Mick Malthouse may not challenge Frank 'Checker' Hughes for the title of the oldest coach in AFL/VFL history - but it will not surprise if he sets a League record for longevity.
On Friday night, when his Blues take on Hawthorn at Etihad Stadium, Malthouse will reach his 850th game as a coach and player combined, to be third on the all-time list. (See tables below.)
The three-time premiership coach appears a strong chance to one day hold the mantle himself.
Malthouse is scheduled to overtake Collingwood legend Jock McHale (878) late next season.
The clubhouse leader is his former teammate and old sparring partner Kevin Sheedy, who is on 919 and still counting.
At season's end, when Sheedy hands over the Giants coaching job to assistant Leon Cameron, he will finish with 930 games. (Of course, that's assuming Sheedy won’t coach again.)
By then, Malthouse will be on at least 861 (plus finals). So he's a minimum of three seasons away from claiming this special place in history.
Malthouse has two more seasons to run on his three-year contract with the Blues, so he would need to earn an extension. No big deal for a man who spent six years at his first club (Footscray), 10 at his second (West Coast) and 12 at his third (Collingwood).
Malthouse is considerably closer to surpassing McHale's games-coached record of 714. He's on 675, so he's likely to enter this uncharted territory early in his third season at Visy Park.
On Friday night, Malthouse, aged 59 years and 301 days, will also become the equal-sixth oldest coach in League history, drawing level with Denis Pagan.
Those in front of Malthouse are Frank 'Checker' Hughes (71 years and 148 days in 1965), McHale (66 years and 266 days in 1949), Sheedy (65 years and 174 days this round), John Kennedy (60 years and 246 days in 1989) and Jack Worrall (60 years and 40 days in 1920).
Perhaps significantly, each of these men has multiple premierships to their name.
When AFL.com.au asked Malthouse about his latest milestones of 850 games, he was unaware of it.
"It really means nothing. One more (game) than last week and hopefully one less than if I'm still in the job the following week," he said with good humour.
We then cheekily asked whether he was any chance of overtaking Hughes, who was 71 when he coached Melbourne in 1965.
"I'll be lucky to challenge myself by next week, don’t worry about 71," Malthouse said. "They’re all a bit meaningless, aren’t they, all those stats? I don't know really what they mean, outside of making me feel very old. So you've achieved that."
It must be said that Hughes was the beneficiary of a remarkable set of circumstances.
Hughes's last game as an officially appointed coach had been almost 17 years earlier, at the age of 54. After leading Melbourne to a surprise premiership – his fifth – in 1948, he promptly retired as coach.
But when six-time premiership coach Norm Smith was sensationally sacked (and reinstated just days later), Hughes filled in for one game
MOST GAMES AS PLAYER AND COACH COMBINED
919 Kevin Sheedy (251 as a player, 668 as coach)
878 Jock McHale (261 as a player/playing coach, 617 as coach only)
849 Mick Malthouse (174 as a player, 675 as coach)
793 Leigh Matthews (332 as a player, 461 games as coach)
729 David Parkin (211 as a player, 518 games as coach)
719 Ron Barassi (254 as a player/playing coach, 465 games as coach only)
659 Norm Smith (227 as a player, 432 games as coach)
652 Allan Jeans (77 as a player, 575 games as coach)
606 Robert Walls (259 as a player, 347 as coach)
589 Tom Hafey (67 as a player, 522 as a coach)
MOST GAMES COACHED
714 Jock McHale
675 Mick Malthouse
668 Kevin Sheedy
575 Allan Jeans
522 Tom Hafey
518 David Parkin
514 Ron Barassi
