COLLINGWOOD has cruised to its third straight victory, spoiling the milestone night of former coach Mick Malthouse with a 75-point thumping of a lacklustre Carlton at the MCG on Friday night.
Malthouse coached his 715th VFL/AFL game to break a record set by former Collingwood coach Jock McHale that had stood for 66 years, but the triple-premiership mentor had little to smile about as the Pies ran rampant in the 18.12 (120) to 6.9 (45) result.
Collingwood improved its record to 4-1 for the season and continued to take advantage of a favourable early draw, with three of those wins coming over St Kilda, the Brisbane Lions and Carlton, teams unlikely to figure in finals contention this season.
While Carlton could be forgiven for being totally outclassed, its effort was again found wanting.
The Blues were beaten in possessions (375-297) but also tackles (81-47), and looked a dysfunctional outfit as they slumped to 1-4.
"I don't care what list I've got in terms of talent, because that's going to fluctuate through your career. What I do care about is the effort for Carlton supporters," Malthouse said post-match.
"Unfortunately, I've got to say that that's as disappointing a game as I've been attached to here at Carlton."
On the flipside, the Magpies continued their impressive form under Malthouse's protege Nathan Buckley, with their fourth win built on the back of seven unanswered majors either side of half-time.
Anzac Day medallist Paul Seedsman continued his stellar start to the year for the Pies before he was substituted with a suspected left hip problem in the third quarter, while skipper Scott Pendlebury (32 touches and two goals) racked up possessions at will.
After starting the week in a moon boot, Dane Swan shrugged off ankle concerns and improved as the match went on, with strong support from Adam Oxley.
Despite Collingwood strengthening its position in the top four, coach Nathan Buckley said there was no need to remind his players not to get ahead of themselves.
"We've started well and there's a lot of positive signs," he said.
"We've got some momentum, but I thought the response tonight on the back of Anzac Day shows our players are able to absorb a really strong performance against a rated opponent and still apply themselves.
"We've got a long way to go and we've got a lot of growth in us. We're still looking for it."
The party-pooping Pies had winners all over the ground, but Carlton struggled to find a single player who convincingly beat his man.
Tom Bell and last round's NAB AFL Rising Star nominee Patrick Cripps had a crack, while Sam Rowe battled manfully on inaccurate Pies spearhead Travis Cloke (2.3).
But there were few other contributors, with the horror night summed up by last week's five-goal hero Lachie Henderson held statless by Jack Frost before he was substituted with a tight hamstring in the third term.
Apart from Carlton's dismal effort, the evening's talking point came during a pre-game function, when Malthouse shook hands and appeared to call a truce with Eddie McGuire after his acrimonious split from the Pies at the end of 2011.
Malthouse led Collingwood in 264 games and to the 2010 flag, after his coaching journey started at Footscray (132 games) in 1984 and continued at West Coast, where he won the '92 and '94 premierships during a 218-game stint.
Fittingly, he received a rousing reception from both clubs' supporters when he and his family led the Blues onto the darkened MCG before the match.
But once the formalities were over, he was left bitterly disappointed by with his team's display, and Malthouse has now failed to beat the Pies in five attempts as Carlton coach.
He will have to search for win number 407 (McHale won 467) against the bottom-placed Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium in round six, while the Pies return to the MCG next Friday night against Geelong.