Malthouse is right.
Collingwood v Essendon will be one-way traffic.
Rivalries have a negligible result on the result these days. Teams are like machines these days - working within systems and the pace of the game and having players of supreme athletic ability. The scoreboard effect of heart and passion typically only comes to the fore in a quagmire. Essendon will say they are 'up' for this one and get flogged, just like we have done dozens of times overe the last couple of decades.
I'd rather watch two of Collingwood-Geelong-St Kilda-Bulldogs than Collingwood-Essendon/Carlton
Oh, and Essendon would see Hawthorn as much bigger rivals than us.
That said, if you ever got two of the well supported teams firing it would be a huge game. It seems like so long since that has happened. Even in 2001 the writing was on the wall that us and the Blues were a way off Essendon.