If we beat West Coast next week, it will be interesting to see what the media's take will be on Bucks position going into next year.
It will be indeed Dead Eye.
I believe Collingwood are a better than even money chance against WC in Melbourne, who are just insipid away from home.
There are some quarters out there who say Buckley is already cooked - if so - then the result is irrelevant on that front. I for one have no idea which way they will go. If our illustrious President still holds a candle for Buckley into 2018, then these games are very important. It won't take much for this game show host to sway the masses, as he has done successfully over the past 5 odd years. As bizarre as it sounds, 2 wins in a row might just do it.
But then again, Buckley being reappointed in 2018 may not be the worst outcome (sorry Gimp and others). Make no mistake, I don't wan't him at the club any longer than necessary however I would argue that he is the least guilty of the 4 perpetrators involved in his original and ongoing appointment.
For what it's worth, IMO hereunder is the list of guilty parties in order:
1 Pert - manipulative
2 McGuire - emotive conflicted (throw Kelly in there as well)
3 The Board - insipid self interested
4 Buckley - in my humble opinion, Buckley is only guilty of being Buckley. A square peg (himself) in a round hole (in a role that requires man management of a diverse group of personalities). Again, IMO, he was always going to fail in this role and the tangible evidence would suggest this has played out to script.
So if Buckley is removed at the end of the year (as is warranted mind you), do the other 3 parties get away scott free? I would argue that this is not right. So maybe extending Buckley will expose the other 3 parties, and rightly so, because I can almost guarantee that this list under this coach will not materially improve relative to other competing clubs out there (excepting say CG, North and Brisbane) in 2018 and beyond (naturally others will have opposing views). And hence, we will likely stagnate in the bottom 4/6 for the next few years. Maybe this is what needs to happen so as to force permanent and positive material change at Collingwood.