The ex-Collingwood and West Coast premiership coach came face-to-face with the trio as they were allegedly trying to break into his East Melbourne unit in the early hours of September 4, 2025.
Photos released by Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday revealed the extent of Malthouse's injuries as he fended off the alleged intruders to protect his wife Nanette, who had been asleep inside their home.
Andrew Carroll, Aysar Mashu and Joshua Di Cello have each been charged with attempted aggravated home invasion, intentionally cause injury and trespass with intent to steal.
The 72-year-old AFL/VFL games record holder for coaching said he picked up a 10-inch exercise bar as he went to investigate a "pinging" noise coming from outside his door, only to find the three men allegedly outside with a crowbar.
A "chaotic" scuffle ensued on the small top landing, where Malthouse said he "cracked" one of the men with the bar twice and was hit on the arm with the crowbar, causing a bleeding gash and bruising on his right forearm.
He chased the men downstairs into the basement garage, where the trio became trapped after being unable to open the garage roller or pedestrian door.
"It was like trying to herd cats. They were all over the place," he told the court.
Malthouse recounted how one man allegedly told him they "got the wrong building" and that "someone owes us money" before the rest mimicked "like a bunch of cockatoos".
Di Cello ran out first, once Malthouse opened the pedestrian garage door.
As Mashu headed towards the exit, he allegedly lunged and "stabbed" Malthouse in the sternum with a screwdriver, causing him to bleed before yelling, "that'll teach you, you bastard".
Carroll then allegedly held a crowbar in the air to strike the AFL legend, but he grabbed it and "whacked" the alleged intruder on the side of the head with the exercise bar before he too escaped.
Di Cello had allegedly stolen the key fob to Malthouse's apartment block three days before the alleged attempted break-in from a cladding company that had previously completed works on the building, according to court documents.
The trio had met up at Hyatt House in South Melbourne the night before, with CCTV capturing them walking through the hotel's hallway.
They then are alleged to have travelled to Malthouse's complex, where they used the stolen key fob to gain entry before the ordeal ensued.
A phone intercept of Mashu's phone calls allegedly revealed the aftermath of their escape as they travelled towards an address in Parkville.
Mashu was on a call with an associate when Carroll could be heard in the background saying, "just say bring something down".
"Hey can you bring, um, some tissue and come down," Mashu told the man, with Carroll again heard in the background saying, "toilet paper. Or anything".
When the three men arrived, they were captured walking into the Parkville apartment and Carroll was also seen with a "significant welt under his left eye" consistent with the blow Malthouse had dealt.
Malthouse played 174 VFL games for St Kilda and Richmond, including the latter's 1980 premiership, before embarking on a record-breaking 718-game coaching career at Western Bulldogs, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton, masterminding three premierships in 1992, 1994 and 2010.
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