- Collingwood great makes surprise move
After missing out on the head-coaching job with the Demons and publicly announcing his desire to coach the AFL’s new Tasmanian team, Nathan Buckley has made the shock decision to join the Geelong Cats.
The Cats unveiled the former Collingwood star as their new assistant coach on Tuesday morning in a move that will leave footy fans blindsided.
Buckley, 53, currently works for Fox Sports and SEN as an expert analyst. Fox has reported that he will stay on in his role with the broadcaster once he starts work with Geelong.
‘We are excited to add Nathan to our Club and more specifically to our coaching group. He is respected and highly regarded across the football industry and brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective,’ Cats executive general manager of football Andrew Mackie said in a statement.
‘In speaking with Nathan, it was clear he had a strong appetite to return to coaching, and we look forward to welcoming him to our football program to work closely with our players and staff.’
Last month, Buckley revealed he was happy to miss out on replacing Simon Goodwin as boss of the Melbourne Demons because it gave him a shot at landing the head coaching job with the Tasmania Devils.
Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley (pictured) was keen to chase the top job with the incoming Tasmania Devils team, but has now elected to join Geelong
The 53-year-old will reportedly stay on in his roles with Fox Sports (pictured) and SEN, where he works as an expert AFL analyst
‘I had to risk sacrificing an opportunity to coach Melbourne to keep an opportunity to coach Tasmania, because the timelines just didn’t match up,’ he said.
‘Melbourne, rightfully, made the decision on a coach that was absolutely all-in and wanted to do the job and that was Steven King.’
Buckley – who coached the Magpies to the 2018 Grand Final – added he was ‘more attracted to the Tasmania job than the Melbourne job’ as working with a new sporting franchise would be a unique opportunity.
‘Prosecuting [weighing up] the Melbourne case and where I sit in my coaching career [I’ve concluded] I do want to coach again… and I haven’t really been able to say that until probably about a month ago,’ he said.
‘I’d love to be involved in the Tassie process, and that journey. I’ll have a chat with them and see if that’s involved in a more official capacity.’
Buckley coached the Magpies for 10 years after playing 260 games for the club.
He won the Brownlow Medal in 2003, and the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground during the 2002 grand final, despite being on the losing side as Brisbane won the flag over Collingwood.
