Probably six months before we had any conversation

The sceptics Rosetta Stone Language about the deal with Buckley, which was brokered in July last year, were always going to be looking for signs of discontent, even in their assessment of Malthouse's body language at the press conference announcing the new arrangement. They thought they'd definitely found them this year in a comment from the coach about Buckley having a lot to learn and still being a mile off senior coaching. But, according to Pert, there has remained an obsession with the senior coaching post which continues to overlook the bigger picture at Collingwood, one being framed well before discussions began about the passing of the coaching baton, and one which Malthouse embraced enthusiastically. People have got to understand that in the mix of this, the head coach is a key, but just one part of a program set for the next five years. It's not just about one element, he says. Probably six months before we had any conversation with Mick or 'Bucks', myself and [Collingwood president] Eddie McGuire sat down to talk about what we needed to do over the next five years with the whole program. It actually didn't start as a conversation about Mick or Bucks. It was what does our program look like to maximise our performance during that period. So we've got dates and end points to ourselves as well, and as it all rolls out, and we're in a position to maybe even deliver the Language Learning Software ultimate result, I think all those components are adding up. And the time element I think is a factor. Whether it's conscious or sub-conscious, I think it's been a good thing to help bring the best out of everyone. History looms large for Collingwood this afternoon, and especially for its coach. At the age of 57, Malthouse will become the oldest coach of a premiership side if his Magpies get up. He will join football immortals Ron Barassi and Leigh Matthews as the only men to have been involved in a premiership as a player or coach with three different clubs. And his third flag as a coach will have come no less than 16 years after the second, which says enough about how contemporary his methods have remained over decades, not just years. But what the Malthouse of 10, grey-haired, now a doting grandfather, and very comfortable in his own skin, has most of all after so long, is a sense of perspective. On Tuesday night, in his reflective state, he recalled playing in Richmond's 1980 premiership win alongside Merv Keane, who'd already played in a Tiger flag six years earlier. Malthouse couldn't understand why his teammate's second premiership had meant so much more to him than the first. Keane explained that at 21, he expected to be playing grand finals every year. By the age of , with the end a lot closer, he had a much better appreciation of both the scarcity of such opportunities, and the sacrifices involved. Malthouse said he could only hope that lesson would rub off on his younger players today as they prepared alongside the much more experienced likes of Simon Prestigiacomo or Darren Jolly. The prize at the end of it as a young kid is not nearly as great as it is when you're getting older, he mused. But he could equally have applied that comment to himself. Malthouse's bullet is creeping ever closer. But, incredibly, given what is about to unfold this afternoon, he Learn Arabic is a man at peace. And a Collingwood victory would ensure that when he does take that hit months from now, it will be with a smile on his face wider even than the one we've seen these past few weeks.