NATHAN Buckley has long been known for his ability to make the tough decisions.

As a captain and, more recently, as a media commentator, Buckley has distinguished himself as a man not afraid to be guided by the strength of his convictions.

But there is one decision that, in public at least, Buckley is hesitant to make.

That is whether or not he will heed the predictions of almost every football pundit and turn his hand to coaching in the AFL.

Buckley's line since retiring has been that he will see out his commitments in the media and as an assistant coach in the Australian Institute of Sport's AFL Academy program, which expire at the end of this year, before making any moves in that direction.

But that does not stop the media from speculating about what those moves will be.

"I suppose every day I get closer to (making a decision)," Buckley said, speaking after a training session with the AIS squad at the Whitten Oval yesterday.

While he was not prepared to give any definite answers about his future, Buckley yesterday certainly sounded like a man who has enjoyed the challenges of coaching to this point.

"I've got my responsibilities with the media and finishing off this year's intake with the academy," he said. "I suppose that later on in the year I'll reach a position where I'm probably going to have to take a more specific position — have a look at what's going to happen in 2010."

He said the experience gained from his academy work would be invaluable.

"Working on this program has given me a great insight into coaching young talent," he said. "A lot is about the environment that they create for themselves, I mean you need skilful footballers on-field, but perhaps more than half of it is what they do to prepare … off-field."

Buckley also praised Richmond's decision to recruit Ben Cousins. "It's great for the game, we're a very inclusive sport, we're a very inclusive community," he said.