Maxwell, Magpies' Mr Reliable, Happy To Play Hero For A Day

The Sunday Age

Sunday September 7, 2008

Emma Quayle

IT WAS some time last Wednesday that Mick Malthouse wandered up to Nick Maxwell and said he wanted him to do something he had never done before in his 93-game Collingwood career - spend a whole game in the midfield.

It was some time last Thursday that the coach went up to him again to confirm the plans.

"I think he had the idea, then had to go back and convince the other coaches it was a good one," Maxwell said after yesterday's game.

"It must have taken a while . . ."

In his (now 94) games, Maxwell has built a reputation for being many things. Around his club, he is a leader, a young man with a strong mind, and an ability, said Malthouse, to have a positive influence on the people around him.

As a defender, the 25-year-old has been called many things too: solid, hard-working, blue collar, workmanlike. In one way, they are all positive terms and yet, in a footballing sense, they could also be interpreted as completely backhanded compliments.

Maxwell has heard all these things, and knows they can be read either way. Who wants to be simply solid and dependable; who doesn't want to be reliable and in touch with their own capabilities?

"In a way, they're not flattering things, but in another way they are," Maxwell said.

"I understand I'm never going to be a star and I understand my standing in the game as a player, I guess. I'm not under any illusions, so none of it insults me.

"All I want to do is play for Collingwood and play my role, and while I'm contributing I feel like I'll be a part of the team. As soon as I'm not, I won't be.

"I know I'm not going to take speccies or kick bags of goals or get 30 touches, but I think it takes all types of players to play in a team. I feel pretty good about what I can do. I feel like I can give something good to the team."

The thought of throwing Maxwell into the middle yesterday struck Malthouse when he was not supposed to be thinking about his football team, it was when he was home one night last week, watching something on TV.

Scott Burns was looking iffy, and Alan Didak was obviously not around. Malthouse thought about Maxwell's determination, his desperation to do well. He had six players playing their first final, including 18-year-old John McCarthy, who had never played any final, for any team.

He wanted his senior players, the clear-headed, sensible ones who could see where games were going, in important spots. He took the idea to his match committee. He had some selling to do.

"I guess that's where you have the swinging vote as senior coach," Malthouse smiled last night.

"Inspiration comes at various times, not always at the football club and not always at the match committee. I'd say that this one may have come . . . I can't really remember, but I was watching something and thought that Nick, given his devotion to being one, a solid citizen, and two, a solid player and a good leader, might be able to come to grips with that role.

"We just seemed to be one player short, and I thought if it worked, it would work. If it didn't, he'd go back to a half-back flank and they'd say I'm an idiot. But it worked, so therefore we're not idiots."

Maxwell's job was a simple one: to stick by Scott Thompson's side, stop him playing one of those 30-possession, five-goal games he is capable of, and not worry too much about how much of the ball he was winning. But he played well, and didn't simply make Adelaide's most dynamic mover look ordinary.

He tackled, he harassed and he kept on running, which on a warm afternoon in a new position meant he had two post-match Powerade bottles in hand, not just the one.

The skills he had as a "short, little 13-year-old" didn't take long to come back.

"I just tried to stay with him. It was a bit more dynamic than playing in the backline. There was a bit more happening and it was pretty hot running around out there, but I just kept it pretty basic," Maxwell said.

"I was looking forward to doing it. It was a bit unexpected at first, but once Mick explained why he wanted me to do it, and that I could go forward with him as well and not have to swap opponents . . . I thought it was a good thing and a good challenge for me.

"I didn't really know if I could do it, I guess, but it felt like Mick thought I could and I knew he'd had to talk the other coaches around on it a bit.

"There was a risk that went with it, but it's good that the coaching staff put that trust in me. They rolled the dice a bit, but hopefully I did enough to make it all worthwhile."

Malthouse does not expect Maxwell to poll many Brownlow votes this season, or perhaps even finish high on the club's Copeland Trophy night. But while the defender's leadership abilities are well known - within the club and outside it - have his actual playing talents gotten a little lost?

"Only by people who don't know," Malthouse said.

"But you don't build your leadership on who can play, you build it on the citizen; and if you've got someone who's highly respected within the organisation, he has a positive effect on the people around him, and in my eyes he's a wonderful choice as a leader."

That said, Maxwell expects to be setting examples from a more familiar place next weekend: the backline.

"I think this was a bit of a one off," he said. "I think I'll be back in defence next week, but today was really good . . . and I had a good time doing it."

© 2008 The Sunday Age

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