NATHAN Buckley wants to coach Collingwood next year, but expects more clarity on his future next week as the Magpies assess his position at the club.
The club's board was presented with an update of its football department review earlier this week, with Magpies president Eddie McGuire saying a decision on Buckley's future was yet to be made.
Buckley has previously stated that his role as senior coach was a 'two-way street', and that he would need to feel he was the right person for the role to continue at the club in 2016 after a fourth-straight season of missing the finals.
On Thursday, ahead of the Pies' season-closing game against Melbourne on Saturday at the MCG, Buckley said he did not know whether it would be his last game in charge of the club. But he said he wants the job in 2018.
"Yeah I do. I love the club and want to see it succeed, so whatever role I'm asked to play in that I'll play it. Whether it means stepping back and stepping away or whether it means stepping up … the club is not about me," he said.
"And it won't be about any other individual in the club. It's about what's going to give it the opportunity for sustained success. I'm totally committed to the footy club and what needs to be done."
Pressed further about whether he definitely wants to be the coach next year, Buckley said: "Yes".
There has been discussion about the potential for a mentor to be assigned to the senior coach at Collingwood next year, and Buckley said although he hadn't seen the recommendations of the review, that element was not a shock.
"I think every person has mentors of some description, so that doesn't surprise me," he said.
The Pies' coaching group and list management department have also been assessed as part of the review, which comes at the end of a poor season for the club after winning just eight games.
"There's no doubt there's been a great focus on the senior coach role going forward. There's plenty of other senior roles in the football department and there's plenty of different roles in the football program that are ultimately pivotal to seeing on-field success," Buckley said.
"There's more than just my role that's being assessed in all of this, and I think that's been communicated pretty clearly."
Buckley, who has a 52 per cent winning record in his 131 games coaching the Pies, said he wasn't approaching the Demons' clash as potentially his last game as boss after taking on the role in 2012.
"Clearly there's a process in place for what the future of the club's going to look like. The club has communicated consistently internally and externally about the timelines, and clearly the board meeting was the next stage of that to get the feedback from the review," Buckley said.
"I applaud the management of the club for the way they're going about it and taking the time to make some really important decisions about what the future looks like."
He also said answering any questions about the club's list management decisions in the upcoming trade and free agency period would be premature given the decisions coming on key positions in the next few weeks.
The Pies are set to regain ruckman Brodie Grundy and Tyson Goldsack for the Dees' clash, but will not blood exciting first-year forward Kayle Kirby for a debut, instead preferring to leave him in the VFL as he chases the competition's leading goalkicking crown.
