Collingwood is accustomed to playing in front of large crowds, while Hawthorn – with its home games shared between the MCG and Aurora Stadium in Launceston – doesn't often have what most clubs consider a privilege.
"I don't see it really being an advantage," Malthouse said. "Will it be a disadvantage for Hawthorn? I wouldn't have thought so."
While the match is Hawthorn's home game, Collingwood supporters are renowned for their presence at any fixture, and will be out in numbers this weekend – inspired in part by captain Scott Burns' 250th game.
"We had 90 [thousand] or thereabouts last week, and I said to a couple of the younger players how did they feel about it," Malthouse said. "It was good for them, because it was the first time they'd played in front of a big crowd.
"The maturity of the Hawthorn side would suggest to me that the crowd's not going to be any issue. It would be different if they were full of young kids."
Malthouse considers the match an opportunity for his players to see where they're at ahead of the season's first general bye for the Hall of Fame Tribute Match.
With its three wins over Essendon, Richmond and Fremantle, the Magpies have fallen to North Melbourne, Carlton and Brisbane this season.
"When you're three and three, you'd say [we're] patchy," he said. "I think we're better than three and three.
"We lost two games by a kick or less, or thereabouts anyway, and I reckon we had both sides covered and a couple of things just didn't go according to the script. I don't think we're a five and one side; Carlton beat us fair and square the way I see it. We just weren't on the money whatsoever that day.
"The Brisbane game … and then the same with North Melbourne, there were just a couple of things that happened two-thirds of the way through the last quarter which just took the gloss of our performance.
"When we've played patchy football, and we come into this game, this is probably a really good test for us ... regardless of how many people are there."
