Defence prevails and offence retaliates. That is the ebb and flow of the game through time and thus he is somewhat dismissive of the shrill and escalating noise of discontent with the look of the game and the congestion around the ball.

Hasten slowly he warns.

But he also reveals why it is that coaches are not entrusted solely as defenders of the game.

"Oh yeah. I couldn’t really care less [about the look of the game] as long as we get the points," he said of the idea of the responsibility coaches have to the aesthetic of the spectacle. He is correct and all coaches would agree.

Some soccer coaches in the English, European and South American leagues put a primacy on playing beautiful football, regarding playing the right way arguably more important than winning. But of course they have a depth of talent capable of playing joga bonito and an unlimited salary cap. It is easier to be an aesthete.

As Buckley noted, the best teams tend to play the best football.

"Easter Monday was a showcase game and I thought that game was good to watch. When you get the best sides playing against one another, I think it reminds you what the best of the football can look like," he said.

Partially in defence of his own position he said: "We [Collingwood] are one of the lowest stoppage sides, so we are doing our part."

Certainly Buckley has a point that there have forever been ugly games and it is the explosion in coverage that illuminates the contrast between good and bad, ugly and pretty.

"I think that has been consistent through the history of footy [some ugly games]. I think in '05, '06, Plough [Terry Wallace] coached a Richmond side that tried to deny the ball against Adelaide at Etihad and I don’t think they went forward. They just tried chipping it around out the back and Joel Bowden had 26 marks or something silly like that. If you took that in isolation you would think, where is the game going to? There will be good examples and poor examples and right now we will be talking about all the poor ones because that is the order of the day."

Partly this is because all games - good and bad - are shown on television; partly because all games are dissected. Buckley believes the speed of ball movement is what is changing the look of the game now to being more open and swinging the game back to being more attractive.

"I think the game is in good shape. I think there has been a really good balance between offence and defence. I think offence is now challenging the defence, which has controlled really the last three or four years in particular. We are seeing the advent of some offensive strategies that are testing the game, testing the rules, testing the way it is played."

Buckley acknowledged that the significant names of the game - Leigh Matthews, Kevin Sheedy and Kevin Bartlett - all expressing misgivings on the look and trend of the game was cause not to be dismissive of critics.

"That is what they are paid to do [make comments] and they have a real interest in where the game goes," Buckley said.

"I have a big name in Rocket Eade who is on the laws-of-the-game committee, so he is at the cut and thrust of what they are going through, what they explore. I think it is important to make decisions based on evidence. The trends of the game are evident but we can’t be looking at five-week trends; let's look at things that have evolved over a longer period.

"There will always be a scrimmage, there will always be contests, and that is invariably where games are won and lost."