Former Western Bulldogs coach Michael Malthouse and former player Brad Hardie have been inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

The pair was inducted alongside Trevor Barker, Jim Deane, Ron Evans and Ken Hunter at the prestigious annual event on Tuesday night.

The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996 and serves to recognise players, coaches, umpires, administrators, and media representatives who have made an outstanding contribution to Australian football. 

Malthouse was inducted in recognition of an outstanding playing and coaching career, which included a six-year stint as a coach at Footscray from 1984-89. 

After playing 174 games with St Kilda and Richmond, he joined the Bulldogs as a first-time senior coach and took them to a preliminary final in 1985. 

He left the Club after 135 games as coach, and won two premierships with West Coast over 10 years, and later spent 12 years at Collingwood (including the 2010 premiership) and a further three at Carlton.

He holds the record for the most games coached in VFL/AFL history, with 718.

After 140 games for South Fremantle in the WAFL, Brad Hardie transferred to the VFL to play for Footscray in 1985.

He claimed the Brownlow Medal that same year by a single vote from Justin Madden, becoming only the second player since Haydn Bunton Snr to win the award in his first VFL season.

After winning the Charles Sutton Medal in 1986, he left the then Western Oval to join the Brisbane Bears, where he played 101 games before being traded to Collingwood for the 1992 season.

Hardie played 47 matches for Footscray over two seasons, and kicked 28 goals.