COLLINGWOOD coach Mick Malthouse hailed his team's complete performance against West Coast at the MCG on Sunday afternoon, but don't go calling the Magpies pretty.

Watch Mick's post-match press conference on CTV.

The reigning premiers led at every change as they thrashed the Eagles by 52 points.

And although the performance featured numerous highlights, including a screamer and a miraculous left-foot banana kicked goal from Dale Thomas, Malthouse doesn't want his team to be renowned for playing attractive football.

"Everyone's got their own opinion," Malthouse said after the match. "But let me tell you, we win by a great deal of hard work.

"The word 'pretty', I haven't heard that said about us, but I think the players wouldn't be too keen on that adjective quite frankly.

"I think it would be more a case of our work systems working for us."

In cruising past the Eagles, the Magpies won all four quarters of a match for the second time this season.

"I thought we applied pressure for all four quarters, or as long as we had to," Malthouse said, before acknowledging his team had been on its guard after West Coast thumped the Western Bulldogs by 123 points in round nine.

The coach was full of praise for veteran defender Chris Tarrant, who held Eagles star Josh Kennedy to five kicks and three goals.

He also highlighted the efforts of fellow backmen Ben Reid and Leon Davis.

The latter continued his great season by gathering 25 possessions while roaming across half-back.

"[Davis] has always been a very good ground-ball player and he's always been able to hold his own in a marking contest," Malthouse said of the former goal-sneak.

"What we're seeing here is he's rarely outmarked as a back and when the ball hits the ground he has a great ability to find the ball.

"He's been very, very good for us. He understands his role very well.

"After a long period of playing forward of centre, sometimes players take with them a lot of idiosyncrasies and forget the actual principles of backline play.

"But he's picked it up in a breath, which is very, very handy for us."

Dashing defender Heath Shaw was involved in a heated exchange with some of his teammates during the three-quarter-time break, but his boss saw no reason to be concerned.

"Heath's like that," Malthouse insisted. "I said to him after the game, 'God help his teachers'. They've probably just come out of the asylum a couple of weeks ago … putting up with Heath until year 12.

"He makes sure that when he's on the bench that he's quickly put on the ground, because I think everyone's fair game on the bench.

"He tells his teammates and coaches alike that he should be out there."

Collingwood takes on St Kilda at the MCG on Saturday night. It will be the first meeting between the clubs since the two Grand Finals last September.

After recent wins over Melbourne and Fremantle, the Saints might pose a serious challenge to the Magpies, not that Malthouse has been caught off guard by their resurgence.

"Why were you surprised?" he said. "You're not going to die wondering with St Kilda. They're always going to have a crack and sooner or later things turn around for sides.

"They've been too good for too long to just turn their toes up. They're a good football side."