The SEN 1116 breakfast boys on Thursday morning were all over comments by Mick Malthouse that the Collingwood-Carlton rivalry might have been a bit overblown.

Said Malthouse at a charity breakfast on Wednesday morning, attended by the captains and coaches of both the Pies and the Blues: "I'd be very disappointed, quite frankly, if they're not as switched on for last week's game and next week's game as they are this week's game."

"That probably says a bit about the way football is, it's no longer a suburban brawl, it now is a national competition."

Not sure what his president would make of those remarks. Eddie McGuire makes almost as much noise about hating Carlton as he does about barracking for Collingwood.

And as one of the SEN callers Malthouse has left himself open to be challenged in the build-up to next year's Anzac Day clash with Essendon. If he expects his players not to make any distinction between one opponent and the next, then why should the supporters? If there's no real rivalry between the Pies and the Dons, then why not share Anzac Day around?

But the thing about Malthouse is that while the Pies are sitting atop the ladder and with their premiership window well and truly ajar, it is the time to leave him well alone.

Twenty years of observing Malthouse and his gameplan becomes clear. The better the Magpies (and the Eagles before them) are going, the more irascible he is. That's the Malthouse method and that's how he keeps his football clubs focused and on edge.

"Worry about the things you can control." Denis Pagan brought the statement into the football vernacular, but it is a creed that Malthouse lives every day. Pick, carp, poke and prod at everything when you win, to ensure that nobody is comfortable and that complacency never sets in.

Often, it is the journalists who have the misfortune to ask the first question of Malthouse after a Collingwood win, who cop the brunt of his ire. As part of his plan to make sure there is an edge about the Pies, he will often jump over the opening remark, convey the message he is not all that happy and so it goes from there. Not that the journalist who invoked Kevin Sheedy in his opening question to Malthouse last Saturday was doing himself any favours.

Rule no.1 for any up-and-coming AFL writer when the covering a Malthouse press conference is not to ask a question unless it is sensible, researched and absolutely to do with what happened in the game just completed. There is no shame in taking in a Malthouse presser without firing a question, if there is nothing sensible to ask.

But then there's the converse, When his team loses, Malthouse can be frank and engaging, open and insightful. Remember the outpouring of emotion after the 2002 grand final when a rather pedestrian Magpie outfit ran the mighty Brisbane to within two goals? We can still picture a tearful Malthouse embracing Paul Licuria on the MCG after the final siren and it might remain his most enduring moment as a coach.

When Collingwood loses, you are more likely to have Malthouse honestly assess his side, its strengths, weaknessess and the road ahead.

Malthouse doesn't provide many screaming headlines when Collingwood is losing. But it is when he provides his best copy.