Collingwood great Nathan Buckley shares details of meeting with Melbourne over vacant coach position

Nathan Buckley — the Collingwood great who was widely tipped to be Melbourne’s next coach — has explained how and why he missed out on the job.

Buckley is also in the running to be the inaugural coach of Tasmania and says he was open and honest with Melbourne as he conducted interviews with them, as well as liaised Tasmanian chief Brendon Gale.

But Buckley has now revealed there was one glaring issue Melbourne had with him (and he had with Melbourne) ... and that was, simply, it all happened “too quickly” for him.

“The boat race thing, we can put it to bed,” Buckley, who is also a respected commentator, said on Friday night.

Buckley revealed he was asked by Melbourne CEO Paul Guerra if he would accept the job if it was offered to him.

“I was asked that question and I said, ‘I am meeting with Tasmania on Tuesday’,” he said.

“(I said) I need a little bit more of an insight into that process and their timeline before I was able to make a final call on whether I was willing to step into the Melbourne role.”

Buckley said it was an “honest” and “transparent process”.

“At no stage were we unaware of the reality of the situation and I felt like I was respectful.” he said.

“That (meeting with Gale) has been in place for a week-and-a-half now so I will sit down with Brendon again. So that timeline will take place,” he said.

“If you look at the (Melbourne) process it happened really quickly from Monday morning; too quickly for me.

“(But) Melbourne feel they have got their man and that’s all that really matters for them.”

As well as Buckley not prepared to give an answer, the Demons were also blown away by the man they hired, Steven King.

King is a former captain of Geelong, a premiership player, and a current assistant.

It has been reported Buckley congratulated King after his appointment was confirmed.

Buckley is now almost certain to be offered the Tasmanian gig.

Tasmania, the AFL’s 19th team, is expected to join the competition in 2028.

But the AFL has confirmed they will field teams in the VFL and VFLW next year.

The last time Buckley coached was in 2021 and his coaching record stands at 117 wins, 99 losses, and two draws.

The 53-year-old took Collingwood to a grand final in 2018 where his team narrowly lost to West Coast by just five points.

As a player, Buckley also missed out on an AFL premiership.

The 2003 Brownlow medallist played in two grand finals for Collingwood in 2002 and 2003, losing to Brisbane on both occasions.