DESPITE an off-season full of questions and speculation, Nathan Buckley has declared Collingwood is in as good a shape as any side leading into 2017.
Buckley addressed the Magpie faithful at the Glasshouse Centre for the club's season launch on Tuesday night, impressing on those in attendance that Collingwood was moving in the right direction.
"We hope the picture is becoming clearer and we look forward to taking you (the fans) with us on the journey throughout 2017," Buckley said.
Buckley, who is out of contract at season's end, said his side would be one of many vying for a finals spot this season.
"The fact is we don't know how the season will pan out – that's the beauty of it," Buckley said.
"We don't know who the movers and sliders are going to be and where we fit in that.
"We do know that we'll face tests and hardships that will test the fabric of our playing and coaching group, and, we may fall short at times.
"The progress isn't linear but we are up for the challenge.
"We're in great shape today."
Buckley's contract has come into sharp focus, particularly after his declaration late last year that his job rested on whether or not his team would be finalists in 2017.
The recruitment of ex-Roo Daniel Wells, who was officially ruled out of round one because of a calf complaint earlier on Tuesday, and former Docker Chris Mayne are other moves that have put Collingwood firmly under the microscope.
But Buckley said he was not worried about the external noise surrounding the club and encouraged the players to create their own destiny in 2017.
"At some point in your lives you all discovered you had a talent for footy, you developed an ambition from that and recognised a passion that exists in you," he said to the players in the room.
"When you felt that passion you didn't fight it, you just went with it.
"Ours is a game that is decided by doing the ordinary things extraordinarily well – the basics.
"All it will take you is to remind yourself of that ambition and passion that you developed years ago and allow that to drive you through this season.
"If there's air in your lungs then there's a legacy to uphold."
Buckley also thanked the board and club executive, headed by president Eddie McGuire, for their support heading into 2017.
In typical fashion, McGuire was bullish about the Magpies' prospects for 2017.
"We won the flag in 2010, we won the flag in 1910. We won the flag in 1917 and 100 years later we're setting ourselves to go after the flag again," he said.
"It's an even competition, ladies and gentlemen, where attitude and determination makes the difference and it has been shown to us.
"We know it because we do it ourselves."
Magpie greats Saverio Rocca and Alan Didak, as well as early club pioneer Bill Strickland, were also inducted into the Collingwood Hall of Fame on the night.
Rocca was the club's leading goalkicker for seven successive years from 1993-99, won the 1995 Copeland Trophy and the Anzac Day Medal in 1995 and 1998. He kicked a total of 514 goals for Collingwood from 156 games, to rank fifth on the club's all-time goalkicking list.
Didak was a firm fan favourite throughout his 218-game career with the Pies, which was highlighted by the 2010 premiership. He won the Copeland Trophy in 2006 and was All Australian in 2006 and 2010.
Strickland captained the Magpies in the 1897, the inaugural year of the VFL, and went on to play 85 games for the club. He went on to become the club's first official coach in 1904 and spent more than 10 years on the committee.
Sav Rocca was a star Magpie throughout much of the 1990s. Picture: AFL Photos
