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READ > Melbourne v Collingwood match previewMELBOURNE may have just the one win on the board this season, but Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse believes you underestimate the Demons at your peril.
The Magpies are the raging favourites going into the Queen's Birthday match but Malthouse said that counts for little.
"We haven't won a game against Melbourne on this particular occasion for the last four years,” Malthouse said from the Lexus Centre on Friday.
“I think it would be fair to say that we’ve gone in with an equal chance of winning because of the quality of the players, but we haven’t won any of the last four.
“We're in good form; Melbourne have had an indifferent last month, but they challenged Hawthorn where we couldn't and that makes them dangerous.
“Any side that can do what we didn’t do I highly rate. They fell away a little bit last week, but sometimes with young kids it’s hard to hold them up all the time. They’ve still got some wonderful players and if they get up and they bring the kids with them it will be a big fight.”
Having smacked the Eagles by 100 points last Saturday, the Pies will go into the match on the back of an eight-day break which Malthouse has used to freshen up his players.
Anthony Rocca trained well on Friday and will return to the Pies’ goal front after a week out with an ankle injury.
“We’re confident that the training today was enough to suggest that they will all play,” Malthouse said.
“But I am reserved because I just know that in football clubs, between now and Monday, there is always a chance of blokes ending up with colds and soreness and so forth.
“We’ve got another training session to go, it’s the old chestnut I have every year; you pick sides on Thursday and we don’t play until Monday, so it’s fraught with danger.”
Speaking on Melbourne radio on Friday, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou called on Melbourne supporters to show up en masse on Monday or risk losing the lucrative fixture.
Malthouse said it was a fairly simple equation for Dees’ fans.
“I think it’s pretty obvious that Melbourne know this is a wonderful opportunity two-fold; they’ve got a good record against us and financially it’s a windfall. I don’t think you have to be a Rhodes Scholar to work out that the more people that go, the better it is for Melbourne,” he said.
“We’d all be disappointed if on Anzac Day we only filled half the stadium.
“If we’re going to talk about different occasions, and there’s been suggestions of Good Friday, then those games are there to promote massive crowds because our game really does revolve around that.
“We’ve seen a few low-crowd games this year and empty shells just don’t do much for our game.”
Melbourne will celebrate its 150th anniversary at a gala dinner on Saturday night, but Malthouse was more interested in another significant milestone.
"It's Leon Davis's 150th, which I think is just one of the most outstanding efforts,” he said.
“The celebrations for Melbourne on Saturday night are all well and good, but to celebrate 150 games is terrific for him.
“For a young lad who came here very, very shy and unassuming, wanted to hide away, hadn’t been away from home and mum and dad all his life… to do what he’s done is fantastic.”
Malthouse will be reaching his own milestone on Monday when he coaches his 575th match to draw level with former mentor Allan Jeans.
“I never really worry about numbers, but this one here, given the fact that it’s with Allan Jeans, is humbling and it’s significant because it’s something to reflect on,” Malthouse said.
“I look at Jeans and I wonder ‘how much did I learn from Allan Jeans?’ It’s an enormous amount and it is quite humbling to have the same numbers.”
