Only a year after his career was rocking in dire straits, Nathan Buckley has undergone a miraculous turnaround of events to be named the AFL Coaches Association senior coach of the year for 2018.
In his seventh season as Collingwood’s senior coach, the 46-year-old will lead the club into his first grand final on Saturday.
The Magpies have won 17 of their past 23 games and topped off the year with a stunning 113-70 victory over Richmond in last week’s preliminary final.
“I think it’s an acknowledgement of a pretty strong year by our club and our team,” Buckley told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“I do think it speaks to performance either above or below expectations because it’s pretty hard to measure the effectiveness of a senior coach from anywhere other than inside the four walls.
“The fact that it comes from the peers, I acknowledge.
“I think they would understand and pick up and see things that would speak to them maybe a little more specifically than just that performance above expectation.”
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Voted on by his fellow coaches and assistants on Tuesday night, he polled 344 votes to win the award for the first time.
West Coast coach Adam Simpson came in second with 271 votes, after leading the Eagles into their second grand final in four years.
Melbourne’s Simon Goodwin polled 82 votes for assisting the Demons into their first preliminary final in eighteen years.
However, this triumph only comes a year after Collingwood came close to sacking Buckley.
After the Magpies dominated the AFL in 2010, the club only finished 13th last season and missed the finals altogether for the fifth consecutive year.
Buckley said that the pressure of being the Pies' head coach over a turbulent seven years has had a significant effect on his family.
“I’m trying to teach my sons that things are never as bad as they seem or as good, but the last 12 months it’s getting really hard to convince them of that because it has either been really bad or really good as far as anyone else is concerned,” Buckley said.
“I think it has provided a contrast to the speculation and criticism that was fairly widespread of the club and of myself in that role.
“The family is not immune to that, but I’m not the only senior coach that is a dad. The fact that in recent times our success and the focus on it has seen more intimate and tender father-son moments. I love seeing it and I love being a part of it.”
Buckley adds this most recent award to his extensive resume which boasts a Brownlow Medal, seven All-Australian selections, six Copeland Trophies, a Norm Smith Medal and a Rising Star.