Career
Recruited from Street Mark"s, Buckley participated in a Carlton Under-19s premiership in 1979, not playing seniors until 1982. In the opening round of the 1983 VFL season, against Richmond, Buckley replaced an injured Ross Ditchburn at full-forward during the match and kicked six goals. He was a regular fixture in the team for the rest of the season and kicked 29 goals from 20 games.
The following season he played just twice, with Western Australian star Warren Ralph taking his spot as a key forward.
After playing only one game in the first half of the 1985 VFL season, Buckley transferred to Street Kilda midyear, playing seven games. Buckley did not play a senior VFL game in 1986 and the following year moved to a third club, Brisbane, who were making their league debut.
He had 17 disposals and two goals in his first game for the Bears, against Fitzroy, but made just three further appearances. In 1988 Buckley transferred to South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club Norwood but could only play eight games in two seasons, kicking six goals, before his retirement at the end of the 1989 season.
