A PROMISING finish to an otherwise desultory year is what is fueling the optimism at Collingwood as the new season approaches.
That’s the view of Magpie coach Nathan Buckley, who believes the four wins and a draw from the final seven games of last year could be the ideal springboard into the new season.
Among them was a 16-point defeat of Melbourne in the final round, with the Demons needing a win to make the finals.
"You always like to win your last game although you prefer it to be a Grand Final," Buckley told AFL.com.au on Friday.
"If you’re not playing finals you want to finish the season off as best you can. We played better footy, more sustainable footy, were more efficient in what we were doing and we tried some things that gave us a look at how we can maximize the strengths of the group going forward."
The Pies would finish the season in 13th place, which marked the fourth-straight season in which they missed the finals. Nevertheless, the club saw fit – after a searching review – to recontract Buckley for two more years.
But he has changed things and believes the addition of Justin Longmuir, Matthew Boyd and Garry Hocking to the coaching panel has freshened the message.
"There’s a good dynamic there and plenty of great strengths among the individuals in our footy program. I’ve delegated more year on year the last few years. The additions to our coaching panel have been really strong."
"If there has been any directive at the Pies, it has been to lighten up. 'Put a smile on your face and see how we go. Get the basics right and attack the year,'" Buckley said.
"That’s been our mentality. We have buy-in from all areas, (we're) enjoying our work and look forward to whatever’s coming.
"Do your job, do it the best you possibly can and do it with a smile on your face."
Having 2010 premiership skipper Nick Maxwell back at the club as people and culture manager has also been a boon.
"You can’t get enough quality people in the organisation and Maxy’s strength of character and values is the type of thing every club should have around the place. He’s been influential with the playing group, putting the leadership program together and has a great affinity with the leadership team."
The Pies have been quite open about moving erstwhile full-forward Darcy Moore to centre half-back this year. There has been no real attempt to keep it quiet; the Pies train on a public park accessible to everyone so there’s been no point trying to keep it a secret.
It is not a move made as a direct result of Richmond’s premiership win last season with Jack Riewoldt and a bunch of pint-sized forwards around him.
"The evolution of forward play, and Richmond is one example, has happened fairly consistently over the last 18 months to two years," Buckley noted.
But he said Moore had the attributes to play in front of and behind the ball as required.
"We have to establish our backline so that it can handle whatever other teams throw at us. In the more medium term, there’s a hole on our list with tall defenders.
"'Darc' wants to influence things. We know he can play in front of the ball, but this will be important for us we think he can have some influence behind the ball."
Buckley did take note of Richmond’s success last year, but seemingly not obsessively.
"The game shifts and changes all the time. Not every team or player has the same strengths. We’ll focus on us and our strengths and we’ll see where that fits with the rest of the competition and take on those learnings and lessons as the season progresses."
