Preparing to move to equal third on the all-time list of AFL games coached has been a humbling experience for Collingwood's Mick Malthouse, who exposed a rarely-seen sentimental side to himself at the Lexus Centre on Friday.
Monday's Queen's Birthday clash against Melbourne will be Malthouse's 575th match as an AFL/VFL coach in a post-playing career that started with Footscray in 1984 and which took him to West Coast for the entire 1990s and two premierships.
The 54-year-old has held the reins at Collingwood since 2000 and is delighted to be joining his first VFL coach at St Kilda, Allan Jeans, on 575 matches trailing only Jock McHale (714) and Kevin Sheedy (635).
"I've never worried about numbers but, this one here, given the fact it's with Allan Jeans, is humbling. It's significant because it's something to reflect on," Malthouse said.
"When I reflect on nearly 37 years straight (as a player and coach in the VFL/AFL) … I've been fortunate to work from the 70s, 80s, 90s and into this decade with young men with ambitions of realising their dreams."
"I look at Jeans and I think, 'how much did I learn from Allan Jeans?' - An enormous amount, and it's quite humbling to have the same numbers, albeit a totally different generation."
While in awe of Jeans' achievements, Malthouse offered generous praise for his four coaches at Richmond - Tom Hafey, Barry Richardson, Tony Jewell and Francis Bourke - during his eight seasons at a player at Punt Road from 1976-83.
"It's been a wonderful journey and I hope it’s not finishing too soon," he said.
"The numbers don’t mean a lot but looking at that figure and what it represents means a lot."