Mick Malthouse

Michael "Mick" Malthouse (born 17 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer and current Australian Football League (AFL) coach. Although his playing career included a premiership for Richmond in 1980, he is best known for his long coaching career at four clubs. He is the current coach of the Carlton Football Club and is second on the all time list of most games as a coach.^[1]

After beginning as a coach with Footscray in 1984, Malthouse became the most successful coach in the history of the West Coast Eagles, holding several club coaching records including the most grand final appearances (1991, 1992, 1994), most premierships (1992 and 1994, both against Geelong), as well as the highest win ratio.^[2] The 1992 AFL Grand Final win was the West Coast Eagles' first ever premiership and the first AFL premiership won by a team from outside Victoria.

Malthouse then coached Collingwood to grand finals in 2002, 2003, 2010 and 2011; with success in the 2010 Grand Final Replay, leading Collingwood to its first premiership since 1990.

Playing career

St Kilda

Recruited from North Ballarat,^[3] Malthouse started his football career with St Kilda in 1972, playing 53 senior games including three finals. After being told by then-coach Allan Jeans that he would struggle to get a game in the senior side due to a surfeit of similar-skilled players, he departed for Richmond midway through the 1976 season.

Richmond

At Richmond he played 121 senior games, including six finals and the runaway premiership win over Collingwood in 1980. He was noted for being a tough and solid defender. He retired in 1983.

Coaching career

Footscray: 1984–1989

He was Footscray's senior coach from 1984 to 1989.^[4] During his time at the Bulldogs he was known for his tough stance on many players, including Doug Hawkins. The teams final standings in his years in charge were 7th (1984), 3rd (1985), 8th (1986), 7th (1987), 8th (1988) and 13th (1989).^[5] He impressed with his dedication and professionalism.

West Coast Eagles: 1990–1999

For ten years from 1990 he was senior coach for the West Coast Eagles. During his tenure as coach the Eagles made the finals every year, including 1992 and 1994 premierships and 1991 grand finalists.^[4] Final minor premiership ladder positions were 3rd, 1st, 4th, 6th, 1st, 5th, 4th, 5th, 7th and 5th (1990–1999).

Collingwood: 2000–2011

Recruited to the Magpies in 2000 by Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, Malthouse has coached Collingwood to the finals in six out of his ten seasons as coach including grand final appearances in 2002, 2003, 2010 (twice) and 2011. In 2010, after the first drawn AFL/VFL grand final since 1977, Collingwood claimed premiership success with a resounding 56-point win over St Kilda in the replay. This was the club's biggest ever win in a grand final and the first since 1990. In July 2009, McGuire produced a succession plan in which Malthouse was to hand over the coaching reins to club legend Nathan Buckley at the end of the 2011 season. In 2011, Malthouse guided Collingwood to another grand final against the Geelong Cats. After the dramatic three point win over Hawthorn in a preliminary final, he was shown on TV in tears in the coach's box after his side came from 17 points down at the final change to book their place in Malthouse's fifth grand final as Collingwood coach and his eighth overall. Collingwood lost the 2011 AFL Grand Final to Geelong by 38 points. The game was his final one as Collingwood coach. Malthouse advised that he would not be taking on the position as Director of Coaching at Collingwood after the loss and that he had made this decision six weeks earlier.^[6] In addition, whilst coaching Collingwood, Malthouse spent time as a guest media commentator for SEN 1116.

Carlton: 2013

Malthouse's appointment as the next senior coach of Carlton was officially announced on 11 September 2012. He is currently contracted for 3 years. After a controversial season, the Blues finished ninth under Malthouse, but were raised to eight place after Essendon Football Club were penalised for a drug scandal, and with a one point win over Port Adelaide in the final round (which kept North Melbourne from overtaking them on percentage). With this entry into the finals Carlton was able to defeat Richmond, and make Malthouse the most successful finals coach ever.^[7]

Family

Malthouse's wife is Nanette. Their daughter Christi has been a sports reporter and AFL boundary rider for Network Ten. Christi's son Zachary was born in December 2008 and is Malthouse's first grandchild. The Malthouses also have another daughter, Danielle, and two sons, Cain and Troy.

Media career

Prior to finishing coaching Collingwood, Malthouse spent time as a guest media commentator for SEN 1116. In 2012 he has been a media commentator for the Seven Network and radio station 3AW and a journalist for The West Australian. In addition, he has appeared weekly on the 5AA sports show with Graham Cornes and Stephen Rowe.

Between coaching period

Malthouse was quoted as saying he would like a senior coaching role with Cricket Australia.^[8] He has released an autobiography, The Ox is Slow but the Earth is Patient.

Malthouse joined 3AW and Seven Network in media roles after finishing coaching at Collingwood.

In 2012, La Trobe University appointed Malthouse as a Vice Chancellor's Fellow. As a leader and mentor, Malthouse works with staff, students and the community and leads the development of sport at the university - including programs to support La Trobe's academic programs in sports journalism, sports management, physiotherapy podiatry and other sports related academic programs.^[9]

Malthouse wrote an opinion piece, "Academia and Experience", about his approach to his new role which was published as a La Trobe University Opinion on 14 February 2012. In this he wrote that "'Education for the future needs a lot more than specialised knowledge and skills. It requires life experience. This is what La Trobe expects me to bring to my new role as Vice-Chancellors Fellow. It is a challenge I will relish. The aim is to place more emphasis on the non-academic side of campus life: practical experience, teamwork, leadership skills and community involvement. In my view, the importance of these aspects of education real-world experience are being seriously overlooked by too many institutions."^[10]

Playing and coaching achievements

• 1985 and 1991 Players Association Coach of the Year
• 1991 Inaugural AFL Coach of the Year
• 1992 Institute of Sport Coach of the Year ^[4]
• Richmond premiership player 1980
• West Coast premiership coach 1992 and 1994
• West Coast Eagles Hall of Fame
• 2008 International Rules Series Coach
• 2010 International Rules Series Coach
• 2010 AFLCA Coach of the Year
• Collingwood premiership coach 2010
• 2nd longest serving coach of the Collingwood FC behind Jock McHale.
• 2nd (all time) most games coached at AFL/VFL level.
• 3rd most wins as coach (all time).

References

External links

• Greenberg, Tony (2012-10-21). "Top 20 Tiger trade pick-ups: No. 7". Richmond Football Club. Retrieved 21 October 2012. 

v t e Australian squad – 2008 International Rules Series Captain: Harvey Bock Boyd Brennan Brown Burgoyne Campbell Crowley Firrito Foley Hayden Montagna Motlop Murphy Osborne Pendlebury Petrie Rodan Rooke Sewell Simpson Selwood Thomas Thompson Wells Coach: Malthouse

v t e Australian squad – 2010 International Rules Series Captain: Goodes Banfield Betts Boyd Cross Dangerfield Duffield Fletcher Frawley Gibbs Gilbert Goldsack Green Ibbotson Jack McVeigh Montagna Riewoldt Simpson Swan Varcoe Wojcinski Picken Coach: Malthouse