On the eve of his milestone 750th match as a player and coach, Collingwood's Mick Malthouse has pledged not to overstay his welcome in the game.

Malthouse will edge ahead of Allan Jeans on the all-time list of AFL/VFL games coached when he takes his place in the box for Sunday's blockbuster against Carlton, his 576th senior game, ranking him behind only Jock McHale and Kevin Sheedy.

The game will also be the 54-year-old's 750th as a player and coach, a milestone only three others - McHale, Sheedy and Leigh Matthews - have achieved.

Malthouse, who’s contracted until the end of 2009, said he feels humbled and enriched by his involvement in the game, but he's prepared to toss it in the moment he loses his passion for the role.

"Contract or no contract, if I don’t believe that I can give what I know that you need to be a senior coach, then I'm not going to be a senior coach," he said.

"I don’t get any joy out of make believe; it's full-on."

"There's a lot of things in football I don't like - and I'm talking about my job, not the actual game - and there's things that you just don’t enjoy."

"But as long as I enjoy the competition … then I know that I won’t let Collingwood down, but the moment that diminishes, I'll be saying to (Collingwood president) Ed (McGuire) … you need someone else."

"I don’t want to see good work go down the gurgler because of someone who stayed too long and I won’t be that person who stayed too long."

Malthouse stressed that he's far from being 'burnt out' and said that as long as he feels good enough and the club wants him, the relationship will continue.

He said he felt indebted to the colleagues and many friends he made throughout his journey which started as a player at St Kilda and Richmond before he made the step up to coaching at Footscray, West Coast and Collingwood.

"I have no hesitation in saying the 750 means more than numbers, it means people, the people I've been able to mix with," Malthouse said.

"In football clubs, I've probably had an issue with one percent of people right across the board, whether it be journalists, players or administrators."

"Ninety-nine percent of people are just outstanding - they've made my life richer and I hope I've given young men who've had dreams of playing the opportunity."

"In 30-odd years, if I knew the pain and the anguish and the time that you put into it I don’t know whether I would do it again because it's been a helluva pull on family and friends … but what it does, it galvanises strengths within your own groupings and it's bonded my family tighter."

"I've made wonderful friends and … like an old injury, you forget the pain; football is about the great times, not the bad times."