The lingering bad blood over Collingwood's AFL succession plan is out in the open, with Nathan Buckley certain that Mick Malthouse regards him as an enemy.
Eight years after Buckley took over from Malthouse as Collingwood coach, two of the Magpies' most famous figures have traded barbs over what happened and how they regard each other.
It was sparked by an interview that Malthouse gave to the AFL website for his induction on Tuesday night into the Australian Football Hall Of Fame.
The three-time premiership coach - including Collingwood's most recent flag in 2010 - said he had intended to stay on at Collingwood once he handed over the senior coaching role to Buckley.
Magpies president Eddie McGuire famously engineered the succession plan.
But Malthouse said Buckley did not want him in the coaches' box or having any access to the Collingwood coaches.
"So it's very hard to be coaching director if you can't have access to the coaches," Malthouse said.
He left the club soon after the 2011 grand final loss to Geelong.
While the frostiness between Malthouse and Buckley has been an open secret, until now the current coach had been diplomatic in his comments.
On Wednesday, Buckley spoke his mind about Malthouse.
"Mick and I don't get on," he told SEN.
"He doesn't want to know about me because I'm now an enemy in his eyes, and he will rewrite history to make sure that was always the case."
Buckley described himself as a body on the side of the road, but the former Collingwood captain added he thinks he understands his old coach.
"He was a young kid scrapping to put that next meal on the plate and that drove him," Buckley said.
"That was his attitude through his whole life.
"I think, understanding that, I can see the positive in who he is and what he has been able to do, let alone the numbers."
Buckley added that Malthouse was a master manipulator with rat cunning.
The tit-for-tat continued later on Wednesday, with Malthouse telling News Corp he was "shocked" by Buckley's comments.
"That is so disappointing - I have never treated him as an enemy in my life," Malthouse said.
