Nathan Buckley

Early career Nathan Buckley was born in suburban Adelaide, South Australia, on 26 July 1972. His family travelled around Australia quite frequently, and by the age of 12, Buckley had been to all major states on the Australian mainland. He grew up supporting Melbourne Football Club. Buckley spent the majority of his football-developing years (aged around 10–17) in the Northern Territory, and thus he has occasionally been regarded as a Territorian. He rebelled at the age of 14, opting to play tennis rather than football, but then his father Ray sent him to boarding school at Victoria's Salesian College in Sunbury to rekindle his enthusiasm in a footy environment. He played his junior football at the Nightcliff Football Club, representing the Northern Territory at school level in 1983 and 1984, and first played senior football at Southern Districts in Darwin. While at St John's, he played school football alongside a number of other future AFL players including Scott Chisholm, Ronnie Burns, Andrew McLeod and Michael Long. He also played alongside various members of the famous Rioli family during his time at St John's. He also played cricket for the "PINTS" social club, alongside Michael Tunn from Triple J. He also played at the Ainslie Football Club in the Canberra-based ACTAFL for a season alongside James Hird when he was 13. During his one year living in Canberra, he attended Daramalan College. In State of Origin he was considered of Northern Territory origin and was selected for a combined Queensland/Northern Territory team and The Allies (a composite team representing several states including the Northern Territory). Collingwood selected ten players on its list who were "untouchable", and the Bears could take any two players outside this list, as well as Collingwood's first round draft pick, in exchange for Buckley. The move saw Buckley move to Collingwood in exchange for Craig Starcevich, Troy Lehmann and the Magpies' first-round draft pick (no. 12, future double-premiership player Chris Scott). Collingwood finishing 15th in 2000 and ninth in 2001, with Buckley starring in both seasons. In Round 2, 2001, Buckley set a record by amassing 46 disposals, the highest total since quarters were shortened to twenty minutes in 1994 AFL season, this remained the record until Round 10, 2009, when surpassed by Dane Swan (48 disposals). He was judged best on ground, gathering 29 possessions and kicking four goals. ==Coaching career==

Collingwood Football Club After months of speculation, Buckley signed a 5-year deal with the Collingwood Football Club and in July 2009, Collingwood Football Club President Eddie McGuire produced a succession plan in which senior coach Malthouse was to hand over the coaching reins to club legend and assistant coach Buckley at the end of the 2011 season. He was the assistant coach under senior coach Malthouse for the 2010 season, including being part of the club's coaching panel in the club's 2010 Premiership victory, and in the 2011 season; he then became senior coach in 2012, Collingwood under Buckley began the 2012 season shakily, losing to Hawthorn in round 1 and being thrashed by Carlton in Round 3. However, they recovered to win their next ten matches and finish the home-and-away season in fourth place with a record of 16–6. They were defeated by Hawthorn in the Qualifying Final before bouncing back to defeat West Coast in the semi-final. However, they lost comfortably to eventual premier Sydney in the Preliminary Final at ANZ Stadium to bring an end to the 2012 season. 2013 started poorly for the Magpies under Buckley, slumping to a 5–4 record after 9 games. They couldn't quite find the consistency of previous seasons and finished the year in sixth place with a 14–8 record. They played Port Adelaide in their Elimination Final at the MCG and slumped to a shock 24-point loss, which caused Buckley to call into question the club's culture. however, Collingwood produced a poor performance in round 1 and lost to 2013 grand finalists Fremantle by 70 points. They ended up missing the finals to finish 12th at the end of the 2014 season partly due to an injury crisis. The Magpies' 2016 season commenced with a heavy 80-point loss at the hands of Sydney and what would be a career-ending injury for Dane Swan. Collingwood rallied the following week, producing an extraordinary 1-point comeback win over Richmond. But the season was again one of failure overall, with injuries to senior players and poor form of others being a factor. They ended 12th on the ladder again with a 9–13 record. Buckley took some heart from a strong finish to the season. Many assumed Buckley would be sacked, but Collingwood honoured his contract extension and Buckley made himself personally accountable for the side's upcoming 2017 season. Poor performance continued into early 2017, with the Magpies losing four of the first five games and being 5–10 after fifteen. Again Collingwood finished the season strongly, with four wins and a draw from the final seven games. They finished 13th on the ladder with a 9–12–1 record. In the 2018 season, despite another injury crisis, Buckley still managed to coach Collingwood to their first Grand Final since 2011. Collingwood lost that Grand Final to the West Coast Eagles by a margin of 5 points with the final score West Coast 11.13 (79) to Collingwood 11.8 (74). This form continued into 2019, Collingwood finished fourth on the ladder with a 15–7 record and defeated top-of-the-ladder Geelong in the first week of the finals. But the Pies missed the Grand Final following a heart-breaking 4-point loss to the GWS Giants in the Preliminary Final. Through the COVID-19-affected 2020 season Collingwood were forced into numerous interstate hubs. The club was fined after Buckley and assistant coach Brenton Sanderson breached COVID protocols during their stay in Western Australia. Collingwood produced a patchy year in terms of form, finishing 8th on the ladder with a 9–7–1 record. The Pies managed a stirring 1-point win over the Eagles in Perth in week 1 of the finals, but were eliminated the following week by Geelong. Buckley supported Collingwood following a tumultuous 2020 trade period which saw three senior players, including Treloar, depart for a modest compensation. After a poor start to the 2021 AFL season, calls began to rise for Buckley to be sacked. The resignation of McGuire from his position as club president earlier in the year was viewed as potentially putting Buckley's position in danger, since he had been one of Buckley's staunchest supporters. On 9 June 2021, Buckley announced that he would step down as senior coach, effective after the Round 13, 2021 Queen's Birthday match against . Collingwood won the match by 17 points; it was their fourth win of the season. Buckley was replaced by assistant coach Robert Harvey as caretaker senior coach of the Collingwood Football Club for the rest of the 2021 season. Geelong Football Club After losing the Melbourne head coaching position to Steven King, Buckley joined Geelong for the 2026 season as an assistant coach. He also continued to work as an analyst at Fox Footy. ==Media==

Buckley has made several appearances on The Footy Show as a panelist. He was the central character in an advertising campaign by wireless broadband provider Unwired. Following his retirement as a player, Buckley was a commentator for the Seven Network and radio station 3AW for the 2008–09 seasons. He made an appearance as a celebrity racer at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, in which he came second overall. Beginning in 2022, Buckley will present the live program Best on Ground on Fox Footy as well as commentating matches for the network. Buckley joined On The Couch with Garry Lyon and Jonathan Brown every Monday night. In January 2022, Buckley appeared as a contestant on the eighth season of Network 10's ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Australia,'' ultimately finishing in third place behind winner Dylan Lewis and runner-up Brooke McClymont. ==Personal life==

Buckley was involved in the AFL "Laws of the Game" or Rules Committee until he controversially resigned. On 31 December 2002, Buckley married Tania Minnici. On 4 December 2020, Buckley and wife Tania jointly announced they have separated after 18 years of marriage. Buckley and Minnici have two sons; Jett Charles, who was born on 22 December 2006 and Ayce Dominic, who was born on 21 September 2008. Buckley has been in a relationship with girlfriend Alex Pike, who herself broke up with her husband of nearly 19 years. Buckley has also moved into harness racing and is the owner of the Group One winner Hurricane Jett, a pacer named after his oldest son and trained by highly successful trainer and Collingwood supporter Jayne Davies. On 24 September 2008, Nathan Buckley's autobiography, All I Can Be, was published in Australia by Penguin Group. ==Statistics==

Playing statistics : ==Head coaching record==

• Team • SANFL • SANFL premiership (): 1992 • Individual • SANFL • Magarey Medal: 1992 • Jack Oatey Medal: 1992 • John Cahill Medal: 1992 • AFL • Brownlow Medal: 2003 • Norm Smith Medal: 2002 • AFLCA Champion Player of the Year: 2003 • All-Australian: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 (vc), 2001, 2003 (vc) • AFL Rising Star: 1993 • AFL Rising Star nominee: 1993 • Copeland Trophy: 1994 (tied with Gavin Brown), 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003 • R.T. Rush Trophy: (2nd B&F): 1997 • J.J. Joyce Trophy: (3rd B&F): 2001 • Bob Rose Award (Best Finals Player): 2003 • Alex Jesaulenko Medal: 1997 • Herald Sun Player of the Year: 1998 • Australian representative honours in International Rules Series: 1999 (c) • State of Origin representative honours for the Allies: 1997 • Australian Football League life member: 2006 • Australian Football Hall of Fame: 2011 • Collingwood Captain: 1999–2007 • Collingwood Team of the Century – half-back flank ==References==