From Stawell, Tuckey was drafted as a 17 year old from Ballarat Rebels at the 1996 National draft in the choice swapped by Carlton for Mick McGuane. He had a good spring, but needed to learn plenty about the game in the early stages of the career. He had a brief taste in three games late in 1998, but didn't nail down a place from there. Tuckey started the 2000 season as Collingwood's preferred centre half-forward but, despite his enormous potential, struggled to find consistency and played just one game in 2001.