Collingwood coach Craig McRae has revealed why he felt the time was right to welcome 2010 Collingwood Premiership coach Mick Malthouse back into the club.
Malthouse was brought in to speak to the playing group ahead of their traditional ANZAC Day clash with Essendon on Monday
Malthouse departed Collingwood in murky circumstances when the Pies board opted to implement a succession plan that would see Malthouse hand over the head coaching reigns to Nathan Buckley.
A director of coaching role was on offer for Malthouse but he opted not to take that position and entered the media before taking over the head coaching role at Carlton.
McRae said he was thrilled to welcome the games coached record holder back into the fold at the Holden Centre in such a big week for the club.
"I'm really happy that Mick is back at the footy club," McRae told media.
"He's got such a huge history in the game and a wealth of knowledge. My time here under Mick, he made this (ANZAC Day) game really special and we're just going to try and tap into his experience around that."
He went on to describe how Malthouse's return had come to fruition after the pair bumped into each other by chance.
"It was just a general catch up, I saw him in passing about a month before," McRae revealed.
"We organised to go for coffee and now I'd love to tap into his experiences along the way.
"We just had a casual chat over a coffee and I left the conversation thinking wow, he's got so much to offer. I just text him and asked him if he'd be involved and he said he'd be honoured.
"We're just so grateful to be a part of this as a footy club. I'm in a position to lead our team toward this and we want to do the ANZAC spirit proud as well as our jumper proud."
Collingwood goes into the ANZAC Day clash with a two and three record having lost three games on the bounce.