Interesting article, says alot about bucks's personality.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...s/news-story/f211e2c897db0ff4f892dcca3453a36d


Crows have their final say
AFL News
Lifelong Collingwood supporter Paul Seedsman explains how he fell out of love with the Magpies
SAM LANDSBERGER, Herald Sun
37 minutes ago
Subscriber only
PAUL Seedsman was a ‘Buckley’s Brigade’ member at Collingwood when he was 10.
He would queue at family days with a black marker, eagerly awaiting the next player’s ink on his jumper.
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Seedsman would sleep under the stars, with black and white posters decorating his bedroom walls.
Leon Davis was his favourite player, with Chris Tarrant not far behind. Weekends were made or broken by the MCG scoreboard.
At 12, Seedsman graduated out of signed Magpie jumpers and into the club’s tracksuit.
In Year 10, Seedsman spent a week at the club on work experience, which included kicking the balls back to players from behind the goals at training.
“I remember Mick Malthouse stopping and having a chat with me for about 10 or 15 minutes,” Seedsman said, “and I was too scared to tell him I wanted to play football for Collingwood.”
Two years later and Seedsman the player shook Malthouse the coach’s hand, the Magpies drafting him at pick 76 in 2010.
It was fairytale stuff. Seedsman joined the club great grandfather Jim Sharp played at and then was president of 100 years ago.
List manager Derek Hine warned his newest draftee to take the scarf off and immediately exit supporter mode. Failure to do so, Hine said, would see Seedsman quickly spat out of the system.
Seedsman responded. He made a Round 1 debut and quickly took the eyes of supporters as a dashing defender with a raking right foot.
Paul Seedsman and Jackson Paine celebrate playing in their first wins for Collingwood.
In 2015 he won the Anzac Day Medal after carving up Essendon with 31 disposals. Then, the dream disintegrated.
“I sort of just fell out of favour,” Seedsman said.
“I played one game in the back end of that year, so I worked out pretty quickly the direction the club was going.
“At the time they’d offered me a couple of years and I said, ‘I want to know where I sit first before I commit’.”
Collingwood wanted Seedsman. But Seedsman no longer wanted Collingwood. It was akin to finding out Santa isn’t real, and so he requested a trade.


“There’s not much more to say on that. There’s a little bit behind the scenes with a few people not seeing eye-to-eye, but that’s football,” he said.
So, was it hard to ask for an exit from his childhood version of heaven?
“It wasn’t something I took lightly,” Seedsman said.
“The two years before that I’d lost enjoyment as well. A few of my really good mates had been let go or traded away.
“With Heath Shaw and Beamsy (Dayne Beams) going, a lot of my tight connections had sort of gone and I was getting a bit frustrated in there.
“I looked at it and thought, ‘Do I want to put myself through another couple of years of this, and at the end of it there’s no guarantee I’ll have a football career, or do I seek a fresh start?”
Nathan Buckley talks with Paul Seedsman.
As 2015 went downhill, Seedsman battled in the VFL confused at what was required by coach Nathan Buckley.
“It was mixed messages,” he said.
“I never really knew exactly what was needed (to get selected). It sort of chopped and changed, which was where some of the frustration would come from.
“You’d do one thing and during the week you’re told to do something else. I really couldn’t tell you to be honest, it jumped around a bit and it’s a tough question to answer.”
Seedsman expected to find another Melbourne club, and the Kangaroos were reportedly keen.
But Adelaide was the first to flag interest as football boss David Noble, list manager Justin Reid and recruiter Hamish Ogilve jetted into Melbourne.
“I was just blown away with their presentation,” Seedsman said.
“The list they’d created and everything they’d gone through (with coach Phil Walsh dying) and to see the football they were still playing, with that final win against the Bulldogs.
“A lot of things that I value the club valued and they made it clear they were really keen.
Nathan Buckley congratulates Paul Seedsman after winning the Anzac Medal. Picture: Wayne Ludbey
So Seedsman wiped the slate clean and packed his bags for the Crows, in exchange for pick 32.
He became good mates with Kyle Cheney, Brad and Matt Crouch and captain Taylor Walker and said the West Lakes locker room resembled a local footy club.
“I’m a laid-back character and they just accepted me for who I was right from the word go, whereas at Collingwood at times that was seen as lazy and disinterested,” Seedsman said.
“It was refreshing. Sometimes around a captain you’re walking on eggshells and don’t want to say something wrong or do something wrong, whereas I feel (Walker) is very accepting.
“He makes everything so comfortable. If you want to have a beer on the weekend you ask him — sometimes you feel you’ve got to be on the down-low, whereas you can just be upfront about it.”
Seedsman lowered his golf handicap from 23 to 12 at the Crows, where coach Don Pyke plays off scratch.
It is on the greens where Pyke’s personality flows.
“When he misses a shot he can show a bit of frustration,” Seedsman said.
Paul Seedsman and Hugh Greenwood enjoy the Grand Final parade. Picture: Sarah Reed
“But he’s very measured. He doesn’t get all that flustered and he’s very calm.”
So, what about Bucks?
“He was a bit different. He was very intense and at times we saw things differently,” Seedsman said.
“Whether he was right or whether I was right, it didn’t matter. We didn’t see eye-to-eye on decisions, but it works for some people and it doesn’t work for others.
“We sat down at the end of it and I’d had four years of him as senior coach and I have a lot to be thankful for.
“I played close to 50 games and he gave me a fair bit of opportunity and towards the end I wasn’t in his plans going forwards, so it was a good decision to shake hands and move on.
“I can’t speak for what he’s been like the past couple of years, but he was learning every year in the caper.
“He was obviously a very intense and professional player — and an amazing player — and he sort of took all those traits into coaching.
Paul Seedsman is happy at the Crows. Picture: Sarah Reed
“So he was just very intense for me.”
Seedsman’s Anzac Day performance bodes well for Saturday as one of 44 Grand Final virgins.
It appears as if Seedsman has made a Steven Bradbury-type surge into Adelaide’s line-up. After overcoming groin problems, he played only Round 19 and Round 23 before September.
Both those games came as an injury replacement — with Eddie Betts (appendix) and Brad Crouch cheekbone) in Round 19 and then Daniel Talia (ankle) and Walker (toe) in Round 23 — but he has flourished.
The sizzling wingman has slotted five goals in four games, averaging 18 disposals.
Does Saturday’s shot at glory vindicate the move out of the Magpies?
“Making a Grand Final or not, the decision had been validated by the enjoyment I’ve got back in playing football, and life in general,” Seedsman said.
“If it could be further validated, it has been. With or without the finals, I couldn’t be happier with the decision. This is just the cherry on top.”
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