DESPITE the traumatic lead-up to Collingwood's clash with Hawthorn on Friday night, coach Nathan Buckley says he has never wanted to be part of a game more.
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Friday night's game went ahead on the same day that the football world woke to the shocking news that Adelaide coach Phil Walsh had tragically passed away.
Click here to watch Nathan Buckley's full post-match press conference
Buckley told reporters after the Magpies' brave 10-point loss that he and his players had done "most of the reflecting" on Walsh's premature death before the game.
And the Magpies coach suggested the chance to take on the Hawks and to absorb themselves in the passion of such a contest – as Walsh himself loved to do – was the best thing he, his team and his staff could do in the circumstances.
"(AFL CEO) Gill (McLachlan) said earlier in the day that the fun and the passion would not be there this week, and I agree with him in some sense from the fun perspective," Buckley said.
"But I didn't agree from the passion side of things. If there was a more passionate bloke than Phil Walsh about footy, and the way that he went about it and the way that he saw it, well then he'd be pretty passionate, that guy.
"I think what it does is it brings it back to the sheer love of the game and the good fortune that we have to be involved in this industry, and to have the opportunity to run out on the MCG in front of those people and to play the game that we love.
"I don't reckon I've had a day where I've wanted to be with the club (and) with the team in my whole career more than getting to the ground tonight.
"I couldn't wait to get in amongst our boys, in amongst the staff, and come and play a game of footy, because that's what we love to do."
Buckley said everyone at Collingwood would continue to support each other in the coming weeks as they dealt with Walsh's death and other recent deaths closer to home.
"There are going to be different blokes affected in different ways by the shock of the events over in Adelaide," he said.
"But at the same time, I said to the players internally we've had three immediate family members of our group pass in the last three weeks.
"They're not in the back page of the paper, but they affect us ... and we continue to support each other.
"It's a never-ending situation, that care and support we need to provide each other and it will be a big part of us improving as a club and as a team."
