Collingwood great Nathan Buckley is "rapt" to watch Scott Pendlebury depart the club in search of professional development, with Gold Coast set to become the beneficiaries.
What's the saying? Do as I say, not as I do.
Buckley, after a stellar playing career, quickly returned to the Pies after his retirement in 2007, and succeeded Michael Malthouse in 2012 as the club's senior coach.
He remained in the role until midway through 2021, but never learned of another environment.
Pendlebury, in stark contrast, who is held in similar regard by the black and white army to Buckley, will leave a Pies legend to don a Suns playing guernsey for the next two years before switching over to a club polo as part of the coaching staff.
Buckley said moving to another club was the “perfect lead-in” for Pendlebury's coaching career.
“I'm rapt to see him move out of Collingwood, go to another environment, learn more there, and be super ready to take whatever the next steps are,” he said on Fox Footy's On the Couch.
And this has happened before.
Hawthorn trio Sam Mitchell, Luke Hodge and Jordan Lewis all departed to join rival clubs when their time at the Hawks came to an end.
Mitchell, who had similar aspirations to Pendlebury in becoming a senior coach, made the switch to Western Australia and joined West Coast, played for one season and then sat beside Adam Simpson for 12 months.
"I think seeing things from the other side is always going to be very different," he said on AFL360.
"Also, it's not the way you can do and the way you don't do; it's just what questions to ask. Seeing how things are done from different organisations obviously gives you a much more rounded view of the game and makes you recognise what you have had and also some things that can potentially be better."
Hodge headed to Brisbane for a pair of seasons, helping guide the young Lions alongside Chris Fagan. Lewis was at Melbourne for three years, playing a pivotal role in setting standards.
All three former Hawks had immense impact on their next clubs.
Gold Coast's decision to bring in Pendlebury is in a similar vein, helping the entirety of the leadership group, including Noah Anderson.
The Suns, after a breakthrough finals campaign and win last year, learned that many areas were in desperate need of improvement, and leadership was put on the agenda by Damien Hardwick.
Buckley has thrived when he returned to AFL clubland, joining Chris Scott at Geelong as an assistant coach. His experience and learnings helped push his case for Tasmania's inaugural coaching role.
