Opinion Did Nathan Buckley make a mistake leaving Brisbane for Collingwood in 1994?

[GC2015]

Of course it's impossible to know exactly what would happen if any player decided against requesting a trade, but the achievements of the two clubs during Buckley's career were pretty different (see below) and Buckley played alongside some very talented youngsters while he was with Brisbane who went on to become triple premiership players like Michael Voss, [PLAYERCARD]Marcus Ashcroft[/PLAYERCARD], [PLAYERCARD]Shaun Hart[/PLAYERCARD], [PLAYERCARD]Justin Leppitsch[/PLAYERCARD], [PLAYERCARD]Darryl White[/PLAYERCARD], [PLAYERCARD]Craig McRae[/PLAYERCARD], [PLAYERCARD]Clark Keating[/PLAYERCARD] etc and they were about to recruit a bunch of others like Nigel Lappin, [PLAYERCARD]Chris Scott[/PLAYERCARD] and Jason Akermanis.

Brisbane
1994: 12th
1995: 8th (knocked out first week of finals)
1996: 3rd (knocked out in the third week of finals)
1997: 8th (knocked out first week of finals)
1998: 16th
1999: 3rd (knocked out in the third week of finals)
2000: 6th (knocked out in the second week of finals)
2001: Premiers
2002: Premiers
2003: Premiers
2004: Runners-up
2005: 11th
2006: 13th
2007: 10th

Collingwood
1994: 8th (knocked out first week of finals)
1995: 10th
1996: 11th
1997: 10th
1998: 14th
1999: 16th
2000: 15th
2001: 9th
2002: Runners-up
2003: Runners-up
2004: 13th
2005: 15th
2006: 5th (knocked out first week of finals)
2007: 6th (knocked out in the third week of finals)

3 flags to 0, 4 GFs to 2 and 9 finals series to 5 in the 14 years he spent at Collingwood. So, did Buckley make a mistake in requesting a trade from Brisbane to Collingwood in 1994? Why/Why not?

 

[Altum Volantes]

He was always keen to leave Brisbane and had a great career, so no I don't think he did.

On the flip side...when he went to Collingwood, North Melbourne were considered the 'Runner Up' for his signature.

Considering North's more immediate success....

Did he make a mistake choosing Collingwood over North Melbourne?...

 

[OldLion]

How about "Nick Riewoldt 50km rule" - The rule prevented the Brisbane Lions from recruiting Nick Riewoldt as a local player because his family home on the Gold Coast fell just outside the geographical access zone.

A rule just for one potential player. There's multiple premierships lost right there.

“I could have won a few medals but I would have had to play on the wing with the likes of (Jonathan) Brown, (Alastair) Lynch and (Daniel) Bradshaw running around in the forward line,” he joked.

What Riewoldt didn’t say was that there was an earlier scenario, which is a largely untold version of the recruiting zone story that would have had made him a Brisbane player.

As Queensland football folklore has it, under the initial priority the Lions were to be given a 150km catchment area so as to afford the same opportunity to aspiring youngsters from all of south-east Queensland.

It was only as the 2000 season wore on, and the potential of the Broadbeach and Southport youngster came to light, that the zone was reduced to 50km after a flood of protests from recruiters of Melbourne-based clubs.

This put an ‘off limits’ sign on Riewoldt, who had played a string of games early in the 2000 season with the Lions Reserves, known as the Lion Cubs, under coach Mathew Armstrong.

And it meant that instead of Riewoldt, the Lions used the local recruiting concession to claim Bundaberg-born ruckman Charman, who was playing at the time with the Northern Eagles.

 

[GC2015]

How about "Nick Riewoldt 50km rule" - The rule prevented the Brisbane Lions from recruiting Nick Riewoldt as a local player because his family home on the Gold Coast fell just outside the geographical access zone.

A rule just for one potential player. There's multiple premierships lost right there.

“I could have won a few medals but I would have had to play on the wing with the likes of (Jonathan) Brown, (Alastair) Lynch and (Daniel) Bradshaw running around in the forward line,” he joked.

What Riewoldt didn’t say was that there was an earlier scenario, which is a largely untold version of the recruiting zone story that would have had made him a Brisbane player.

As Queensland football folklore has it, under the initial priority the Lions were to be given a 150km catchment area so as to afford the same opportunity to aspiring youngsters from all of south-east Queensland.

It was only as the 2000 season wore on, and the potential of the Broadbeach and Southport youngster came to light, that the zone was reduced to 50km after a flood of protests from recruiters of Melbourne-based clubs.

This put an ‘off limits’ sign on Riewoldt, who had played a string of games early in the 2000 season with the Lions Reserves, known as the Lion Cubs, under coach Mathew Armstrong.

And it meant that instead of Riewoldt, the Lions used the local recruiting concession to claim Bundaberg-born ruckman Charman, who was playing at the time with the Northern Eagles.

A generational talent predominantly developed in Queensland that could have been the face of the sport up here during the 2000s + mid 2010s and how much of a difference would it have made while Brisbane were struggling in some of those years. Unfortunately, the AFL listened to Eddie McGuire's cries back then when the 1999 wooden spooner Pies were looking to land him as the no.1 pick the following year and Brisbane's zone was altered as a result. It really is such a shame that Riewoldt never played footy for a Queensland club because he could've had a massive impact on the growth of the game up here, especially in a period when QLD footy was struggling. By his own admission, Riewoldt was very close to coming home to the Gold Coast to join the Suns in 2010 when he was in his prime at 28yo, but said he just couldn't bring himself to leave the Saints while they had an open premiership window.

While the Suns and Riewoldt were negotiating, he had just played in his first GF with St Kilda in 2009 and they made the GF again in 2010 so the timing couldn't have been worse in terms of Gold Coast trying to convince him to move back to Queensland. It would've been a fantastic story to have had a superstar Gold Coaster who played juniors at Southport / Broadbeach and did his schooling at All Saints in our first year in the league and Riewoldt wouldn't have been dragged into the St Kilda schoolgirl situation because he would've left the Saints by then. I'm certain Gold Coast locals would've felt a greater connection to the team in our early years if we had one of our own like Nick Riewoldt leading the team!

Queensland essentially had an almost identical situation play out 15 years earlier with Brisbane born + raised Coorparoo junior and Churchie educated Jason Dunstall when Brisbane threw a huge 10-year contract at him in 1993 when Dunstall was in his prime as a 28yo and Hawthorn weren't the dominant team they used to be. Dunstall would've immediately become the face of Queensland footy in the early / mid 1990s while Brisbane were struggling on field and perhaps they would've had a better chance of retaining Buckley because he was also there in 1993! I know Alastair Lynch ended up getting that Dunstall contract and he was great later on but I'm sure those early years when Lynch suffered from chronic fatigue would've been much better with local superstar Dunstall lining up. It also would've been a great transition period to go from Dunstall leading the charge for Brisbane in the late 1990s into Riewoldt taking the mantle in the early 2000s. Riewoldt's idol growing up just so happened to be Dunstall and that would've been special for them to share the Brisbane forward line at that time while they transitioned and perhaps Dunstall would've hung on to play in Brisbane's inaugural 2001 flag - he was 36yo at the time and would've had another two years to run on his contract.

Regardless of Dunstall's moves, it would've been a great story to have a prodigiously talented Queensland product in Riewoldt entering his prime years with Brisbane when they began their slide down the ladder in 2005. The Riewoldt-Brown forward line combination would've surely kept Brisbane in the conversation for most of the late 2000s / early 2010s and we may have seen a few more flags won by the Lions. IMO it's really a massively lost opportunity to not have these Queensland superstars playing for a QLD club and growing the game up here. Especially considering the Broncos didn't do much in the 10 years that followed after their 2006 premiership win and the door was wide open for the Lions to keep building momentum for at least the next decade. Just goes to show how much one rule tweak can completely change the fortunes of a sport in an entire state and there's no doubt that's part of the reason the northern academies are being retained is to avoid these situations in the future. The AFL firmly believes the best Queenslanders in the league should be playing for QLD clubs.

Funnily enough, Will Ashcroft found himself in a similar scenario a few years back when he was weighing up whether to head back to his home state of Queensland to join the Lions as a father-son pick or nominate for the national draft and likely end up at North Melbourne. It can't be underestimated how big of a deal it was for Ashcroft to pick the Lions because it essentially guaranteed a generational talent who grew up in Queensland will play for a QLD club for a good chunk of his career and in doing so will significantly contribute to the growth of the game up here like Dunstall and Riewoldt could have (but didn't). The AFL even went as far as to confirm last week that they consider Ashcroft to be a Queenslander when they denied him the opportunity to play for Victoria and it would be great to one day see him captaining the QLD state team if things eventuate like that. Similar to the way Reece Walsh has become a genuine superstar for both the Broncos and Maroons. The Brisbane public love Reece Walsh and I believe Will Ashcroft can do the same for our sport.

Anyway. tl;dr - having the best Queenslanders in the league play for a QLD club is crucial for the growth of the game up here.

 

[Cmarsh]

How about "Nick Riewoldt 50km rule" - The rule prevented the Brisbane Lions from recruiting Nick Riewoldt as a local player because his family home on the Gold Coast fell just outside the geographical access zone.

A rule just for one potential player. There's multiple premierships lost right there.

“I could have won a few medals but I would have had to play on the wing with the likes of (Jonathan) Brown, (Alastair) Lynch and (Daniel) Bradshaw running around in the forward line,” he joked.

What Riewoldt didn’t say was that there was an earlier scenario, which is a largely untold version of the recruiting zone story that would have had made him a Brisbane player.

As Queensland football folklore has it, under the initial priority the Lions were to be given a 150km catchment area so as to afford the same opportunity to aspiring youngsters from all of south-east Queensland.

It was only as the 2000 season wore on, and the potential of the Broadbeach and Southport youngster came to light, that the zone was reduced to 50km after a flood of protests from recruiters of Melbourne-based clubs.

This put an ‘off limits’ sign on Riewoldt, who had played a string of games early in the 2000 season with the Lions Reserves, known as the Lion Cubs, under coach Mathew Armstrong.

And it meant that instead of Riewoldt, the Lions used the local recruiting concession to claim Bundaberg-born ruckman Charman, who was playing at the time with the Northern Eagles.

Wow that's the biggest example of vicbias influence I have ever heard.

 

[Freomaniac]

I mean at the time you would of said no.

I was looking up in Nathan Buckleys Wikipedia page.

So he was a Zone selection from the Northern territory.

I remember him playing 1 season in the SANFL with the Port magpies. Won a premiership that year too.

He wanted to be drafted originally to a Victorian club because of the lifestyle and culture over there.

Good on Brisbane to keep him for that 1993 season to try and persuade him to stay after 1993 season.

Let's keep in mind 2 things.


1. Brisbane, or Queensland at the time wasn't in a good shape when it comes to Aussies rules in that state back in 1994. It's 2026 now and millions of dollars have been invested in Queensland.

2. Not many people back in 1994 would of predicted Brisbane to win a flag in 10 years time let alone 3 in a row

 

[RUNVS]

I can't remember but I just hope Buckley did not complain when players left Collingwood that Collingwood wanted to keep, considering he ran back home the first moment he could.

 

[GC2015]

Wow that's the biggest example of vicbias influence I have ever heard.

A 2002 quote from the AFL website on the matter:

Charman joined the Lions as a 'developing markets' selection in the 2000 AFL National Draft. In fact, he was the player the Lions took when a change in the rules at the time put Riewoldt off limits because he lived more than 50km from Brisbane.

Charman earns round 21 National Rising Star

Anybody who can break into the all-powerful Brisbane side in their second year obviously has something going for them. Jamie Charman is one such player and he e

www.afl.com.au

And a 2022 quote from the Lions' website regarding the matter:

The Lions claimed Zillmere ruckman Jamie Charman at #29 as a Queensland zone selection after the AFL’s late decision to rule that Nick Riewoldt at Southport lived outside the 75km radius that had originally been 150km.

Moments Of Change: The 2000 Trade And Draft

The unconquerable '01-'03 Lions side was being put together from right back in the early 1990s, but two key acquisitions in the trade/draft period of 2000, hardly headline-grabbers at the time, were crucial to the success that followed.

www.lions.com.au

So it sounds like a 'developing markets' rule at the time originally meant Riewoldt would have been zoned to the Brisbane and it was changed late in the piece. IIRC it was Collingwood that pushed hard for the rule change after finishing last in 1999 and they were eyeing off Riewoldt as the number 1 pick in the following draft, which backfired because St Kilda were the ones who ended up finishing last in 2000 and Collingwood finished second last.

I mean at the time you would of said no.

I was looking up in Nathan Buckleys Wikipedia page.

So he was a Zone selection from the Northern territory.

I remember him playing 1 season in the SANFL with the Port magpies. Won a premiership that year too.

He wanted to be drafted originally to a Victorian club because of the lifestyle and culture over there.

Good on Brisbane to keep him for that 1993 season to try and persuade him to stay after 1993 season.

Let's keep in mind 2 things.


1. Brisbane, or Queensland at the time wasn't in a good shape when it comes to Aussies rules in that state back in 1994. It's 2026 now and millions of dollars have been invested in Queensland.

2. Not many people back in 1994 would of predicted Brisbane to win a flag in 10 years time let alone 3 in a row

So a few important things happened at that time. The NT became a region that was assigned to the struggling Brisbane Bears in 1990 and that allowed them to zone Darryl White in the 1990 national draft. A 17 year old Nathan Buckley just so happened to be dominating during the 1990-91 NTFL season while playing for the Southern Districts Footy Club and this was obviously noticed by Brisbane at the time given it was a part of their zone. An 18 year old Buckley then joined Port Adelaide for the 1991 season and made his senior SANFL debut in late 1991. He didn't make an immediately splash in the SANFL, but Brisbane had seen enough to zone him as an NT product at the 1991 AFL draft (he spent the majority of his life in the NT between the ages of 10 to 17 if anyone is wondering).

Buckley refused to join Brisbane for the 1992 AFL season because he wanted to play in Melbourne and when the AFL dug their heels in to tell him it's Brisbane or nothing, Buckley decided to play another season with Port Adelaide in the SANFL, which included a Margarey Medal win and a premiership (as you pointed out). It was then agreed upon between Brisbane and Buckley that if he played the 1993 season with the Bears and still wanted to be traded after one year, they would trade him to the club of his choice. Draft tampering anyone? Didn't Kurt Tippett get banned for doing that?

Despite Buckley winning the rising star award in his only season with Brisbane, they continued to struggle on field in 1993 and Buckley unsurprisingly requested a trade to a Melbourne club and got his wish by joining Collingwood for the 1994 AFL season. Not really sure how the AFL allowed all of this to occur because it's quite obviously tampering by 2026 standards, but I guess they figured getting Buckley to play one year at Brisbane was better than none. Anyway, some may suggest karma came back to bite Buckley because he missed out on great successes at Brisbane as detailed in the OP.

I can't remember but I just hope Buckley did not complain when players left Collingwood that Collingwood wanted to keep, considering he ran back home the first moment he could.

Home? He wasn't from Melbourne. He was an NT boy that spent a small amount of upbringing in Adelaide and Canberra.

I take your point, though. It would be eyebrow raising if Buckley complained about players wanting to leave Collingwood while he was the coach given what he did when he was a player.