Essendon legend Tim Watson has backed Nathan Buckley as a viable option amid Carlton’s hunt for a new coach, following the axing of David Teague this week.
Veteran footy journalist Caroline Wilson and commentator Eddie McGuire both tipped on Wednesday’s edition of Nine’s Footy Classified that former St Kilda and Fremantle coach Ross Lyon was Carlton’s key target, after four-time premiership mentor Alastair Clarkson withdrew from the race.
But Essendon icon Watson gave a host of reasons why Buckley should be considered for Carlton’s top gig.
“Absolutely. I said this the other day. I would consider Nathan Buckley,” Watson said on SEN.
“I would consider Nathan Buckley because if you have a look at his record, his record’s fine. Like he didn’t win a flag (but) he got a team into the grand final.
“Everybody acknowledges that the second time around you’re a better coach.
“For whatever reason things went off the tracks at Collingwood, but there were a lot of other things that were going on behind the scenes at Collingwood.
“Now, he wasn’t in charge of the salary cap, he wasn’t in charge of the dislocation at the football club during that period of time. How did that impact their on-field playing performance around then?
“So he’s got to be so much better for the experience.”
Buckley’s storied time at the Magpies rounded to a close when he and the club made a mutual decision to part ways in June.
The former Magpies captain had led Collingwood to a grand final appearance against West Coast in 2018, but their form trailed off in 2020 and continued to slide this season.
While Collingwood were renowned for their excellent defence in their best seasons under Buckley, Teague had Carlton playing an attacking brand of footy.
If Buckley was to take on the Blues’ coaching job, Watson said one of his prime challenges would be to harness those two strengths.
“Obviously these Carlton players know how to attack, ‘Bucks’ knows how to defend, we know that because of the defensive way Collingwood played,” Watson continued.
“Now, what has he learnt in that time in terms of being able to combine the two and have a better attacking mechanism than what he had at Collingwood for particularly the last 18 months (to) two years of his coaching there?”
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