The Buck Stops Here: Nail-biting finishes, the toughest job in footy, defending the Cats' psyche and more

Round 10 was plagued by close finishes and now there's just six premiership points separating 2nd and 7th on the AFL ladder.

Former Collingwood coach and superstar Nathan Buckley has put together his takeaways in The Buck Stops Here.

On his mind this week were two desperate finishes, one of the toughest jobs in footy, defending the Cats' philosophy and more.

Read and listen to his thoughts below:

A bit of love for Sydney

“They just keep getting it done, they’re two games clear at the top and their coach deserves as much credit as anyone,” Buckley began on SEN Breakfast.

“Carlton haven’t quite been at their best, they’ve lost three of their last four, but they did jump out of the blocks… then Sydney completely unpacked, outworked and rendered Carlton useless.

“They couldn’t move the ball, couldn’t get field position and couldn’t put a dent in Sydney’s armour.

“The thing I love about Sydney, yes they’ve got guns in the middle, but the people they've added to their organisation have made a difference.

“We heard a lot about Brodie Grundy and Taylor Adams before the season began, but James Jordon’s last couple of weeks have been huge. They’ve got guys who can attack the game, go and win the ball and make plays, but they’ve got a plethora of players who can go and do jobs for them.”

Addressing the criticism levelled at Geelong

“They’ve lost three in a row… Chris Scott is at the top in terms of percentage, but there was some criticism around him resting players and I want to address that.

“I don’t think you can argue with the philosophy because you can’t judge it week to week, which is ironic because Chris Scott’s mentor, Leigh Matthews, was a coach who coached for this week only… so John Longmire’s philosophy is more closely related to Leigh Matthews than Scott’s is

“Chris has always been happy to flick his players, he came up with that philosophy and rotated them through, they’ve used 32 players this year and only nine players have played all games.

“Only St Kilda and Richmond have had less players play all games, so it’s a real clear philosophy to rest players.

“We can criticise it when it doesn’t come off in the short term, but I think building a deeper squad and depth of capability and being able to play players in different roles and rely on players at different levels… I think ultimately it is the best way to go.

“Scott and Geelong have been validated on that for a long time.”

One of the toughest jobs in footy 

“One of the hardest things, I reckon, you ever have to do as a coach is to go in and talk about a match that you’ve just lost that you actually had won for 98 per cent of the game.

“When you looked at the stats, they looked remarkably even when you looked at the end of the game. But obviously, it was all Hawthorn early and all Port Adelaide out.

“When Mitchell references the last 45 minutes (in his press conference where Hawthorn wasn’t at their best), I think he’s referencing after Changkuoth Jiath went off, because he had run really hard, been a really significant player.

“But they don’t want him reinjuring himself so they have to make the move. Surely there was someone other than Blake Hardwick that could go behind the ball… but those questions only get asked when you don’t make the plays when you get the opportunity.

“In that last two minutes Hawthorn players had plays they could have made, they didn’t make them, so then you go back and go, 'okay, why were we in that situation in the first place'.”

Pies in another close one

“Collingwood and Adelaide games, they just turn it on… Craig McRae and the Collingwood team, as he said, are really comfortable in this space.

“It’s all about managing those moments… I think it’s a psyche, a belief before an action, and it’s demonstrated one way or another.

“Reilly O’Brien took a mark about 75 metres out with about three minutes on the clock. He gave the trigger handball (to Josh Rachele), Adelaide would give that handball 99 times out of 100, but it should have been the one out of 100.

“He’s not a kicker, but if he had gone back and ended up chipping it back 20 metres to whoever… he’s not an inexperienced player and I’m sure it’s coached, but in those moments you have to be making the right decisions to believe you can go and take that next step.

“But both team were amazing, Izak Rankine was huge as well.”

Reid makes Eagles into a quality outfit

“They were exceptional...There was a lot of focus on Harley Reid and rightly so, if you haven’t seen that goal go give it a watch… he is loose as a goose, he’s not concerned about something bad happening, he is just absolutely confident in what he’s doing which is awesome.

“Look, they’ve won three games… they’re starting to win on their home deck but they’re coming off a couple of horrendous years so for Adam Simpson to coach through that dip is courageous and meritorious, obviously he’s getting paid well and he’s getting supported into but now you’re on your way back in and you get Harley Reid coming in amongst some really solid players who have been good players for a long time… now they see this kid and a couple of others come and they’ve got hope, they want to build again.

“Jeremy McGovern, Tom Barrass and Liam Duggan, put them in your back six with Tom Cole, who’s played a lot of footy as well, they’re experienced players who are really good at setting up the ground and intercepting and giving you opportunities going back.

“Reid coming in supports Tim Kelly and Dom Sheed, Elliot Yeo as well, that’s a really good midfield to build from. Then Reuben Ginbey, a big body, Campbell Chesser is showing a bit on the wing now, Ryan Maric is another one with elite foot skills.

“Then going forward, where’s Jake Waterman come from? Jeremy Cameron couldn’t get a kick on Tom McDonald a few weeks ago and now he’s being rag-dolled by Jake Waterman to take marks 20 or 30 metres out from goal.

“All credit to Simmo…”