Anyone for Frosties, guys?

Nathan Buckley and Mick Malthouse shake hands at the Peter McCallum Cancer Centre breakfast. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

THE body language was telling.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley arrived early at yesterday's Peter Mac charity breakfast at the MCG, looking relaxed in a club polo top and slacks.

He stood beside his table laughing as he mingled and chatted to guests.

Carlton coach Mick Malthouse arrived later, dressed in a crisp suit and tie, seemingly stiff and on edge as he strode through the crowd in the Members' Dining Room looking for his seat - at one point getting to within a couple of metres of Buckley - and not making eye contact with anyone until he found Blues president Stephen Kernahan.

The two coaches took their seats at tables 19 and 21, separated by about 10 metres, and listened intently while they ate fruit, muesli and juice followed by poached eggs.

Both had rescheduled training sessions to accommodate the annual panel discussion at the charity breakfast.
Yet insiders suggested Malthouse had inquired about coming early to start proceedings, and had even sounded out the possibility of not attending.

He looked tense throughout and barely cracked a smile.

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Host Brian Taylor, the former Collingwood spearhead and a one-time Malthouse teammate at Richmond, was not dancing around the subject of Mick coaching against "his boys", the Collingwood players he took to a flag in 2010.

Fully aware that Malthouse and Collingwood president Eddie McGuire - who was out of the country yesterday - had exchanged barbs over the past week, Taylor chuckled into the microphone: "Eddie's away, otherwise there might be another dynamic in the room."

After the morning's formalities, the coaches and captains were individually called up to the stage to join the panel.

When Malthouse was introduced, Buckley politely applauded. When it was Buckley's turn, Malthouse was facing the other direction, chatting.

On stage, the two men exchanged a perfunctory handshake, Buckley making eye contact, Malthouse looking to the right at Maxwell.

They sat at opposite ends of the table.

For eight of Malthouse's 12 seasons at Collingwood, Buckley was his captain. Yet the two men did not talk before, during or after yesterday's breakfast.

The only words they exchanged came when Buckley was asked what he expected from the opposition coaches' box on Sunday.

"We don't have a lot to go on, Carlton under Mick. But obviously having played under him and coached with him, I've got a fair understanding of the way he sees the game of footy."

Craning his neck to look down the panel, Buckley added: "I think after 29 years as a head coach ... Mick?"

"Yep," Malthouse confirmed bluntly.

"After 29 years we all know what Mick Malthouse-coached sides look like. Carlton, as Mick has detailed, are a work in progress, and how much of the residual is still there and how much of the new stuff is still to come through, we'll see as the year progresses."

Buckley then landed a backhanded compliment, mentioning that Carlton had defeated Collingwood twice last year: "Brett Ratten had a fair understanding of us and had a way to get around our strengths, so we need to get around Carlton's."

When asked his view on the subject, Malthouse reiterated his stance that it would be business as usual coaching against his former club, despite having revealed earlier in the week that his family was "disappointed with humanity" about his messy departure from Collingwood.

Malthouse said the perception Sunday's game meant something special to him was "more media and supporter driven".

"I do know some of the players who will be playing for Collingwood, but it's amazing that 12 months out what's happened is that there's a massive change in personnel at the football club - and that goes for every football club. So it's not the same football club that I was at," he said.

"But if I focus on that, it's the very thing that I coach against, which is individuality. It's all about, and must be about, the team. So I've got to make sure that any emotions I have are all directed towards our team playing as well as they can."

Buckley and Maxwell agreed their focus this week was on the old enemy, not the new 59-year-old enemy.

"The (Collingwood-Carlton) rivalry exists longer than any of us sitting here have been around, and that's a great thing to be a part of," Buckley said.

Maxwell suggested: "I know everyone wants to build it up and make it sound like it's all about Mick and it's all about Bucks and about our coaches, but it's about who gets the four points."

When the panel discussion concluded, there was an awkward moment when Malthouse stood up and spun on his heel, turning his back when it seemed Buckley was intent on approaching him.

Both men immediately left the room for their respective clubs. Buckley headed for the lift, while 20 metres behind him Malthouse took the escalator and marched off towards the city

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