IT IS alluring to view the Carlton versus Collingwood clash at the MCG on Sunday as an individual battle.
The obvious take goes as follows:
Mick Malthouse, the former Collingwood coach and new coach of the Magpies' arch enemy Carlton, in one corner.
Nathan Buckley, the former Magpie skipper under Malthouse and his successor in the Collingwood coaching job, in the other.
But Malthouse has always hated the obvious storyline as much as Collingwood and Carlton loathe each other.
Looking beyond the obvious to see what is actually happening on a football field is part of what has made him a coaching great.
And what made him such an engaging media commentator in 2012.
What will be most interesting and less than obvious is what Malthouse does to combat a team full of players he helped make into premiership players.
Who will take on Heath Shaw? What will Travis Cloke face? And who will be sent out to run with Dane Swan or Scott Pendlebury?
The intriguing sub-plots within the game will be worth discussing for a long time after the siren sounds.
The other notable feature of this moment is what Malthouse's acceptance of the Carlton coaching job has said about his ability to defy conventional wisdom.
He has become the first former Collingwood mentor to coach Carlton and the eighth oldest man to coach in AFL/VFL history.
He is starting a quest that taxes everyone as he pushes 60 (in August). That he remains unfulfilled and still chasing perfection in his chosen profession is fascinating.
He played his first game of League football in 1972, 11 days before Buckley was born.
He then had 40 consecutive seasons uninterrupted at the game's coalface until 2012, when he spent a year in the media.
But he wants to keep going. Why not do what you're good at and what you love? It sure beats chasing the perfect garden, not, as they say, there is anything wrong with that.
His hair might have turned grey, but his mind remains sharp and his competitive instinct is extraordinary.
Last Monday night on Fox Footy's On The Couch, Malthouse showed he could still explain simple truths with precise language, when he said coaches should never fall for the trap of thinking, 'You know it all, they know it all and they can do it all'.
He knows the job ahead of him is huge. He knows to speak of flags is foolhardy. They are too hard to win.
Many coaches can be good at their job and not win them.
But that is the ultimate goal and in reality the way many will measure his tenure at the Blues.
Malthouse has already won three as a coach and one as a player. If he could win another at a fourth club ... well, few do that.
His status at the Magpies is already assured.
He left Collingwood, the club he supported as a boy, after 12 years as coach where he was instrumental in dragging it from 16th, broke and struggling to a premiership contending heavyweight.
With the post-game words: "I'm not coming back boys," Malthouse told his players and staff at the end of 2011 his time at Collingwood was up.
Buckley was a key part of the club's revitalisation, too, as a player, as a captain who became better under Malthouse, and as an assistant coach.
His status as a Collingwood player is in stone.
His stature as coach is growing. He has quickly endeared himself to the football public, too. He is honest, forthright and a quality coach.
Both Buckley and Malthouse are popular with many people inside and outside the Magpies.
Both are respected for their contribution to the game.
Now the Collingwood hordes suddenly have Malthouse plotting to beat them.
That will be hard for many to get their head around.
But when the siren goes, all that will be forgotten and only one thing will matter. It will be time to let the battle begin.
