Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell has no doubt Mick Malthouse will stay with the Magpies in 2012 despite expected offers from rival AFL clubs.

Malthouse has agreed to step down as head coach at the end of this season and take on a special role as coaching director, handing over the top job to his assistant Nathan Buckley.

However Malthouse's stunning coaching form has complicated the issue.

After guiding the Magpies to the flag in 2010, Malthouse has lifted Collingwood to second position on the ladder with a 9-1 win-loss record following Saturday night's 57-point win over St Kilda at the MCG.

"Everyone thinks it (the Malthouse-Buckley deal) is odd because it's never been done before," Maxwell said on Sunday.

"Because of that, everyone thinks it's strange.

"Yes, he is coaching really well. He's coaching to his best.

"The other question that has to be asked is would he be coaching as well if he didn't have an expiry date on his coaching career?

"There's a lot of factors go into it.

"I have no doubt he'll be there in 2012 (as coaching director)."

Maxwell said the 57-year-old Malthouse, a triple premiership mentor who had been coaching in the AFL since 1984 and joined the Magpies in 2000, might not have the energy to build another team from the ground up.

"To go to a club, it takes five or eight years to get them where you want them, to get the right personnel around you, to get the right players there, to teach them the game plan," Maxwell told the Seven Network.

"I don't know if he wants to put in that much effort as well (again).

"I'm sure he has been asked already by other clubs 'do you want to coach, can you coach our team'?"

Maxwell said he hoped Malthouse would combine his new role as coaching director in 2012 with various media commitments.

Malthouse found himself in hot water after suggesting on radio that Melbourne forward Addam Maric was a cheat for claiming a disputed goal in last week's game against Carlton.

"He's an elder statesman of the game and he has so much to offer," Maxwell said.

"As you can see with his comments during the week, he really wants to hold people to account and he wants to make sure that AFL footy remains the number one game in the land."

Buckley said on Sunday he had learnt a lot from Malthouse about man-management skills.

"The deal that the club has put in place is working very well at the moment," Buckley told the Seven Network.

"The proof will be in the pudding for how it goes in the next three-and-a-half seasons. We're 18 months in and things are working very well.

"It's not a one-versus-one situation."

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