Collingwood's chances of rising back up the AFL ladder have received a major boost by the additions of key assistant coaches, according to Nathan Buckley.
After missing out on the finals for the fourth straight year in 2017, the Pies added Justin Longmuir, Matthew Boyd and Garry Hocking to their coaching panel in an attempt to freshen up the club.
Buckley is pleased with his new associates and admitted he was beginning to delegate further responsibility to his colleagues.
"There’s a good dynamic there and plenty of great strengths among the individuals in our footy program. I’ve delegated more year on year the last few years. The additions to our coaching panel have been really strong," Buckley told AFL.com.au.
"If there has been any directive at the Pies, it has been to lighten up. 'Put a smile on your face and see how we go. Get the basics right and attack the year,'."
"That’s been our mentality, we have buy-in from all areas, (we're) enjoying our work and look forward to whatever’s coming.
"Do your job, do it the best you possibly can and do it with a smile on your face."
Buckley was also buoyed by the 'Pies finish to last season, where they won four and drew one of their last seven games.
Their round 23 victory over a Demons side needing to win was a standout performance for Buckley, taking great heart out of his troops overcoming a desperate Melbourne outfit.
"You always like to win your last game although you prefer it to be a Grand Final," Buckley said.
"If you’re not playing finals you want to finish the season off as best you can. We played better footy, more sustainable footy, were more efficient in what we were doing and we tried some things that gave us a look at how we can maximise the strengths of the group going forward."
Buckley is also delighted with the instant impact from 2010 premiership captain Nick Maxwell, who has rejoined the club as leadership and culture manager.
"You can’t get enough quality people in the organisation and Maxy’s strength of character and values is the type of thing every club should have around the place," Buckley said.
"He’s been influential with the playing group, putting the leadership program together and has a great affinity with the leadership team."
A hot topic of Collingwood's preseason has been the shift of Darcy Moore from forward to defence.
Buckley believes the young tall has the ability to play either side of the ground depending on where the team needs him, and has every confidence in his ability to thrive in the backline.
"We have to establish our backline so that it can handle whatever other teams throw at us. In the more medium term, there’s a hole on our list with tall defenders," Buckley said.
"'Darc' wants to influence things. We know he can play in front of the ball, but this will be important for us we think he can have some influence behind the ball."
The 'Pies get their first look at Moore playing as a key defender against GWS in the JLT series on March 1.
