MICK Malthouse is one of the biggest stories in football this season, but the three-time premiership coach resisted the temptation to add his own spin to an ever-developing yarn at his weekly press conference on Wednesday.
Malthouse is set to equal Collingwood legend Jock McHale's coaching games record this Saturday when he coaches his 714th VFL/AFL game against St Kilda in Wellington.
After answering questions on Chris Yarran's three-match suspension and the Blues' likely ins and outs for Anzac Day, Malthouse was asked whether he had given any thought to Saturday's impending milestone.
With a wry grin, the veteran coach explained his focus this week had been on trying to beat St Kilda and, to a lesser extent, on finding out when and where the Anzac Day service would be held in Wellington.
"I don't care what time it starts, I just want to be there," Malthouse said.
"Any thoughts of personal stuff are not even taken into consideration given the enormity of the events 100 years ago."
Malthouse's 714th game and his record-breaking 715th game against his former team Collingwood next Friday night have been overshadowed over the past week with talk of his contract situation.
The coach's initial three-year deal with Carlton expires at the end of this season and Blues president Mark LoGiudice and chief executive Steven Trigg both addressed the issue in the media.
LoGiudice guaranteed Malthouse would be at Carlton for the rest of the season, but reiterated the Blues' consistent position since late last year that the club would not make a decision on the coach until late in the 2015 season.
Trigg told SEN radio on Saturday that the 61-year-old Malthouse had to ask himself a simple question: "Does he still have the energy to do it? It's a really incredibly demanding business."
Understandably, Trigg's comments stoked media speculation about exactly where Malthouse stands at Ikon Park.
So much so that AFL football operations manager Mark Evans felt the need to weigh in on Tuesday, saying that out of respect to Malthouse the media's focus should shift to celebrating the former Footscray, West Coast and Collingwood coach's achievements over the next fortnight.
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Malthouse was asked on Wednesday whether he was happy to have Evans championing his cause.
"I can't help what you blokes do," he said simply.
Asked then whether he had been disrespected in "some quarters", Malthouse responded: "Of course, that's mandatory with some people."
Pressed on "which particular area" of the football industry had disrespected him, Malthouse did not take the bait.
"I think it would be stirring the muck to do that, there's no point," he said.
Asked later about Trigg's comments last Saturday, Malthouse's answer was just as brief and to the point: "Steven's made the comments, I don't necessarily have to respond to them."
At the end of the press conference, Malthouse did concede the constant speculation about his future had taken an "incredible" toll on his family.
"Until you walk in someone else's shoes you're never going to find out," he said.
"It's no use me even explaining it, because quite frankly you won't understand it."
The coach had been more expansive on radio the night before when asked about the situation.
"My wife is the same age as me and she’s in tears two or three times in the last week because of things that have been written," Malthouse told FIVEaa.
"I can’t control what the papers or anyone else says. I think there’s an insensitivity and a little bit of disrespect at times.
"I can cope with most things, but I hate seeing my family under stress."
He did say it was important to maintain perspective.
"You're in it, you've got to live with it and you get on with it. There's far more better times than there have been bad times," he said.
The Carlton coach had earlier stressed that he was not daunted by the challenge ahead of him this season.
The Blues might be winless after three rounds but there are few challenges Malthouse has not faced before in his 31 seasons of coaching.
"It doesn't matter whether you're winning or losing you've still got a challenge every week," Malthouse said.
"You've got a challenge to keep making the list better. If you've lost games you focus more on confidence - if you're winning games it's not necessarily a confidence thing, it might be an overconfidence thing.
"If you ignore life and think that there's going to be no challenges, you're kidding yourself because no matter what scenario you're in, there's going to be things that you have to address.
"(The state of Carlton's list) is not my immediate concern, today, tomorrow or Saturday because my energies along with all of my coaches have got to be directed towards getting the best out of our playing group.”
