Collingwood Magpies Nathan Buckley, James Hird and the Ainslie Tricolours connection

As former Collingwood player Dane Swan tweeted, Buckley, who played 260 games for Collingwood and coached another 217, "deserved a flag more than anyone at the Pies".

An army kid, Buckley spent a season in Canberra playing alongside another future great at Ainslie, James Hird, who would go on to captain and coach Essendon.

There is a famous team photo of Buckley and Hird as kids wearing the red, black and white for Ainslie.

And both eventually won the under-13s best and fairest for Ainslie.

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