I'm getting fed up with the implication that Collingwood is a one-man side. That is complete bollocks.
In fact I reckon Collingwood plays better as a team when Buckley isn't so dominant. Like the other night against West Coast. Buckley was well held, I thought. But other players rose to the occasion. In 1998 Buckley missed a few games with injury in the middle of the season and we actually played better without him.
There is far too much emphasis put on individual players these days. At the elite A.F.L. level, there is really not that much difference in ability between the players that are widely recognised as "champions" and those who struggle to hold their place in their respective team.
It's just that we've got this "star" system that permeates every aspect of our winner-takes-all culture. And it blinds us to reality.
Sure Buckley is a great player.
But so is Shane O'Bree, Scott Burns, Anthony Rocca, Tarkyn Lockyer, Josh Fraser, Steroids Johnson, Molly Molloy, Rupert Betheras, Nick Davis, Leon Davis ... and you could go through the whole list.
The fact is ... unless you are a great footballer ... you simply don't make it on to the list of an A.F.L. club ... ANY A.F.L. club, no matter where it might be on the ladder.
But our star-obsessed culture wets itself over the Careys, the Buckleys, the Harveys, the Hirds ... even though the reality is that it is a very fine line that separates a best and fairest trophy winner from a splinter-bottom.
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**floreat pica**