals who had lost their hunger.

We have some evidence as to what Bucks is building and I believe it will become clearer next year as we slot the best young talent into the team. But we have to remain patient. The top teams have two or three years of experience on average compared to ours.