MICK Malthouse won’t be paying special attention to Leon Davis or Alan Didak, but says he is looking forward to delving into his players’ minds and souls to see how they cope under the pressure of Sunday’s Anzac Day blockbuster.

The Collingwood coach believes his team’s annual clash with Essendon may well be the biggest AFL match outside the grand final.

A sold-out crowd on Sunday will ensure players of both sides have to be able to cope when the heat is on.

The blowtorch was applied to Davis and Didak late last year after substandard finals series and, while Malthouse wasn’t buying into that debate, he said the Anzac Day clash provided the perfect environment for grooming players for the intensity that awaited in September.

“If anyone said it’s a normal game they haven’t played in it,” Malthouse said on Thursday.

“It is a four-point game but that’s where it ends. It is very much a big-stage game where players are tested mentally [and] always going to be tested physically.

“This is a game where you’d like to think players hold up [and] stand up under those sort of conditions.”

Malthouse said Collingwood had spent the week preparing for the clash in its customary manner. That has included educating players about the significance of the day, with a trip to the Shrine of Remembrance among the week’s activities.

The Pies coach says history had shown ladder positions were almost irrelevant in past Anzac Day clashes, and he knows that may well be the case again this year.

“[The game is] simply playing a very talented group of players from the opposition on what we’d class as the biggest day outside of the grand final,” he said.

“Quite frankly, I thrive on … seeing if I can see into the soul of players, in many respects, to see how they cope with those moments on the big stage.

“These games mean a hell of a lot other than the four points.”

Last year Essendon swooped late, booting the final three goals in under five minutes to steal the match.

Malthouse said while that game was likely to be mentioned, it would not serve as motivation for Collingwood as it tries to move to a 4-1 record.

“Last year’s last year, that’s not going to be resurrected,” he said.

“I don’t get hold of this revenge … if we win by five points does it eradicate a five-point loss? No it doesn’t.

“That loss is last year [and] it has no bearing on this year whatsoever quite frankly.”