Selected with the 15th pick of the 2003 Rookie Draft, Maxwell’s tenacity and intense drive stood him apart early as he forced his way onto the club’s senior list, making his AFL debut against Adelaide in 2004. Fast establishing his place within Collingwood’s best 22, Maxwell would become an ever-present member of a fledgling Magpie outfit, with his leadership qualities in defence seeing him earmarked as a future captain, a prophecy he would ultimately fulfil when he assumed the role following Scott Burns’ retirement in 2009. Far from being overwhelmed by the burden of leading Australia’s most storied sporting institution, Maxwell revelled in the newfound responsibility, his ascendency to the captaincy spurring him to career best form, resulting in All-Australian selection and a runner-up finish in the Copeland Trophy in 2009. Maxwell however would enjoy his finest hour 12 months later, when in perhaps the defining performance of his career, a defiant and desperate final quarter stand in the 2010 Grand Final draw ensured the Magpies would live another day. A week later, Maxwell would climb the podium at the MCG as a Collingwood immortal, hoisting aloft football’s Holy Grail as the 11th Premiership captain in the club’s VFA, VFL and AFL history. Following five seasons and 104 games as Collingwood’s on-field general, Maxwell stepped aside as captain at the start of the 2014 season, but such is the esteem with which he is held, the 30-year old remains a pivotal member of the club’s leadership group. Maxwell is one of the success stories of the AFL's rookie list scheme. Knocked back by several clubs after graduating from the TAC Cup, Maxwell worked his way onto the Collingwood rookie list via the VFL and broke through for his debut in his second season. He hasn't looked back since, and is now one of the most respected players and leaders in the game. Displays unbelievable courage at half back, and regularly intercepts opposition entries into attack with his ability to read the play. Backs himself overhead and never allows an opponent an easy kick. Lifts another notch when the finals roll around, and was one of Collingwood's best in the two Grand Finals in 2010 when he led the club to its first premiership in 20 years. Has suffered several collision injuries due to his brave style of play, but Magpie fans would not have the man who led their team with distinction between 2009 and 2013 any other way. | ||
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Nick Maxwell almost retired at the end of 2013. It had not been the happiest of seasons, had ended badly and by the time he headed off on a boys' trip to Mexico and Las Vegas last spring, the outgoing Collingwood captain believed he had had enough of football and that the feeling was mutual. Maxwell had never expected to play 200 games. In fact, on the occasion of his 150th he bought a bottle of Grange Hermitage and presented it to his parents and his manager, Peter Lenton, over dinner because he thought it would prove his final milestone performance. Perhaps it was that highly ordered side of Maxwell's AFL life that made last season even more disappointing. Reading the play on and off the field has always been his strong suit and the story was no longer clear to him. The once-tentative battler who had willed himself to run back on those early nervous occasions with the flight of the ball - and in the process win over his coaches and captain and playing mentor James Clement - now questioned whether his best was still good enough both as a player and off-field leader. ''I looked at my own game and where I was at,'' said Maxwell this week, in the lead-up to joining the 200 club against Sydney at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, ''and whether I did want to go on. Because of all the changes that were going on, because of frustrations with injuries where I couldn't play at the level I expected of myself. ''[Last year] we were doing everything we could to keep the group together. But I didn't do a good enough job. None of us did a good enough job.'' The 2010 premiership captain was holidaying not with teammates but a group of old school friends on a trip that had been more than a decade in the planning. He left not certain he would fulfil his one-year contract and there were occasions on the trip where Maxwell's football life flashed before him - the selfishness of his existence where his family was concerned, the sacrifices and not insignificantly his close mate's wedding scheduled in the 2014 pre-season that he knew he would have to miss. Overseas, Maxwell also reflected on the massive challenges that Collingwood players had faced, with the philosophical transformation from Mick Malthouse to Nathan Buckley and the ensuing fallout, the player departures and the staff changes. ''There wasn't so much divisions,'' Maxwell now explains. ''What I saw was with a lot of guys because Mick and Bucks were so different and their philosophies were so different; for a lot of guys who had been under Mick for 10 years or however long they were it was a fairly big shift in the way Bucks not only wants us to play but the way he wants us to train and his philosophies. ''With Mick, if a guy got into trouble over the weekend Mick wasn't one to act in the sense that his attitude was that player owes it to us and he owes it to our supporters to perform over the weekend. ''Whereas with Bucks it's more: 'No, no, no, we're all part of a team here and you've got to toe the line as much as the next guy and if you can't do what we need you to do for the team then we'll find someone else to come in and play that role. ''Because they are so different in the way they do it it can be very challenging for guys and it was challenging. Plus the game, new demands, a lot of things were changing. Our fitness staff … rumours that Dave Buttifant was leaving as well, players were coming towards the end of their careers. ''In the change room it was really difficult because guys who I considered were close mates were in a position where they were not in the team and they felt they should have been out there and they felt they were better than the younger guy who was out there.'' In the end, said Maxwell, it was because of all the change he felt he had to play. ''And I still felt I had a lot to give. They were the two reasons that I felt I have to go back to this, I have to commit to this and go all the way through it. ''If I hadn't been here … we've got a very introverted group and a lot of them are self-driven and they've got to learn to drive others … ''Last year was tough but we also learnt a lot about our kids as well. And because some stood up and played well in an environment that wasn't perfect, we thought: how good will they be when we get to the point that things are working and we are all together and determined beyond anything else to unite to have success?'' Maxwell, a long-time union man where players' rights are concerned, broke ranks with AFL Players Association guidelines and began his own personal pre-season six weeks early. He has attacked 2014, he says, fitter than he has ever been. ''I threw myself into training well before pre-season started,'' said Maxwell, ''and on the first day I ran a PB in a time trial after 12 years here. I finished fourth, which isn't bad for a third tall defender. I wanted to make a statement and show that this is what I really want to do.'' Mindful that the club was introducing a new weights program and strength coach - Marty Girvan who ran a gym near Maxwell's Spotswood home - the 30-year-old also trained with him regularly six weeks out from the start of pre-season. But Maxwell did not attempt to convince Heath Shaw to conform to the point that he could remain a Magpie. ''Heath was just extremely frustrated a lot of the time for all of the reasons I've talked about. My opinion was that it was going to help him to leave. ''As much as I've played … well, 185 of my 200 now standing next to him - and I know people might see video of us having a crack at each other, but it's just that we're competitive and we want to win at all costs. We also go about things completely differently on a day-to-day basis. ''But we do have enormous respect for each other and I could see that a new environment could really help him.'' Maxwell is emphatic he has no interest in becoming a coach and would not even speculate on whether he would prove a teacher in the Buckley mould or a motivator like Malthouse. He says life after football holds no fears for him because the early and repeated rejections before Collingwood in 2003 took him as a rookie saw him complete a double degree and since then play every season as if it was his last - quite literally, he says, despite more than 100 games as captain. ''I've been prepared for retirement since day one,'' Maxwell said, ''and I've gone into every contract as if it was my last. I've had to because I've had no choice because I'm not good enough. I don't dread the end. In fact, I know I couldn't do this forever. The great thing about footy for me is that there is an expiry date.'' This season is no different. His future in the game could come, according to Maxwell, in football administration or a media commentary role - a pursuit in which Maxwell believes there is room for improvement. ''I'm not sure exactly what post-footy looks like,'' he said, ''but if I did work in the media it would be more analysis that interests me. David King stands out to me because he goes to training and goes to ask questions. ''I think we're making the punters dumber because I think we're not giving them the right information all the time. When X, Y or Z say it and it's taken as gospel. ''I hear a well-known commentator say that and I think, 'No, that's wrong.' There's a massive gap that we need to fill and maybe the clubs can help by welcoming commentators in to give them a better understanding.'' Equally poorly received by teammates was Matthew Scarlett's autobiographical attack last year on Maxwell in which the retired Cats full-back said: ''None of our players had any respect for Maxwell. We hated how he was being compared to Tom Harley. It was simply wrong.'' Maxwell's friends at Geelong - Jimmy Bartel, another old St Joseph's College boy is a close friend - rallied and while the player himself said he was shocked, he only resented having to answer questions about the literary sledge. ''I've never spoken to him [Scarlett] in my life outside of comments on the footy field and I didn't know him from a bar of soap so it came as a complete shock,'' he said. ''I had overwhelming support after that, but I understand that people only really want to watch the star, which I never was. But I also hope I never forget what every player has to go through just to get onto the ground to play a senior game.'' Maxwell's work across a number of charities is noted by his employer and he said he wanted to be remembered not only for playing his role for the team but for the relationships he has built across the club through its networks. ''I've loved every minute of it,'' he said of his Collingwood career and 199 senior games, adding quickly: ''No, that's actually a lie. I've hated a lot of it, I hate it when things don't go well.'' |
Nick Maxwell - Fast Facts Height: 193cm Weight: 92kg Date of Birth: 3 June 1983 Recruited From: St Josephs (VCFL)/Geelong U18/North Ballarat Debut: Collingwood v Adelaide, Round 9 2004 at Telstra Dome Games: 199 Goals: 29 Honours: Collingwood Premiership Side 2010; Collingwood captain 2009-2013; R.T. Rush Trophy (2nd best-and-fairest) 2009; Jack Regan Trophy (5th best-and-fairest) 2012; Darren Millane Memorial Trophy (Best Clubman) 2007, 2009, 2011; Gavin Brown Award (Leading Desire Indicators) 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012; Bob Rose Award (Best Player in Finals) 2009, 2010 (equal); All-Australian 2009 Draft History: Selected at No. 15 in the 2003 Rookie Draft; elevated onto the senior list during the 2004 season At A Glance Junior Clubs: St Josephs (VCFL)/Geelong U18 Clubs: Collingwood (2004-2013) Debut: Round 9 2004 v Adelaide Recruited from: North Ballarat (VFL) Brownlow Votes: 3 Milestones AFL Debut: Collingwood v Adelaide, Round 9 2004 at Telstra Dome 50 AFL Games: Collingwood v Richmond, Round 3 2007 at the MCG Captaincy Debut: Collingwood v Essendon, Round 16 2007 at the MCG 100 AFL Games: Collingwood v St Kilda, Round 7 2009 at Etihad Stadium 50 Games as Captain: Collingwood v Western Bulldogs, Round 6 2011 at the MCG 150 AFL Games: Collingwood v Hawthorn, Round 15 2011 at the MCG 100 Games as Captain: Sydney v Collingwood, Round 20 2013 at ANZ Stadium Draft History Selected at No. 15 in the 2003 Rookie Draft Elevated onto the senior list during the 2004 season AFL Awards Collingwood Premiership Side 2010 All-Australian Team 2009 Club Awards R.T. Rush Trophy (Second in Best and Fairest) 2009 Jack Regan Trophy (Fifth in Best and Fairest) 2012 Darren Millane Memorial Trophy (Best Clubman) 2007, 2010, 2011 Gavin Brown Award (Leading Desire Indicators) 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012
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The numbers that make up the career of Nick Maxwell: 11,108,708 – People to have watched Maxwell in his 199 senior games since round nine, 2004. 100,016 – The largest crowd Maxwell has ever played in front of (in the 2010 Grand Final against St Kilda). 8102 – The smallest crowd Maxwell has ever played in front of (against Greater Western Sydney in round 18, 2012). 4114 – Days since Maxwell was drafted back in December 2002. 2709 – The amount of disposals recorded by Maxwell in his 199 games, at an average of 13.61. 561 – Tackles laid by Maxwell in his AFL career, at an average of 2.82 per game. 193 – Maxwell’s current height (193cm). 128 – Matches played at the MCG. 104 – Games as captain between 2009 and 2013 (and one as stand-in skipper against Essendon in round 16, 2007). 93 – Maxwell’s playing weight (93kg). 43 – The number Maxwell wore in his debut season of 2004. 41 – The first number Maxwell was handed upon walking in the door at Victoria Park ahead of the 2003 season. 33 – The number worn by Max Rooke when Maxwell barrelled him in a ferocious tackle during the 2007 Preliminary Final. 33 – VFL Games played. 32 – Players to have featured in 200 or more games for Collingwood prior to Maxwell’s milestone. 29 – Goals kicked in 199 games. 29 – Maxwell’s highest disposal count in a game (recorded against West Coast in round nine, 2009). 27 – The third number worn by Maxwell during his time in the Black and White (between 2006 and 2008). 19 – Pre-season games during his time in the AFL. 18 – Finals played between 2006 and 2013. 18 – Games played against Carlton, Maxwell’s most against an individual team. 17 – The disposal count Adelaide star Scott Thompson was restricted to by Maxwell in the 2008 Elimination Final. 16 – The number worn by Tom Davidson, the man Maxwell replaced on the senior list midway through 2004. 15 – The number at which Maxwell was selected by Collingwood in the 2003 Rookie Draft. 8 – Possessions won by Maxwell on debut against the Crows in round four, 2004. 7 – The number of ANZAC Day games Maxwell has played in. 6 – Overseas trips to Arizona on pre-season training camps. 4 – The amount of clubs that Maxwell trained with before landing a spot on Collingwood’s rookie list. For the record, those clubs were Geelong, Hawthorn, Sydney and Port Adelaide. 4 – Gavin Brown Award (Leading Desire Indicators) won. 4 – The most goals Maxwell has ever kicked in a single game (against Brisbane in round 17, 2007). 3 – Brownlow votes earned by Maxwell during his playing career to date (all awarded against West Coast in round nine, 2009). 3 – Darren Millane Perpetual Memorial Trophies won (as Best Clubman). 2 – Premierships Maxwell has been involved in since arriving at Collingwood, including both the 2010 AFL triumph against St Kilda and his role in Williamstown’s VFL premiership in 2003. 2 – Goals kicked on his captaincy debut against the Crows in round one, 2009. 2 – Bob Rose Awards (Best Player in Finals) won. 1 – All-Australian selections (2009). 1 – Cracked knuckle sustained in a Grand Final (against Geelong in 2011). 1 – Premiership won as captain (2010).  I've been prepared for retirement since day one, and I've gone into every contract as if it was my last. I've had to because I've had no choice because I'm not good enough. I don't dread the end. In fact, I know I couldn't do this forever. The great thing about footy for me is that there is an expiry date.
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Saturday, March 29, 2014
Nick's 200
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