COLLINGWOOD has no choice but to adopt an us-versus-them mentality as it tries to get its season back on track, coach Nathan Buckley says.
The Magpies recorded a 29-point victory – their second of the season – over Geelong at the MCG on Sunday, a win Buckley said the whole club would savour following weeks of speculation over his immediate coaching future.
"It (the win over the Cats) tells you a lot about the group because they've got a great capacity to withstand adversity and to show great resilience," Buckley said.
"That's a Collingwood trait and we've had that for a while.
"We would like to not just be the battling side that performs with our backs against the wall.
"Right now, I think we'll have our backs against the wall for a number of weeks to come because that's the story being told.
"We see more blue sky than that and we see the potential to play our way more often and we see that as our challenge."
Five talking points: Geelong v Collingwood
A number of notable commentators had claimed it was a matter of when, and not if the out-of-contract coach would be moved on from the coaching position with the Magpies' disastrous performance against Essendon on Anzac Day consigning the team to a 1-5 start to the season.
Asked whether the constant scrutiny over his job had affected him, Buckley – who said late last season that he would lose his job if the Magpies did not make finals in 2017 – was defiant in his response.
"There's no more or less pressure. I don't want anyone outside of the club to be under any illusions that that conversation is taking place externally," Buckley said.
"I reckon I've read the same article 50 times. It's just the same stuff – it's someone else's opinion regurgitated. That's great – that doesn't seep in.
"It's not something we can control. It's not something I can control."
Buckley also questioned the AFL's decision to schedule the game against the Cats with Collingwood coming off a five-day break against a well-rested Geelong on the back of a seven-day break.
With Anzac Day falling on a Wednesday next year, there has been recent discussion that the League will pencil in Collingwood to play Richmond the weekend after their showpiece games against Essendon and Melbourne (on Anzac Day eve) respectively.
"You play that game 100 times and we'd only win a handful," Buckley said.
"The scheduling is poor. To have a team coming off five days playing a team that's played off seven.
"But we were able to handle it and we didn't focus heavily on the break – we couldn't and we didn't want to plant that seed, so we were just able to get it done."
Buckley said the Magpies would send Travis Varcoe for scans during the week after he spent most of the second half off the ground due to a tight hamstring.
"He had a cramp in his hammy so we'll get a picture of that and see where it gets to," Buckley said.
"We didn't want to take a risk bringing him back on. The docs were toying with it at some stage, but we put him away and we'll know more about that in a couple of days."
Asked whether the win over Geelong could be a turning point in his side's season, Buckley said it was important to enjoy the spoils of their second victory of the year first.
"Can we just enjoy the win? Let's just enjoy the win. I'll let you guys do the big picture stuff but we've got Carlton in six days," he said.
"This is a win to enjoy, so the boys are doing so."
