We can still make finals
Buckley shrugs off pressure before crunch clash with Cats
NATHAN Buckley has no regrets about saying 2017 was a “finals or bust” equation for his coaching career, insisting the Magpies were still a chance to make the final eight.
With the club under pressure for its 1-4 start, and the coach feeling the heat in the final year of his contract, Buckley said it could all turn around quickly, starting with tomorrow’s must-win clash with Geelong at the MCG.
He answered with an emphatic “No” when quizzed yesterday about whether he regretted saying last August that he did not expect a new contract if the Magpies missed the finals for a fourth consecutive year.
“I have always had fairly high expectations . . . I am not saying we are high performing at the moment, but high performers always put a little more pressure on themselves than others do,” Buckley said of his 2016 comments.
“I am extremely fortunate to be leading the footy club at this stage. The reality is I have got a job to do. I will get assessed by the ability to do that job, which comes back to wins and losses, which is where I was coming from last year.
“But (the pressure) is defi- nitely outside the four walls. We are actually in control of our destiny and until that is no longer the case, you don’t lift your eyes or take your focus off the things you can actually impact on.
“We are still aiming to play finals, we are one and four, we play a top-of-the-table Cats team, that’s as far as we can afford to look.”
Having described this clash as a “David versus Goliath” contest against an unbeaten Geelong, the Magpies coach is confident his team can cause an upset, despite coming off a five-day break and without key defender Ben Reid (managed).
Buckley wasn’t worried about the external heat arising out of the Anzac Day loss to Essendon, saying the support from within the club had been much appreciated.
President Eddie McGuire said on Wednesday “there is no better person to have our club’s future in his hands than Nathan Buckley”.
“I’m going OK,” Buckley said of how he was handling the pressure. “I have great support internally and I’ve actually been asked (how he is going) a fair bit this week in particular. I probably think about it more when people ask about it than when I’m in my quiet moments.
“The support of the president and the board is always dependent on results, and the support of a coach to his players is dependent on executing your roles. But underneath all that is we are tight-knit, we are in it for the same reasons, we want to be successful.
“So Eddie’s support is appreciated.”
Daniel Wells will be fine for his second AFL game in black and white, despite the short back-up, according to Buckley, and he was confident Scott Pendlebury would hit back hard after two ordinary games.
Tim Broomhead will play after copping a head knock last week.