Jock McHale, the most famous coach in the history of the club, walked every training night from his job at the Carlton Brewery to Victoria Park.
So too does current coach Mick Malthouse, although not quite as far, from East Melbourne to the club's swish headquarters, nestled by the Yarra River just past the MCG.
The legendary coach was foremost in the minds of all Collingwood people on Tuesday, at the launch of 'Jock', the biography of the man who led Collingwood to eight premierships, written by Herald Sun sportswriter Glenn McFarlane (and published by the Slattery Media Group).
McHale coached the club for an incredible 38 seasons and 714 games between 1912 and 1949. He instilled a system of values and a culture at Collingwood that translates reasonably well today, at least as best it can when you compare the uber-professionalism of the AFL in 2011 to the part-time, virtually amateur game of nearly a century ago, when McHale assumed the coaching reins at the club.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire believes that in Malthouse he has a coach who shares similar traits to McHale.
"Team-manship", (a Malthouse word if ever there was one) was what McGuire used to describe Malthouse's philosophy, in that every player on the list, from superstars down to first-year rookies is treated with equal care and regard.
Back in the day, McHale insisted that every player at Collingwood be paid the same. It cost the club some tremendous footballers - Albert Collier went coaching in Tasmania during his prime and Ron Todd and Des Fothergill bolted to the VFA - but that was how it was done under McHale and for a considerable period afterwards as well.
The question was posed whether McHale would recognise the Collingwood of today. In his era, favoured players would return with the coach after the match to the brewery for pots and a recap of the game. Today they have ice baths. There are women involved with the club today - unheard of in McHale's time - and the players are obviously really well paid. The biggest change might be that Collingwood is no longer in Collingwood. Indeed, the football club is now located closer to hated Richmond than to Collingwood and sits in the heartland of another fearsome rival from yesteryear, Melbourne.
The rivalry with Carlton pre-dates McHale's tenure as coach. The fiery 1910 Grand Final is said to have inflamed feelings between the two clubs and the enmity continues to this day. The Richmond rivalry started when McHale's protégé Dan Minogue returned from World War I and decided to become captain-coach of the Tigers rather than return to Collingwood, where he was revered. McHale never forgave his one-time close friend for this act of betrayal and Minogue's picture was dispatched to a dusty old cupboard at Victoria Park, where it sat facing the wall for the next 30 years.
It is the perfect illustration of the tribalism that binds Collingwood. Reading through the last two chapters of McFarlane's book, you get this sneaking feeling that McHale coached the Magpies for a few too many seasons. His last flag was in 1936 and his final Grand Final appearance came three years later, yet he coached for another 10 seasons.
But the club never dreamt of ushering 'Mr McHale' as he was known by all the players at Collingwood, out the door. His departure as coach early in 1950 itself wasn't messy, but the handover to his eventual replacement, Phonse Kyne, most certainly was. The Collingwood committee was hopelessly divided on who should replace McHale. Bervin Woods, the long-time reserves coach was given the nod, but after just four days - and much acrimony - he resigned and the job was filled instead by Kyne, the retiring club captain.
McFarlane makes it clear that McHale was complicit in the events that led to Woods having the shortest coaching tenure of just about any senior coach in League history, but it would be the only blemish of his otherwise glorious contribution to Collingwood.
The Pies are fiercely protective of the McHale name and its legacy. McGuire used the launch to remind the AFL once again of the error of its ways in not selecting one Magpie in the Team of the Century that was announced when the League turned 100 in 1996. That McHale was not named as coach of that team is equally bothersome to McGuire.
Indeed, the League took its time in recognising McHale. He was sent a congratulatory letter barely three lines long when he retired in 1950 and, while he was a foundation member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, he was only elevated to Legend status nine years later. The McHale Medal, awarded to the premiership coach, was struck at the behest of the Pies and at the suggestion - believe it or not - of cheer squad leader 'Joffa' Corke.
With his bleached hair and gold jacket, Joffa may sometimes come across as a bit of a dill; but he understood, as did everyone in the room at the Westpac Centre on Tuesday, that the Collingwood Football Club might have pre-dated McHale by 10 years, but without his incredible influence, it might never have morphed into the huge and powerful entity that it is today.
And with its painstaking attention to detail, 'Jock' manages to convey the man behind the famous name and his enormous contribution to the game of Australian Football.
The views expressed here are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the AFL or the clubs.
You can follow Ashley Browne on Twitter @twitter.com/hashbrowne
