'Slap in face' may help: Malthouse

COLLINGWOOD coach Mick Malthouse says he has been around long enough to know not to get too down after his team’s round 22 loss to the Western Bulldogs.

While disappointed his side slipped from third to fourth on the ladder, Malthouse said the Magpies remained steadfast in their belief they could be a main player in the finals – which for them starts with a qualifying final against St Kilda.

“I’ve seen sides go to round 22 and think ‘we’ve just lost that one, we’ve lost all our confidence’,” Malthouse said on Monday.

“That’s not the case with us. [I’ve] still got an enormous amount of confidence in the group, and they have as well.”

The Bulldogs overtook Collingwood to grab third spot, and the coach said the loss had stung his players.

“[Was it] a slap in the face? Yep, it’s given us a real touch up to think, ‘hang on, things were going okay but we’ve now run into a very good football side. What do we need to do to enhance our prospects the following week?’,” he said.

“The bonuses that come out of a loss are that you look closer, stricter, with greater detail into why and how you got beaten and then you make amends … it’s forced us to look deeper.”

Malthouse said he had often witnessed “irregularities” in round 22 and believes his side may have suffered from a similar lack of motivation.

He said there was often a “bizarre twist” to players’ mental attitudes ahead of the final home and away match each season, which also came with different pressures.

While Malthouse didn’t think the pressure in Sunday’s twilight fixture was anywhere near that of a final, he believes the more experienced Bulldogs may have coped better than his men.

The loss and accompanying margin means Collingwood now meets the Saints – instead of the second-placed Geelong – this week.

But Malthouse reiterated his stance that the Pies had no concerns with who they played.

“The outside perception is that Geelong is wounded,” he said.

“We sent our forward scouts to scout Geelong and St Kilda, so you prepare yourself for either one of those sides.

“You don’t go with the intent of thinking ‘if we win this game, we play so-and-so’. You go to win the game of football because winning form is good form.”

Despite winning 12 of their past 14 matches, Malthouse’s team won’t go into this week with winning form after succumbing to the Dogs.

“I haven’t looked at the video [yet] but I’ve spoken to my assistant coaches and the visual coach and said ‘give me your best player’ … we still can’t come up with our best player,” he said of Sunday’s match.

“I didn’t think any of them played consistently enough through the game to warrant [being in the] best for Collingwood.”

As for this year’s flag race, the veteran coach isn’t fussed by the evenness of this year’s main players.

“There’s only one game that concerns us and that’s our game this weekend,” he said.

“Who falls out and who goes forward is totally irrelevant to us. All our energies and concerns are one game … we don’t have to worry about how even it is.

“It’s a great one for supporters and perhaps the bookmakers but [to us it means] nothing.”