IN A SIMILAR fashion to Stevie Wright of The Easybeats fame, Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse had just one thing on his mind directly following the Magpies' 38-point elimination final win over Sydney on Saturday night.
He wasn't concerned about the Magpies' chances of shaking up the finals race, nor was he worried about making changes to his line-up ahead of the club's next assignment.
He was, however, simply looking forward to Friday – the night when Collingwood will tackle last year's premiers West Coast at Subiaco in another cut-throat final.
"We're not worrying about anything other than Friday. Friday is the first and foremost thing on our mind, and we'll worry about that when we conclude the game," he said.
With an impressive interstate record, Malthouse has numerous reasons to believe his side will be well equipped to take on the trip to Perth, with the club set to decide on a Wednesday or Thursday departure in the coming days.
But he said they won't be underestimating the club he formerly coached, despite the Pies' tendency to travel strongly as well as the Eagles' torrid run of injuries.
"We've won three of four (on the road), and the one we lost was against West Coast," he said.
"We don't assume anything. We know they're going to be a good football side, we know that, and we also know that they're reasonably hardened, and we know that each game is a different game, has different strategies, different game plans, different grounds.
"This will be another test, another big test."
Malthouse said it was pleasing to beat the Swans three times in one season, but was more satisfied by the Pies' overall recent record against last year's Grand Finalists.
"You end up sixth and you play the seventh side, that happens to be Sydney, and their form against Hawthorn gave them confidence, not that I thought they needed a lot going into a game of finals football because they've played so well over the last few seasons," he said.
"It meant that we were coming up against a side that were pretty much hardened, knew what was required, has won on this ground, has won the big dance on his ground.
"It's pleasing to play against them over the last few years and be around the mark. I'm not too sure what happened two years ago, I think we may have only lost by a goal and the year before by a point.
"They've always been close, but this has been the best one."
