COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley has aggressively batted away suggestions the club has a drug problem.
The tough questions posed to Buckley on SEN on Thursday morning came as defender Sam Murray awaits his fate from ASADA and the results of a pending investigation.
Murray, who recently recorded an elevated reading in a post-match drug test as an illicit substance was detected in his system, is facing a maximum four-year ban if found guilty.
When asked whether the Magpies have a drug problem by host Gerard Whateley, Buckley was adamant in his response: "No, not that I know of."
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When probed further about whether Collingwood has a wider drug problem, in relation to Josh Thomas and Lachie Keeffe's two-year bans in 2015 after banned substance Clenbuterol was found in their systems, Buckley turned defensive.
Buckley said the issue was "isolated" and believed he was there to answer questions about his side's upcoming finals campaign, starting with next Saturday night's qualifying final against West Coast at Optus Stadium in Perth.
"I'm really disappointed that I need to answer these questions from you (Whateley). And I suppose it goes back to my last answer," Buckley said.
"This is not something that is big on our agenda right now because it's isolated. So that's where it stays and we move on with what we can control. As our football has done our talking this year, our record in retrospect will do the talking, so I'll be happy to stand on that."
Buckley, who was in the SEN studio for his weekly spot, was then pressed on whether the club was doing enough to stamp out perceived drug issues at the club.
"… Did you feel the environment in this studio change about a minute ago?" Buckley said to Whateley.
"I'm not going to answer them right now, mate (Whateley). I'm really happy with where the club is going. I think that we are in a great space and heading in a really positive direction.
"We are full of people who are fallible and are human and who make mistakes. Some of those mistakes are more public than others, but we embrace our humanity and our fallibility, and we support our people to the hilt.
"I think that's one of the strengths of our football club. If you want to call it culture, we're not perfect, and we won't be, but the quest for us to be as good a football team as we can and the quest for us to be the best football club as we can is what we're on and if we have our imperfections laid to bare and judged externally, well that's a fair thing for us because we’re in a public forum, but one thing I'm going to do is support and encourage our people as much as we possibly can."
