About Mick Malthouse

A wealth of Australian Football knowledge, Mick Malthouse is a former player and coach, most recognizable from his long and successful coaching tenures at the West Coast Eagles and Collingwood Football Club.

In his playing days, Malthouse was a hard-nut defender, playing 53 games with St Kilda, and 121 games with Richmond. This period at Richmond included a Premiership in 1980, where Richmond demolished Collingwood by 81 points in front of a crowd of 113,461 spectators at the MCG.

However, it was Malthouse’s exploits as a coach where he earned a reputation as one of the greats of the game. He holds the all-time record for most games coached, with 719 across the VFL and AFL. The most successful period of his coaching came at West Coast, where in his 10-year stint from 1990-1999, the Eagles made the finals every year, highlighted by premierships in both 1992 and 1994. The 1992 premiership was the first won by a team outside of Victoria.

This long spell with the Eagles was exceeded by his time with Collingwood. In the 12 seasons that he coached the Magpies, Malthouse mentored his team to the finals 8 times.

Under his reign, the Pies won the flag in 2010. This was one of the most famous finals of all time, as in the big dance Collingwood and St Kilda could not be separated at the end of four quarters, forcing a grand final replay the next week, in which the Magpies won handsomely.

With coaching spells at Footscray and Carlton at the top and tail of his illustrious coaching career, Malthouse is the only person to have been either a player or head coach at 6 different clubs. With his characteristic gruff and straightforward demeanor, Malthouse now features on Melbourne radio, and is perhaps glad to be on the right side of the media.