> Mick Malthouse addresses the media ahead of the Round 20 match against Richmond
COLLINGWOOD might be one of the form teams of the competition right now but coach Mick Malthouse is wary of slipping on a Tiger-shaped banana peel this weekend.
The third-placed Pies will take on a Richmond unit desperate to send veteran Joel Bowden off on a winning note, but Malthouse isn't about to take his eye off the ball despite the looming finals campaign.
"We cannot dismiss the game against Richmond right in front of us, that is what we have got to put all of our focus into," Malthouse said from the Lexus Centre on Friday afternoon.
"We are playing a side that has won two-and-a-half games out of the last four, it is not as if they're mugs.
"These are the games that can creep up on you, as they have done with nearly every side at some stage through the year."
With just four players unavailable through injury, Malthouse agreed the club was in an enviable position leading into the finals.
The Magpies' playing stocks are set to be further boosted with the return of Josh Fraser who is "nearly ready" to resume after a month out with a knee injury.
That might present Malthouse with a selection headache given the recent play of Cameron Wood, but he wasn't about to show his hand on the subject of playing both big men in the same side.
"When you've got a full list of players, if we have by next week, that's one of those dilemmas that you don't mind approaching nor trying to sort through," he said.
"It's when you're at the other end, and we've all been part of that, that the side virtually picks itself.
"We have been horses for courses right through the year and that approach won't change."
Forwards Anthony Rocca and Sean Rusling are both playing in the VFL this weekend and Malthouse threw down a challenge to all of his players who currently find themselves outside the AFL side.
"[Anthony's] making progress … but the intensity from AFL to VFL is extreme," he said.
"So what we have to do with these players who are playing back there is try to simulate some form of intensity. The game itself won't produce that so it's up to the individual to produce that.
"That's the next stage for Anthony and Sean Rusling and other players who are pushing seriously for senior selection. They probably need to 'up tempo' themselves to simulate something that is approaching the intensity of the [AFL].
"That goes for all players really, but we do know with Anthony that if it doesn't happen pre-finals it won't be a mystery to him whereas some of the other younger players would probably need to get games under their belt."
