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SELECT 👉 Hagley Oval feed
The Buckley bait Pagan used to fire up the Roos
Andrew Slevison • December 3rd, 2025 1:30 pm
Back in the early 1990s, Nathan Buckley was a wanted man.
The then-Brisbane Bears young gun was fielding calls from multiple clubs as he looked to the future when his sole 1993 campaign in Queensland was coming to a close.
Collingwood led the race, which they eventually won, but North Melbourne also had a crack at the supremely talented Port Adelaide product.
Cameron Mooney didn’t join the Roos until the 1996 draft so wasn’t at Arden Street when they went after Buckley.
But he was there to witness master coach Denis Pagan’s passionate pleas to the playing group whenever the Roos and Pies clashed thereafter.
“I remember before I was at North Melbourne we tried to grab him,” Mooney said on SEN Breakfast.
“This is a story Denis used to tell us every time we played Collingwood because he would rile the boys up, he’d fire the boys up about ‘Bucks’.
“Denis would say: ‘We went to meet him and he sat on his bed and chewed on his apple, didn’t bloody shake hands, and told us he wanted to play in premierships and finals. He’s going to Collingwood, don’t let him forget it boys’.
“The boys would be rolling their eyes, and Denis used to wind them up about it. This is still four, five, six years later and he was still furious.”
Although Buckley played in a Qualifying Final in his first season with the Pies, it paled into comparison to what North achieved.
They played in seven straight Preliminary Finals and won two premierships before Buckley returned to September action in 2002.
The mind boggles at to what the Kangas might have done if Buckley had worn the royal blue and white and not the black and white.
Mooney added: “Can you imagine Buckley kicking to (Wayne) Carey in the 90s?
“That’s not just seven prelims, that’s seven premierships. Seriously though, they win four or five.
“An unbelievable sliding doors moment.”
Legend has it that Pagan referred to Buckley as ‘Marilyn Monroe’ given the way he laid back on his bed when the Roos courted him.
Legend also has it (unconfirmed) that Buckley took a sign-on fee from the Roos which caused some consternation with Pagan.
North great David King told SEN.com.au that this was a central focus for a number of years.
“Denis spurred us on to keep the conversation going every time we played them, so we kept asking Bucks where our money was,” King laughed.
“This went on for four or five years at least. Bucks would tell me we needed new material.
“So I’d go back to Denis and ask him for something else to inspire us whenever we played the Pies.”
After Buckley joined the Pies they lost three in a row to the Roos across 1994 and 1995, before winning three of their own on the trot through 1996 and 1997.
The two clubs never met in a final during Buckley’s time wearing the famous stripes.
