Geelong mastermind Chris Scott has delivered a fully loaded answer to a question about Nathan Buckley’s coaching credentials, talking up his assistant while also (not so subtly) giving James Hird an imperious thumbs down.
Asked why he thought Buckley would be a “good” senior coach, Scott carefully constructed an answer and, without mentioning Hird, suddenly became very pointed about Hird’s ambitions to again coach Essendon.
“I would prefer Nathan to speak for himself on this one,” Scott began when Buckley’s link to the newly formed Tasmanian franchise was brought up.
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“I don’t think I’m that effective when it comes to selling the attributes of our assistant coaches anyway because my guess is everyone says, ‘of course you’re going to say that’ … but what I have admired about Bucks, I think everyone knows … I think it’s a compliment to say he’s a footy head.
“He just loves the game, he’s really passionate about it ….”
Hird and Buckley are obvious champions of Australian Football, both Brownlow Medal winners, both Hall of Famers, both 53 years old, both loved by their former clubs Essendon and Collingwood respectively.
And they’ve had fascinating coaching journeys, both coaching the clubs they represented so gallantly, with Hird last coaching in 2015 and Buckley — who took Collingwood to a grand final in 2018 — last coaching in 2021.
Now they have openly declared that they want to return to the hot seat, with Buckley deciding he would serve as an assistant at Geelong this year to help him in his quest to land a senior job.
“It’s impressed me that he’s acknowledged, even with that passion, he’s come in and realised how long he’s been out of the coaching game and how much has changed,” Scott said of Buckley.
“Well, I’m not even sure of it, but I suspect he decided a while ago that, ‘yes, I’d like the chance to be a senior coach again,’ and that only really happens if you get back into, you know, an apprenticeship role, and get up to speed with the modern game.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, to an extent. Every now and again, I’m kind of a bit starstruck with Bucks walking around but, you know, he hasn’t used that gravitas to cut corners on the work he’s had to do.”
Channel 7’s AFL expert Kane Cornes was quick to dissect Scott’s comments after replaying them on his radio show.
“That’s Chris Scott speaking on Nathan Buckley, and a huge compliment to Nathan Buckley. I think we all feel the same. Absolutely genuine in his praise for Bucks and the work he’s doing to get back into the system,” Cornes said on SEN.
“But there’s a lot that was said in that 35 seconds … you cannot be out of the game for that long and then come back and be a senior coach is essentially what he’s saying.
“You also can’t use your standing in the game just to think you can walk back into a senior coaching gig.
“Nathan Buckley has done neither of that. He’s gone back, he’s learning the modern game, because you cannot be a senior coach without doing that, and you don’t use your standing in the game, as much of a legend as you are, to just think you’re going to walk back into a head coaching role.
“Chris Scott’s the best coach in football, and I don’t know if he intentionally did that, but I think he’s far too smart to use those words and not be having a reference to someone over there (in black and red).”
