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Buckley: Will Collingwood remain competitive in 2026?
Jaiden Sciberras • September 23rd, 2025 8:00 pm
The Magpies entered 2025 with a list prime to attack the depths of September.
Fielding the oldest side in the AFL, with the most cumulative games, finals experience and 22 combined premierships, Collingwood set themselves up for success with focus entirely on the now.
And while it looked destined to come to fruition for a majority of the season, the Pies fell agonisingly short, crumbling under the Brisbane pressure to bow out in the Preliminary Finals.
With this season failing to produce the ultimate goal, the Magpies have a range of difficult decisions regarding their list going forward. Fielding 13 players aged 30+, Collingwood's ageing list goes beyond the upper bracket, with Nick Daicos and Ned Long presenting as the only listed players under the age of 25 to manage consistent senior games.
That said, Collingwood operated as living proof that players entering the latter stages of their careers still have plenty to give.
With their senior unit only growing older, it's hard to see their list surviving amongst the upper echelon of the AFL in years to come, given the likes of Scott Pendlebury (38), Steele Sidebottom (35), Jeremy Howe (35), Jamie Elliott (33), and Brody Mihocek (33) are all approaching the back-end of their careers without any significant replacements coming through.
Focusing solely on next season, former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley was asked, “will they be in contention next year?”
“Yes,” Buckley told SEN's Whateley.
“I think the short answer is yes. Brayden Maynard is 29, De Goey is getting on… I don’t think we can say 28, 29 and think ‘getting on’ anymore. Aren’t we buying that away?”
“In the modern era, you’re coming into your peak at that stage. It’s really the players who are 32, 33 or 34 that are your tipping point,” Gerard Whateley added.
“I think your point right from the start; they haven’t felt like they’ve needed to or haven’t trusted their young players.
“They don’t have that core of players that have played fewer than 50 games. They’ve always been ‘in and out’.
“They’re going to have to commit to those young players, and then they have to be players.”
Buckley: “It’s a balance, and they need to find them.
“(Will) Hayes came through and didn’t look quite there. (Harvey) Harrison injured, (Lachie) Sullivan injured. (Ed) Allan, whether he’s an ongoing concern or not… he’s shown that he’s got high work rate.
“(Wil) Parker is a legitimate yes, he’s going to be really good. (Harry) Demattia, we haven’t seen come through yet. Obviously, you miss Bobby Hill, who had issues through the year. (Tom) Mitchell and (Will) Hoskin-Elliott are probably past their time… Hoskin-Elliott has already turned out.
“(Ned) Long and (Roan) Steele are finds – Steele looked good when he came into the team.
“When you get to the pointy end and you don’t salute, and you don’t take those last couple of steps… people will go and say, ‘that’s the wrong strategy’… they put themselves in the mix.
“For PFI (Preliminary Final Integrity), that’s actually being able to get to the Prelim, which is solid enough. Geelong have showed that it can be hard to convert at times.
“There’s got to be some courage shown at list management and connection from the coaches and list managers to know exactly what these moves are going to be, because there needs to be three, four, five young players blooded in the next 12 to 24 months for Collingwood to stay as competitive as they have been.
“That’s what the best sides have been able to do continually. Collingwood haven’t had to do that for quite a while due to their really stable base in their locker room, but the young talent needs to come, and it needs to come now.”
