Michael Fish is a BPL citizen journalist.

Will Mick Malthouse coach again?

That is the question that will come up time and time again over the summer and for the next few years whenever there is a coaching vacancy.

The man himself has categorically declared it is over. And his reflective media conference after Saturday's grand final was part valedictory speech as well as an affirmation that his first footy love might not be Collingwood, but in fact Richmond, where he played in a premiership in 1980.

Saturday brought to a close a 28-year role as an AFL coach. He shook Footscray out of its lethargy in the 1980s, brought some good players to that club and might nearly have had them in a grand final in 1985, denied only by the last good quarter of football ever played by the legendary Leigh Matthews.

His work at West Coast was great. He was handed a good list - a virtual West Australian state team, and added some Victorian know-how and not for the last time, an "us against the world" siege mentality.

He landed two flags with West Coast and the Eagles never missed the finals in his tenure. Peter Matera, Glen Jakovich, John Worsfold, Dean Kemp, Chris Mainwaring and Peter Sumich went from good to great under his coaching. Subiaco became a fortress and Western Australian football a force to be reckoned with.

And then came Collingwood. At the end of 1999, the club was a mess, but a sleeping giant all the same. Who remembers that Malthouse's first official game as coach was the infamous ‘Millennium Match', played on December 31 1999 against Carlton? Brendan Fevola kicked 12 goals as the Blues won in a canter.

It was about that time that Malthouse and Eddie McGuire were talking about Collingwood becoming the Manchester United of Australia. And yes, we laughed.

But who is laughing now? The Pies might not have won as many titles in the last 10 years as Sir Alex's mob has, but the club has grown, and grown, and grown some more. Collingwood is now the biggest sporting brand in the country and probably the best run sporting club we have.

Malthouse leaves a great legacy.

But will he coach again? How many 58 year olds have the stomach to replenish at a new place and start the five-to-seven year journey to win a premiership all over again?

Malthouse almost certainly doesn't, which explains his various "I'll never coach again" remarks over the last few days.

Which is not to say that the coaching bug won't bite once again. He will spend the next 12 months in the media and he will take to that like a duck to water. It is at the end of next season that he will decide whether he is a media person or a club person.

He won't coach again, but some sort of overseeing role might suit him. Which is why after a 30 year absence, and if the heart follows the head, he might don the yellow and black of the Tigers once more.