I thought I'd take a look at the premiership coaches of the last 20 years and see how they stacked up against Buckley and in particular whether I was correct in my assumption that no coach prior to winning there first premiership missed finals 4 years running.
The good news for Buckley diehards is that there was one and none other than Mick Malthouse. It does come with an asterisk attached as those 4 years only a top 5 was in play so it makes it harder to judge. In two of those 4 years his side missed out on finals by 1 game and percentage.
Below are the results I've compiled with the maximum amount of consecutive years of non finals appearances per coach bolded as well as the years they occurred. Some notes of interest on each man also included.
Luke Beveridge coach 2016 to present - 0 (won premiership 2nd year)
Alastair Clarkson coach 2005 to present - 2 - years 05-06 (pre 2008 premiership) (won premiership in 4th year)
John Longmire coach 2011 to present - 0 (never missed finals) (won premiership in 2nd year)
Chris Scott coach 2011 to present - 1 - year 15 (post 2011 premiership) (won premiership 1st year)
Mick Malthouse coach 1984 to 2015 - 4 - years 86-89 (pre 1992 premiership, all Footscray, top 5 in play) (won premiership in 9th year)
Mark Thompson coach 2000 to 2010, 2014 - 3 - years 01-03 (pre 2007 premiership) (won premiership in 8th year)
John Worsfold coach 2002 to 2013, 2016 to present - 3 - years 08-10 (post 2006 premiership) (won premiership in 5th year)
Paul Roos coach 2002 to 2010, 2014 to 2016 - 3 - years 14-16 (post 2005 premiership, all Melbourne) (won premiership in 4th year)
Mark Williams coach 1999 to 2010 - 3 - years 08-10 (post 2004 premiership) (won premiership in 6th year)
Leigh Matthews coach 1986 to 1995, 1999 to 2008 - 4 - years 05-08 (post 2003 4th premiership) (won premiership in 5th year)
Kevin Sheedy coach 1981 to 2007, 2012 to 2013 - 5 - years 05-07, 12-13 (post 2000 4th premiership, includes 2 years at GWS) (won premiership in 4th year)
Denis Pagan coach 1993 to 2002, 2003 to 2007 - 5 - years 03-07 (post 1999 2nd premiership, all Carlton) (won premiership in 4th year)
Malcolm Blight coach 1989 to 1994, 1997 to 1999, 2001 - 2 - years 99, 01 (post 1998 2nd premiership, includes 15 games at St.kilda) (won premiership in *7th year *not including playing coach in 81)
David Parkin coach 1977 to 1980, 1981 to 1985, 1986 to 1988, 1991 to 2000 - 4 - years 87-88, 91-92 (post 1982 3rd premiership, 3 years at Fitzroy, top 6 in play 92) (won premiership in 2nd year)