AFL coaching great Mick Malthouse has given emotional evidence in court about the alleged violent home invasion that left him stabbed with a screwdriver, describing the three accused men as a group of “cockatoos” as they repeatedly insisted they had targeted the wrong address.
The 72-year-old appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday, where three men are facing charges over the alleged break-in at the East Melbourne home he shares with wife Nanette in the early hours of September 4, 2025. The men have pleaded not guilty and the matter is proceeding through a committal hearing.
Malthouse told the court he and his wife were in bed when they heard intruders trying to force their way into the property with a crowbar. Armed only with an exercise bar, he confronted the men before the altercation spilled into the home’s basement garage.
The former Collingwood, West Coast and Carlton coach said the situation quickly descended into chaos.
“It was a very chaotic moment. They weren’t filing down in a schoolboy fashion,” he told the court.
During the confrontation, Malthouse alleged one of the intruders stabbed him in the sternum with a screwdriver while shouting, “That’ll teach you, you bastard.” He said another man then attempted to strike him with a crowbar before he managed to disarm the attacker and fight back.
After cornering the men in the garage, Malthouse said he deliberately tried to keep them talking while waiting for police to arrive. According to his evidence, the trio repeatedly claimed they had mistaken his home for someone else’s.
“They said someone owes us money and we got the wrong building,” Malthouse recalled. “They were like cockatoos. Once one said it, the other blokes said it.”
During cross-examination, defence lawyers suggested Malthouse had chosen to confront the alleged intruders rather than retreat, arguing he had deprived them of their liberty by blocking their exit. Malthouse rejected the suggestion, telling the court he believed he had every right to defend himself and his wife.
“There were three people trying to break into my door and my wife in there, a 73-year-old woman. Yes, I thought I had every justification,” he said.
At one point, the magistrate intervened after defence questioning attempted to draw links between Malthouse’s response during the incident and his reputation as a fiercely competitive AFL coach, agreeing with prosecutors that the line of questioning had become irrelevant.
Police body-worn camera footage showing Malthouse and his wife immediately after the alleged attack was also played in court.
The committal hearing is continuing.
Images: Wikimedia Commons
