Carlton’s Round 4 win over St Kilda marked the first AFL match of the season for young Blues star Dylan Buckley.
 
The 22-year-old now has 10 AFL games under his belt, playing mostly across Carlton’s backline.
 
Speaking to radio station RSN on Monday, Buckley said win across the Tasman was just what the team needed.
 
“We were really thankful for the opportunity to play in New Zealand, a lot of boys hadn’t been there before – it was a good trip,” he told RSN radio.
 
Buckley says there’s always pressure to win each week, but after training hard all pre-season his team was confident a win was around the corner.
 
“We knew if we stuck to our structures and did what we did in the pre-season that we’d get a win soon,” Buckley said.

“A lot of the boys coming in now are just focused on playing their role, and I think when we have a simple mindset like that – we play as a team and that’s when we get the four points.”
 
Buckley, who was recruited under the father/son rule in the 2011 National Draft, played the early part of his career as a forward, but after struggling to break into the senior side he was reinvented as a defender.
 
Buckley credits Carlton coach Mick Malthouse with the move and says if it wasn’t for Malthouse he may never have found his “new lease on football”.
 
“He (Malthouse) actually gave me the opportunity to start playing in the backline, so probably without him I wouldn’t even be playing at the moment,” Buckley said.
 
“I’d never played down back before. He showed a lot of faith in me, gave me the opportunity ... I’m very thankful for that.”