Mick Malthouse says he would have stayed on as Collingwood coach in 2012 if Nathan Buckley delayed handover

FORMER Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse “absolutely” wanted to stay at the helm of the club when Nathan Buckley took over.

FORMER Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse “absolutely” wanted to stay at the helm of the club when Nathan Buckley took over.

Buckley revealed last week that he considered delaying the famous transition at the end of 2011, when the Magpies fell short of Geelong in the Grand Final.

And Malthouse said today that he would have had no hesitation in staying on as senior coach had Buckley put a hold on proceedings.

“Of course, absolutely. My love was coaching,” Malthouse said.

“Absolutely I would have stayed. There’s a lot of people there at Collingwood who wanted me to stay on.

“He’s going over broken ground — the simple fact is, it didn’t happen. But if Nathan had have gone to the football club and said ‘look, the club’s running terrifically and it’s been in a record-breaking year for number of wins … make it happen a year later’, well of course I would have stayed on. That’s the most obvious thing.”

Mick Malthouse and Nathan Buckley work together during the 2011 season.

Buckley said that at the end of 2011, “Mick was coaching really well and had a really strong connection with the players”, but said the club’s leadership was looking further ahead.

“We had an understanding of where that was going to go and it wasn’t until very late in the piece that Mick decided he didn’t want to be a part of what was going forward,” Buckley said on SEN on Friday.

“There’s no doubt that had an impact because the plans for that were pretty well ensconced.

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“Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I’d contend that group could have possibly contended in 2012 which it did, maybe in 2013, which we didn’t, but beyond that it was going to need regeneration anyway.”

Malthouse said returning to the Holden Centre yesterday for Dane Swan’s retirement press conference wasn’t the first time he has been back to the club since leaving as coach, but said he doesn’t feel “overly comfortable in such situations”.

Mick Malthouse joined Nathan Buckley and Eddie McGuire in farewelling Dane Swan on Tuesday. Picture: Michael Klein

“I’ve had many many cups of tea and coffee with certain people from the football club in other locations,” he said on SEN.

“I don’t feel overly comfortable in going back to places I’ve been to. You don’t want to impose yourself or feel as if people have to talk to you. I’ve got some wonderful memories from every football club.

“For the first couple of years, (Eddie and I) stayed clear of each other, but I’ve got no issues there. Nathan is a bit different. We probably don’t see eye-to-eye in many instances, so the best thing is you don’t put yourself in a confrontational position.

“I’ve got no problems whatsoever. I know I spent my longest period in football there, 12 years ... they were great years.”