Nathan Buckley – 250 of the best

On the eve of his 250th game, Sports Australia’s resident Magpie nut, Nick Smart, tips his hat to his football hero, the great Nathan Buckley, and reflects on his sterling career and what he means to the Collingwood Football Club.

Collingwood Captain Nathan Buckley leads the Magpies out into battle.

At the 2002 AFL Grand Final, I was at the Punt Road End on the ground level sitting on the edge of my seat in the freezing cold as I watched that dramatic game unfold before my eyes.

When you look back on games, they are often very hazy as a whole but there are always a few specific incidents that you can look back on and still see clear as day years and years after they have passed.

For me, at the 2002 Grand Final, I always come back to this one incident.

Magpie Tarkyn Lockyer marks the ball on the boundary line 55 metres out from goal following an ill-directed Mal Michael kick-in. He handballs to Nathan Buckley, who had already had about 20 kicks for the day, and he calmly slots it through the middle from the boundary line to bring the Magpie Army to its feet.

I turned to my mate next to me and, with fire in my eyes, said: “If we don’t win the flag today for Bucks’ sake if anything, there is no f…ing justice in football.”

Half an hour later, justice, sadly, did not prevail.

Following a truly epic battle in which both teams gave everything they had, the Lions prevailed by nine points. Shattering was an understatement.

Sitting there in the cold, emotionally drained and with no voice left, I shed a few tears and I don’t mind admitting it.

I shed a few tears for myself, for the fact we came so close, for my fellow supporters, but above all – I shed a tear for Nathan Buckley, the man who deserved it more than anybody.

The great man, who had carried us for ten years, had fittingly carried us largely again that day, and much like Gary Ablett in 1989 with Geelong – nearly won the club a premiership off his own merits.

Sitting there after the game in my inconsolable state watching the presentation, it came time to award the coveted Norm Smith Medal. Just quietly, to myself, I thought ‘gee, Bucks would have to be a real shot.’ Then they called his name. Oh no. The poor bastard. What a cruel twist.

In the game he had waited his whole life to play, he was sensational and, more than any other player on the field that day, deserved the honour of playing in a premiership side.

When he finally hangs up the boots and I reflect back on his wonderful career, I will always come back to the 2002 Grand Final. I will never forget how he played that day. It will stay with me until I am too old and decrepit to remember anything else.

His performance was a kick in the teeth to anyone who ever doubted his leadership and captaincy, and, to me, it was a game that perfectly summed up his entire Collingwood career and what he has had to endure – his own individual brilliance trying to carry a large chunk of his teammates, but in the end the task was just too much for one player, albeit an amazing one.

It is one of the tragedies of this football club that Nathan Buckley has never played with a good team while being in his prime.

During the dreaded 90’s, nearly every week Buckley would bust his gut, gather 30 plus possessions, and the club would lose; our one bright shining light in a decade of darkness and misery.

This happened consistently from 1995 until 2001, but he stuck with us and also resisted a lucrative offer to captain Port Adelaide when they came in to the competition in 1997.

As a younger supporter, whenever we lost in the mid to late 90’s, I would always first think ‘poor Bucks’, because he was the only player that could ever hold his head high every single week – win, loss or draw.

There are thousands to pick from, but there is one more game – along with the 2002 Grand Final – that I’ll always come back to when I remember “Bucks”. And it is a recent one.

His long-awaited return match against Sydney earlier this year was something of a fairytale. After taking one quarter to get re-adjusted to the pace of the game, Buckley dominated the second half and looked anything but a man who had missed half a season of football.

Watching the game with my father, the one who had passed the Collingwood baton down to me, we couldn’t help but just sit back and just marvel at the feats of this man.

Buckley is a once in a generation player – a model of consistency and professionalism. While he may not have the flashiness of a James Hird or Andrew McLeod, his ability to be consistently good game-in-game-out for ten years should never be underestimated. It was the great Ron Barassi who once said: “You’re not a champion unless you’re consistent. No way.”

He is one of, if not the best, players to have ever pulled on the famous black and white jumper and the best player I’ve ever seen at Collingwood. He will be a legend at the club for as long as it is in existence.

Nathan Buckley – 250 games – I salute you.

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