Buckley said the clubknew it needed to improve its approach to dealing with players from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island or multicultural backgrounds and that he had spent time reflecting from a personal perspective on his time at the club.
“One of the things that you need to consider with that is becoming more conscious of that reality and more open-minded and open-hearted to being challenged by it,” Buckley said.
“It hasn’t been a period we have breezed through,clearly,so whatever the public front or facade of it is and the challenge that comes through the media ... the reality is how we feel in here and it is confronting to know that people you love and respect so much have felt that way.”
Buckley also addressed questions about his future as he enters the final year of his contract,saying he still felt he had plenty to offer the Magpies,but any decision would be made in the best interests of his club.
“Whether I had a year to run,two years to run,three years to run,whether it was a media headline or whether it wasn’t,the reality still stands that whatever is best for the club will happen and should happen,” Buckley said.
“I still have belief that my contribution to this place can be really positive.”