WHEN a world-class athlete is training in full public view on a warm spring day, you'd think it would be the biggest spectacle in the near vicinity.

But Harry Kewell training with Melbourne Victory on Thursday morning barely turned a head as hundreds flocked 80 metres away to watch Collingwood's final training session before Friday night's preliminary final against Hawthorn.

The crowd watching Kewell included a collection of school children, a dozen or so die-hard Victory fans and, strangely, Richmond assistant coach Brendon Lade dressed in a Liverpool shirt.

But next door, the Magpie army swarmed. There were cheers for stars such as Dale Thomas, Scott Pendlebury and assistant coach Nathan Buckley, while one female fan proposed to Sharrod Wellingham at the top of her voice from 30 metres away.

Ben Reid was the main talking point in the crowd as he makes his way back from a groin injury that kept him out of the qualifying final win over West Coast.

Before he ran out, he was fitted with a GPS device as the Magpies' strength and conditioning team was keen to monitor his workload.

Reid got through the session without a problem, even with close attention from defensive coach Max Hudghton, who followed him as closely as he tracked forwards in his playing career with St Kilda.

But it didn't seem there was a lot riding on Reid's session as coach Mick Malthouse revealed afterwards that he had already picked the team, with Reid in it.

It was a candid and open Malthouse who fronted the media. Knowing that one more question about his future could easily result in a stern response from the Magpies coach, a television reporter kicked things off with the preamble "I'll get this out of the way first" before asking if he'd taken time to reflect on what could possibly be his last outing as Collingwood coach.

While the standard coaching response is to say you are focused on nothing else than beating your immediate opponent, Malthouse revealed that he had found himself thinking about the prospect quite often.

Most are tipping that Malthouse's coaching career will last at least another week. Some suggest it will be even longer than that, but his time as the main man at Collingwood is fast coming to an end and few could blame the second-most experienced coach in the game's history for taking a moment to look back at his career.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs