A NOSTALGIC Mick Malthouse has admitted to disappointment that he will be coaching his last Anzac Day blockbuster on Monday.

This year the Collingwood coach, who will hand over the reins to assistant Nathan Buckley at the end of the season, will be at the helm of his 12th Anzac clash against Essendon.

He said that while he had always tried to treat football as a team sport, there were times when self-indulgence took over.

"It would be fair to say that it's not a right to coach. It's a privilege," Malthouse said.

"And that has been extended to me for the last 11 years, this is the 12th year. I just treat it as that, it's a privilege and next year it won't be there. It's disappointing, but that's life."

Malthouse said his favourite memory from his 11 Anzac Day matches as coach of Collingwood was seeing teenager Mark McGough win the Anzac Day medal in just his second AFL game in 2002.

"It felt good I guess for the media to award it to a 17-year-old. There were so many 17- and 18-year-olds (at war). So many of them had their lives taken from them when they were 17, 18 years of age. Mark McGough, at 17, to maintain that spirit of the Anzac was one I remember," he said.

Ruckman Darren Jolly is likely to return after missing last week's win over Richmond with a knee injury, ending a streak of 142 consecutive matches.

Malthouse said Jolly would be named in the preliminary squad to face the Bombers.

"He is taking the first steps we need him to take and we'll have to see how Friday turns out and go from there. He'll be certainly named, put it that way," he said.

"He is very confident. He was confident last week. We're talking about a bloke who played 142 consecutive matches. We are quite hopeful."

Malthouse paid tribute to an Essendon side that has only lost one game this season

"They are a good football side. They've got some good depth. They've got some good players who aren't playing senior football from last week and clearly some them have got to come back this week because of injuries. They defend well and they score well," he said.

He said his side had to play at its best to defeat the Bombers.

"Our playing group is still getting used to different types of systems. If we play to our best, what we've done in the last four weeks then we'll win. If we play to our worst we won't. If we play somewhere in the middle it is going to be a very good game."