Jolly told Fairfax Media on Wednesday that the past three months, beginning with his axing from Collingwood, had been "a bloody nightmare". "There's so much crap that's happened in the last three months that I'm really just turned off footy to be honest," he said. "I just need to get away from it and recharge the batteries and get my head right again, because it's just been a bloody nightmare." But his strongest criticisms were reserved for how his 237-game AFL career with Melbourne, Sydney and Collingwood was ended by the Magpies, labelling Buckley a "coward" for the way the coach handled his delisting. Jolly said former Magpies coach Mick Malthouse had embraced the elements of the Sydney "Bloods" culture he had brought to the club, but that once Buckley took over as coach, things changed dramatically. "He [Buckley] probably found it a lot harder accepting that I had opinions about things and would give feedback on certain things that potentially he didn't like,'' Jolly told Fairfax Media.

''The day he told me I was no longer needed at the club and they weren't going to renew my contract, the reasons he was giving me were all excuses, and that was probably the main disappointment; that he couldn't man up and tell me face-to-face why I wasn't going to be at the club.'' Jolly, who played only nine games in 2013 because of rib and knee injuries, said Buckley had told him: ''Your body's no good.'' But he says a personality clash between the pair was the main factor in the decision. ''Just the excuses he gave me in that meeting were all bullshit and that was the hardest thing to stomach, that he was a coward, really. We had a problem. He had an issue with me and I had an issue with him. And I'm not the only one. There's a lot of players there that are in that same boat. ''I'm not stupid. I accept that everyone's footy career comes to an end one day, but if 'Bucks' had just sat me down that day and said, 'Look, 'Jolls', you've given us fantastic service, but unfortunately the direction we want to go in, you don't fit into those plans' ... if he'd just treated me with a bit more respect, it would have been a lot easier to stomach.'' Jolly said he had remained silent about his exit from Collingwood until now, but didn't want to leave AFL football as a player after 13 seasons, without giving his version of events.

''I've bitten my lip for a long time now, but I'm not one to not speak my mind and say how it really is. I could easily turn around and just say, 'Yeah, that's what happens'. Don't get me wrong, there are some fantastic people at Collingwood, and I had a good time there. It's just a select few that are a bit of a problem, and unfortunately, I'm not the only one in that boat.'' Jolly disputed the seriousness of his knee problems. His most recent injury came in a training mishap that occurred after he had played well in the round 12 clash against the Western Bulldogs. ''I was averaging career-best disposals and 27 hitouts per game,'' he said. ''Up until I was injured at training, my knees had been fine for years, so that was an excuse.'' He remains bitterly disappointed at the lack of communication about his non-selection in Collingwood's side for the elimination final against Port Adelaide, having recovered to play four games in the VFL, and the Pies also without the injured Quinten Lynch. ''I was right to go. 'Bucks' knew I would have been waiting for a call from him to see whether I was in the mix, but he didn't call me at all during the week,'' Jolly said. ''I found out I wasn't in the team via the news and still after that at training he didn't give me an explanation. It was a bit of kick in the mouth, really. Loading

''We all know how that game turned out. I'm sure I could have made a difference.'' Collingwood declined to comment on Wednesday night.