Mick Malthouse and Nathan Buckley at Collingwood training. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun
THE irony of Sunday's master versus apprentice showdown is that Nathan Buckley doesn't really have anything to prove.
Actions spoke louder than words in Round 1, as Buckley's rejigged Magpies showed they were very much in lockstep with their second-year coach.
It was a mighty win, given they won with four of the club's six best midfielders sidelined and at times just with one rotation in the second half.
You just don't win against those odds in modern football.
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This is very much his playing list after a year in which some wondered if the Malthouse influence was a hindrance to Buckley's mission.
Yet the Mick v Bucks theme will still be a key focus this week, mainly because Collingwood is still filthy at what it sees as Malthouse chipping away and undermining Buckley's authority in his last two years at the club.
It started in February 2010, when he kick-started two years of speculation about the succession plan by saying Buckley was not yet ready to coach Collingwood.
Back then his anger over signing the deal to become a coaching director in 2012 was either hidden or not evident.
''If I wasn't happy (with the contract), I wouldn't have signed it,'' he told the Herald Sun on February 6, 2010.
Collingwood's anger at Malthouse finally bubbled over early in Buckley's first season in 2012, when his criticism of Collingwood's game plan saw McGuire say the former coach ''would not have a friend at Collingwood today''.
Yet it was the more subtle actions that would frustrate and bemuse many at the Westpac Centre, and actually confirm to them Buckley had the temperament for the main job.
There are many myths and legends around Malthouse's treatment of Buckley, but enough of them must be true given the sheer number of stories that came from the club in that period.
Mick Malthouse with Nathan Buckley during the 2011 Grand Final. Picture: Craig Borrow Source: Herald Sun
To put it bluntly, Malthouse made it evident that he was boss, and Buckley was very much the work experience kid.
Like using team meetings to assert his authority, urging Bucks to do things like ''get the lights'' before a presentation before the team, pointedly asking menial tasks of the man who would one day be senior coach.
Or in pre-season training sessions when AFL umpires helped out, cutting short conversations because he had to ''go and see what Bucks was doing'' with his players. As in go and fix what Bucks was most likely buggering up.
Those close to the action say Buckley's conduct was impeccable, holding his tongue and calmly serving out his time under his former coach.
Mick: My family was bitter at Collingwood
In the coaches box, he resembled an Easter Island statue, determined to show little emotion yet still help execute Malthouse's game plan to the letter.
In one of Malthouse's last games - the West Coast final during the failed premiership run of 2011 - he threw up a suggestion about shoring up the defence that was savagely torched by Malthouse as not the Collingwood way.
How it affected Buckley - fury, frustration, bitterness - is not known because even when Malthouse smashed his game plan he defused the situation with grace and wit.
They must have been incredibly confusing and harrowing times, especially if senior players did suggest a player petition to retain Malthouse in July 2011, as he describes in detail in daughter Christi's recent biography.
Malthouse has his own issues with Collingwood, seemingly believing the Magpies ambushed him during a difficult period in his life and made him sign a succession plan.
Yet Collingwood's anger back at Malthouse is real, even if publicly the club will toe the party line about its most recent premiership coach.
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WHY ESSENDON IS FAR FROM OUT OF THE WOODS
ANDREW Demetriou has never been accused of lacking smarts.
A City Hall still battling to combat negative emotions over a shocking summer got on the front foot over the past 10 days.
All of a sudden Demetriou was throwing out news stories left and right on radio and TV and in print.
Some cynics might suggest it was to divert the news agenda, but we wouldn't dare.
Take it as read the pre-season will be cut in length and the NAB Cup will likely be as few as two games before a longer season with two byes.
Demetriou also smashed Etihad Stadium repeatedly over trifling issues like the countdown clock, no doubt as part of his wider continuing battle to find an appropriate price for the stadium.
But one little nugget slipped the attention of many and it concerned Essendon.
Asked by SuperFooty's Mark Robinson on SEN Radio about the potential for Essendon to be fined under the rules which govern bringing the game into disrepute, Demetriou was quick not to pre-judge ASADA's inquiry.
But he said Essendon had already committed to giving league headquarters a copy of its internal inquiry, and certainly didn't rule out using the AFL's full powers.
Anyone who tells you they know exactly what is going to happen with the ASADA inquiry is making it up.
Yet despite Demetriou's careful use of words you were left with the distinct impression Essendon could easily face the kind of AFL penalty that saw Adelaide and Melbourne hit with recent sanctions.
Given Demetriou has admitted the AFL has asked how Essendon players could access lesser penalties, it would seem strange for the AFL to penalise Essendon before the ASADA inquiry is done.
Demetriou gave a nice clip there too on the weekend, saying we should not assume the AFL hadn't voiced its displeasure with the grandstanding press conference into the ACC report.
When Demetriou voices his displeasure, people aren't left in any doubt about his feelings.
So we will likely have to wait months before any potential AFL action, but even if players dodge sanctions or are found not to have taken banned substances, the AFL could still hit Essendon hard over those often-quoted ''irregular practices''.
Essendon chief executive, Ian Robson, left, chairman David Evans and coach James Hird face the media at Windy Hill yesterday. Picture: Chris Scott Source: Supplied
THE BEST OF THE MIDFIELDERS
Midfield performances that include 30 possessions and multiple goals are a dime a dozen.
What impressed us about the Round 1 midfield masterclass was that so many of them featured onball stars who performed with backs to the wall, or with monumental stakes.
We thought for the sake of it, we would rank those performances, just because we could.
1. GARY ABLETT
His sheer mastery of football is mind-boggling. On his home track and with nothing to lose, yet Ablett went forward and conjured magic time and again. Couldn't go past his 34 possessions, six inside-50s, 19 contested possessions and four goals, including three in the final term to get Gold Coast home.
2. JOBE WATSON
A knee just recovering from a medial strain. A club under siege all season. A team battling against the odds at AAMI Stadium. And yet Watson steps up with 34 touches, 13 of them contested, with seven clearances. Plus the goal to seal the game. As coach James Hird said, Watson had put his game face on from halfway through the week until the final siren. He simply would not be denied. Amazing.
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 22: Jobe Watson of the Bombers celebrates after the round one AFL match between the Adelaide Crows and the Essendon Bombers at AAMI Stadium on March 22, 2013 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Morne de Klerk/Getty Images) Source: HWT Image Library
3. TRENT COTCHIN
Was it a better performance than those scintillating games from Pendlebury and Selwood? Probably not. But he certainly had a better tagger in the form of super stopper Andrew Carrazzo. And the stakes were higher if Richmond lost from 42 points down. He was quiet early but willed Richmond into the contest with 33 touches, at one point dragging down Carrazzo then setting up Tyrone Vickery for a goal. Then he twice saved Richmond from Carlton goals with intercepts in the last term. Huge.
4. JOEL SELWOOD
Great players single-handedly turn games. Joel Selwood did that against Hawthorn with his inspired third quarter in a match Chris Scott said reminded him of Ablett's deeds. Selwood had no James Kelly to give him a chop out, no Steve Johnson pinch-hitting in the midfield and no Joel Corey as the strong-bodied presence. He did it all. There was a time Selwood didn't dominate finals. Now he hardly fails in big games or finals and could easily have a Norm Smith Medal around his neck from the 2011 premiership.
Geelong captain Joel Selwood bursts out of trouble to set up a late goal for the Cats. Picture: Klein Michael Source: Herald Sun
5. SCOTT PENDLEBURY
The fifth great midfield performance of the round against the odds. He had Dane Swan alongside him, but no Luke Ball, Dale Thomas, Heath Shaw or Dayne Beams. Yet he cut North Melbourne to ribbons, then helped the Pies hold on when Collingwood looked out on its feet. His shimmy past Ben Cunnington, then precise kick to Travis Cloke on the lead was one of the true highlights of the weekend.
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