AFL Nathan Buckley Retires

AFL Football News
Nathan Buckley Retires
Goodbye to a Champ

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One of the greats of the modern day game has announced his retirement from AFL football after a magnificent 15-year career.

Nathan Buckley’s leadership skills, determination and professionalism, coupled with his long list of accolades and notoriety as one of the greatest kicks of the football in the game’s long history make for an outstandingly well-packaged career.

The former Southern Districts (Northern Territory), Port Adelaide Magpies (SANFL) and Brisbane Bears player needs a whole page to himself whenever his awards, medals and honours are read out.

Buckley won the Magarey Medal as the best and fairest player in South Australia in 1992 and also took home the Jack Oatey Medal in the same year as best on ground in the SANFL Grand Final.

In his first year of AFL football, Buckley played with Brisbane and won the AFL’s inaugural Rising Star Award by a street. The Bears could not secure the gun midfielder for any longer than one season and Buckley moved to Collingwood immediately after the 1993 season.

In his first year as a Magpie, Buckley won the club’s best and fairest award and he would add another five Copeland Trophies to his cabinet before his career drew to a close.

He won All-Australian honours on seven occasions and twice played for Australia in the International Rules series.

In 2002, the Magpies fell nine points short of a premiership, but Buckley did not disappoint with a Norm Smith Medal-wining display against Brisbane.

The following year the Magpies lost to the Lions in the decider once more, but more individual honours came Buckley’s way, wining the Brownlow Medal in a three-way tie with Sydney’s Adam Goodes and Adelaide’s Mark Ricciuto.

The 2007 season was Buckley’s most frustrating to date, repeatedly injuring his hamstrings and playing just five games, including three finals, in a year that Collingwood made the final four.

Flanked by Collingwood president Eddie McGuire and coach Mick Malthouse and watched on by his family and teammates, Buckley admitted his weary body could not go on for another season.

“Over the last couple of weeks the mind has been going all over the place – Should I? Should I not? But I’m committed within my mind with the decision that’s been made,” the 35-year-old said.

“Basically in my mind, my body’s just not ready to go.

“I’ll never not want to play the game, that’ll remain with me for the rest of my life, but I just can’t trust my body anymore.”

Buckley went on to reveal he almost retired two thirds of the way through the season after being repeatedly hindered by injury.

“I’m glad I stuck it out because that last little bit was a fair ride,” Buckley said.

He also admitted that injuring his hamstring for the seventh time in the season in the final stages of the side’s five-point preliminary final loss to Geelong would have been ‘bittersweet’, with the veteran unlikely to have played the following week if the Magpies had beaten the Cats.

Buckley acknowledged his teammates throughout his career and his family for their support throughout his 280 AFL matches and reaffirmed his embarrassment for individual accolades, believing the team ideology is all that is important on the football field.

Buckley leaves the Magpies as arguably their best ever player and one of the game’s true champions.

Gavin Haines