Answer by taking a quote from the following article:

Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey (5 August 1931 - 12 May 2014) was an Australian rules football Victorian Football League player and coach. Hafey played for Richmond between 1953 and 1958, and coached four clubs--Richmond, Collingwood, Geelong and Sydney--between 1966 and 1988, leading Richmond to a total of four premierships: 1967, 1969, 1973 and 1974. Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association "Coaching Legend Award" in 2011. He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors.

Hafey's initial thought was to seek a job in Western Australia. However, a chance meeting with the new Collingwood president, John Hickey, took Hafey a different direction. The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last. Hickey defied the club's tradition against hiring an outsider as coach, appointing Hafey to coach the club for the 1977 season.  Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year - the first time this had been achieved in the VFL. Collingwood had lost eleven of their last thirteen finals matches, many by slender margins, leading to the press to say the team was afflicted with a "disease" called "Colliwobbles". The disease appeared defeated when the team beat the favoured Hawthorn by two points in the semi-final. In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time. Trainers and committeemen began to celebrate early and North Melbourne fought back to a draw. In the replay the following week, Collingwood lost a high-scoring contest.  Collingwood lost to North Melbourne in the 1978 Preliminary Final, leading to a number of personnel changes during the offseason. In 1979, the team returned to the Grand Final. After taking a second quarter led, Collingwood fell behind at the half. They ultimately lost by five points. In the 1980 Grand Final, Hafey took on his old team of Richmond. Kevin Bartlett won the Norm Smith medal as the Tigers won by a record margin. The Magpies again made the Grand Final in 1981. After holding a 21-point lead in the third, Collingwood gave up two late goals before the three quarter break. The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game.  After years of disappointment players and fans began to criticise Hafey's methods. Several leading players said Hafey over-trained the team, particularly in the lead-up to finals matches. Others said Hafey was too slow to respond when the team was going under. During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season.

Why did the season start slowly in 1968?