Nick Maxwell Biography

Nick Maxwell is headed back to Collingwood to take up a unique full-time role that will aim to unify the leadership approach of the Magpies' staff and multiple teams.

The 34-year-old is leaving his part-time leadership coaching role with Greater Western Sydney for the opportunity to work in Melbourne, and with the club he played 208 games for.

Maxwell has worked at the Giants for two seasons, but his young family remained based in Melbourne during that time, meaning he was often away from them.

"Nick was a fine player but an even better leader, someone who was able to bind teams together and drive them along," Collingwood football manager Geoff Walsh said.

"His expertise, brought to a role that includes all of our teams and staff, should be of tremendous benefit to our club."

Greater Western Sydney says recent commentary over Nick Maxwell's role as a runner had unfairly disparaged him and the club.

Channel Nine highlighted Maxwell's positioning at Carlton kick-ins, with footage showing the former Collingwood captain placed himself along the edge of the centre square at eight of the Blues' 11 kick-ins.

"There was no instruction by the club for him to be filling a gap or anything like that. In fact, we didn't know he stood there until the whole thing has blown up," Campbell said.

"We think most of the commentary around this has been very, very unfair on Nick, and the club by extension. It's inferring we're cheating, which is grossly unfair.

"Nick is an outstanding person with a very, very solid reputation over a long period of time and it's a poor reflection on us as well. It's all been pretty disappointing."

The AFL is investigating the amount of time Greater Western Sydney runner Nick Maxwell is spending on the field.

A League spokesman said the umpires in the GWS-Carlton match on Sunday had mentioned the time Maxwell spent on the ground in their post-match notes.

The AFL's football operations department subsequently raised the issue at its post-round meeting and will review footage to determine whether action needs to be taken against Maxwell and the Giants.

SEN commentator Danny Frawley said Maxwell was coaching players and blocking space at kick-ins as a runner.

"Carlton was kicking in, he was right on the centre-square line in the middle, he was actually part of the zone," Frawley said.

"I know the AFL says you can't go inside the forward 50, but you can't have them standing in the middle of the ground where the 45 (degree) kick comes in."

Former Collingwood premiership captain Nick Maxwell says that AFL players do not take the Illicit Drugs Policy in the off-season seriously.

"I think that now players are basically having a laugh in the off-season because they've got their six or eight weeks and they know they can do what they want to do," Maxwell told SEN.

"And the only result of that is when they get back and are hair-tested they've got to sit down with the doctor and have a one-on-one conversation.

"The big thing for me is the whole attitude has to change across the board. It's a problem in society, everyone acknowledges that.

"So either the AFL and the AFLPA, who pride themselves on leadership in these type of issues, they've got to make a stance and go 'righto, we understand we might lose a few along the way here' and we might have to batten down the hatches.

"But for the betterment of the players, the betterment of the game and as a leader in the industry, they've got to either be real leaders and step up and go 'enough's enough' we're going to go hard here and we're going to hair test four times a year … and it counts and really start penalising (players)."

Nick Maxwell and fan favourite Alan Didak have been made life members of the Magpies at the club's annual general meeting.

Nick Maxwell joins GWS in a part-time role and will spend up to two days a week with the club's leadership group in Sydney next season.

"I've been really impressed with the Giants and I'm looking forward to working closely with the club's leadership group as well as some of the young emerging leaders who continue to grow with each year in the AFL competition," Maxwell said.

"I'm excited by the opportunity to help this driven young playing group at an exciting time for them and the club generally."

Deployed as a loose man in defence for the majority of the contest against the Demons, Oxley gathers a team-high 30 disposals and 14 marks in a best-afield performance for Collingwood.

The 22-year-old also had a round-high eight intercept marks in the Magpies' 25-point win.

Oxley credits former Magpie skipper Nick Maxwell for his development as a defender at the club.

"I did a lot of work with Nick Maxwell the first two years I was here and he was telling me how important it was to take those marks in front of the opposition team's forwards," Oxley said.

"I pride myself on my aerial power and I've been working on it a fair bit at training jumping into the bag and coming off my man."

Collingwood CEO Gary Pert says the loss of Nick Maxwell is a major reason for the Magpies' drop in form towards the latter half of 2014.

"Nick Maxwell, the influence he has on our young group on and off the field … we've deliberately gone younger and are in the process of creating the next premiership team," Pert said.

"But it relied on leadership and Nick Maxwell, as soon as we lost him, that's coincided with a drop in performance."

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire complains that his request for a farewell lap for Nick Maxwell has been blocked by the AFL.

"I've just received information that Nick Maxwell isn't allowed to do a lap of honour at half-time in a car this week because Collingwood is sponsored by Holden," McGuire said.

"He has to do it 20 minutes before the game – no one will be there — because of the Toyota arrangement with the AFL."

The AFL, however, claims to not have received any request for a farewell lap for Maxwell.

"At no time was a request received from Collingwood for this to occur at half-time," AFL spokesman James Tonkin said.

"No vehicles are allowed on the ground at half-time to protect the safety of the children involved in Auskick activities."

Nick Maxwell announces his immediate retirement after succumbing to ongoing calf and ankle injuries.

"As I said to the boys, I've got nothing left. Unfortunately my body has had enough, so that's it," Maxwell told a media conference.

"It's almost impossible now to carry injuries. Having played through a lot of injuries, I just knew I had nothing left."

Nick Maxwell has limped in for scans after injuring his ankle during Sunday's 64-point loss to Essendon.

The former skipper was on crutches and wearing a moon boot on left foot as he hobbled in to get the damage assessed.

Maxwell says he does not know if he will miss any weeks due to the injury.

"To be honest, with ankles sometimes it can look really bad and it can turn out all right and sometimes it can look OK and end being really bad," he said.

"I actually have no idea. It's different to the one I did earlier in the year - same side but different injury."

Nick Maxwell will miss up to three weeks with a calf injury.

"The scan is not too bad. It could be two to three weeks, probably with his age (30) we'd probably think we'll err on the side of caution and it'll probably be three weeks," Magpies football director Rodney Eade said.

Nick Maxwell is seen to have some stern words with Alex Fasolo during the Magpies' clash against West Coast, a act condoned by Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley.

"There is no time to sit down and have a cup of tea [and say] 'How are you going? How's your mum? How's dad?'" Buckley said.

"When you're in the middle of the MCG there is no [time to say] 'Could you pretty please with sugar on top go and stand five metres to your left.'

"It's 'You've got to get this done. You know where you're supposed to be, this is where you need to go'."

Former Collingwood skipper Nick Maxwell says teammate Marley Williams will forever regret his decision to assault a man outside a nightclub on Boxing Day in 2012.

"He put himself in a situation that he's going to regret for the rest of his life," Maxwell told radio station SEN.

"But he chose to put himself in that situation and he knows that he made a massive mistake. But he's also a 20-year-old who made one mistake. He did the wrong thing."

George Burbury will have surgery on his broken jaw after a sickening collision with Pie Nick Maxwell in the Cats' two-point NAB Challenge win over Collingwood at Simonds Stadium.

"The feedback from the hospital, while it's still serious and he needs surgery on his jaw it's not as bad as first thought. Fingers crossed, with the way doctors can wire jaws these days, he can get it stabilised pretty quickly," Geelong coach Chris Scott said.

"So hopefully there's not too much time on the sidelines. We had eight trainers out there looking for his teeth, they were still in his mouth."

Former Collingwood skipper Nick Maxwell says a 12-month succession plan has allowed for a smooth transition for Scott Pendlebury's promotion to captain of the Magpies.

"I've enjoyed the last five years and it's something that has meant a lot to me … I've loved the responsibility," Maxwell said on Thursday.

"Scotty obviously has spent all five years as my deputy so he knows all about leadership, he knows the role, he knows what's required and I'm sure he's going to do a great job.

"To be there and help those guys with their development I thought was probably important, rather than stepping away completely."

Scott Pendlebury is named skipper of Collingwood for 2014, taking over from Nick Maxwell.

"His [Maxwell's] legacy, his standing among the players is as high as one can get," Pendlebury said about his former captain.

"We have always spoken about trying to get me ready for the role and I have always been trying to learn off 'Maxy,' so the beauty of it for me is I have still got Maxy here for me to bounce things off."

Matthew Scarlett reveals his low opinion of Magpies skipper Nick Maxwell in his newly released autobiography, entitled Hold The Line.

Scarlett wrote that his lack of respect for Maxwell was based on a history of sledging between the Collingwood captain and the Geelong side.

"None of our players had any respect for Maxwell. We hated how he was being compared to Tom Harley. It was simply wrong," Scarlett wrote.

Nick Maxwell says he is surprised at how quickly he has recovered from a broken wrist.

"I wasn't actually expecting to get to this point and be here today, but early on in the week we had our scans to check how everything was and everything was healed, and we didn't see any damage there," Maxwell said.

"That's when I knew if I could get through training and function, and do what I need to do then I'd be right."

Nick Maxwell will miss up to 8 weeks after fracturing his wrist against Carlton in round 2.

"His wrist was sore and the pain wasn't easing," Magpies football director Geoff Walsh said.

"He's got a crack that requires surgery that, at this stage, is likely to keep him out for six weeks and possibly a little longer.

Nick Maxwell will captain the Pies in 2013, with Scott Pendlebury as vice captain. Luke Ball and Dayne Beams will serve as deputy vice-captains.

"They're all fantastic positive examples about how to go about your footy, they're great teammates, they're great footballers and we're looking forward to their influence throughout the group," Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said of the leadership group.

"These four guys lead the way for their teammates and they'll be expected to drive this playing group to great things this season.

"[They] were clearly seen as the guys that the group looked up to and wanted to follow."

Suspended Pie captain Nick Maxwell says he will never know how he could have changed the course of his team's preliminary final loss to the Swans had he played.

"It's extremely disappointing. Obviously I don't know how much impact I would have had," Maxwell said.

"But I'm never going to know and I've got to live with that. I'm just devastated that I couldn't have some form of impact over the last two weeks."

Collingwood skipper Nick Maxwell admits the Match Review Panel got it right after accepting a two-match ban for rough conduct against Hawthorn's Paul Puopolo.

"I never set out with the intent of causing any damage, I wasn't trying to be aggressive, to hurt anyone," he said.

"But in the end my technique and the way I went about it was not good enough. In the end, reckless is probably the right word."

Magpie skipper Nick Maxwell's finals series is in doubt after being offered a two-match ban from the MRP for his off-the-ball bump on Hawthorn's Paul Puopolo.

Collingwood skipper Nick Maxwell faces an anxious wait to see if he will miss finals matches after being booked for an off-the-ball incident against Paul Puopolo against Hawthorn in their qualifying final.

Former Bulldogs ruckman Luke Darcy says Collingwood needs forward Chris Dawes back in its line-up after Magpie Nick Maxwell was forced to contest the ruck while Darren Jolly rested.

"It doesn't help Nick Maxwell; he just gets monstered," Darcy said.

"The team loses confidence, they're trying to go third man up … they've got to get a replacement in to have a back-up for Jolly.

"I know Dawes wasn't exactly shooting the lights out in the ruck. I don't think it suits him at all. But at least he's 100 kilos, at least he's a big frame and you can get some competition from him."

Nick Maxwell says changes to Collingwood's leadership group will allow young players such as Dale Thomas, Travis Cloke and Heath Shaw to grow in their new roles.

"Swanny and Jolls stepped down and will take more of a leadership role in the background, so it's good for those guys as senior players; you'd expect them to keep being leaders around the club," Maxwell said.

"The time came for us to bring some youth through the leadership group. You see that with Daisy, Trav and Heater coming through and they'll be good support for us."

Nick Maxwell says the disappointment of 2011 has given him the motivation to start his pre-season early.

"I just wanted to come back early because of the burn of what happened last year, and because the year I had personally - I was injured for most of the year," Maxwell said.

"With the new coach and a bunch of new coaches, I just wanted to start chatting to them and hear what they wanted to implement moving forward."

Magpies skipper Nick Maxwell is the team's most important player according to teammate Harry O'Brien.

"His knowledge of the game plan and the way the coaching panel want us to play is by far the best out of any player in the team," O'Brien said.

"Contrary to a lot of external opinions and the question of whether he's in our best 22, for me, playing alongside him, he's our most important player."

Magpies skipper Nick Maxwell will play in a practice match on Friday, after narrowly failing to prove his fitness for an AFL return.

"Nick is a little bit different, he plays at the other end of the ground, he can play forward, but basically he can form a fist, can punch the ball," Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse said.

"We've just got to make sure we're right in our own mind and in his mind. I'm pretty sure the surgeon will be okay about it."

Collingwood skipper Nick Maxwell is unsure how long a broken thumb will keep him sidelined for but is optimistic his stint on the sidelines will be shorter than anticipated.

"It's impossible for anyone to accurately estimate how long I will be out for," Maxwell said.

"I had a broken leg four years ago and was told I would be out for 12 weeks. I was back playing after six. I am not going to play in the home and away season. As for after that, I am not going to put a number of games on how many I will miss."

Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse says skipper Nick Maxwell won't be selected for the finals if he has not recovered sufficiently from a broken thumb.

"The experience I've had is, any finals series you go in with people that can't get through a game of football, you run a massive risk of being burned," Malthouse said.

"The next day when you wake up and your finals series has finished, you haven't got round 21, 22 and 23. It's gone."

Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell is facing up to a month on the sidelines after fracturing his thumb against St Kilda.

The AFL has announced it has concluded an investigation into betting on AFL matches, with Heath Shaw suspended and Nick Maxwell fined.

"Shaw shared $10 in a $20 cash bet with a friend on Nick Maxwell to kick the first goal of the round nine match between Collingwood and the Adelaide Crows, played at Etihad Stadium on Sunday May 22. The bet was placed at odds of $101," AFL operations manager Adrian Anderson said in a statement.

"On the same day, Shaw passed on inside information to two people that team mate Nick Maxwell would start the match up forward, instead of his usual role in defence. This information led to the placing of three cash bets totalling $25 on Nick Maxwell to kick the first goal, also at odds of $101.

"Collingwood player Nick Maxwell has been sanctioned $5000, with a further $5000 suspended for recklessly disclosing inside information, being information that he would start the match as a forward in the round nine match between Collingwood and the Adelaide Crows. Player Maxwell had discussed this with his family in the lead-up to the match."

Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell plays down a heated discussion with teammate Heath Shaw caught on camera their win over West Coast.

"Over the last eight years we've been playing together you could see there are three or four times a game (when) we go nuts at each other for different reasons," Maxwell said.

"I suppose that is why we love Heath so much because he is so passionate about our footy club and wanting to win."

Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell hopes to return from injury to his kidneys next week against North Melbourne.

"I lost probably three or four kilos but I've put it all back on now in training and I'm looking forward to getting my fitness back up now," he told Triple M radio.

"I took the doctor's advice and spent a couple of weeks in bed, and one positive out of it was that I spent two weeks with my daughter, which was good because she's eight weeks old and at least she knows who I am."

Collingwood pair Nick Maxwell and Tom Hunter spent the night in a Perth hospital after suffering heavy knocks in the NAB Cup semi final win over West Coast.

"Maxwell has some internal bleeding from his kidneys and will remain in hospital for observation. His condition will be monitored in coming days but at this stage his recovery time and return to Melbourne are not confirmed," the club said in a media statement.

"Hunter suffered trauma to his neck region and will also remain in hospital in Perth under observation."

Collingwood skipper Nick Maxwell will remain a Magpie until at least the end of 2013 after signing a new deal at the club.

"As captain of the club, I have committed to the cause as I can see that we have a real opportunity to experience a period of sustained success, and it would be great for everyone in the group to follow my lead," Maxwell said.

"We have created an environment that players want to be a part of, and we have a really strong, driven group. I'm determined to make the most of the opportunity to be part of something special."

Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell says replaying the drawn grand final, rather than playing extra time, is laughable.

"It's probably going to take this for the AFL to change the rules. It's an absolute joke," Maxwell said when the siren sounded to end the first 2010 Grand Final in a draw between the Magpies and the Saints.

Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell has declares his team primed for an assault on the premiership in 2010.

"I know you can get criticised from different people for saying as a club and as a team we want to win a premiership, but that's what we're saying," Maxwell said.

"And we don't think we are that far away."

Collingwood skipper Nick Maxwell is confident that teammate Travis Cloke will reject any offers to join the Gold Coast in 2011.

"I'm very confident that that he'll stay," Maxwell said.

"Someone like him, you see how much work they put in and how hard they work, they're not sort of someone who's going to leave and jump ship.

"You can just tell, he's a Collingwood person. He's got a lot of strong alliances with the club, so I couldn't see him going anywhere."

Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell believes his side is definitely in a better position to challenge for a premiership in 2010.

"We're definitely in a better position," Maxwell said.

"We had quite a few guys who went through some serious traumas that you can never really judge.

"On top of that, we had some injuries at key times. I think the experience from this year, and even from the previous year with some of the young guys, has held us in good stead."

Colingwood great Tony Shaw is critical of Magpies skipper Nick Maxwell for voicing his opinion against trading for Brendan Fevola saying that there was no room in the team for the Blues forward.

"I reckon Nick has done a great job, but is he saying that's a club issue or his own issue? Because he shouldn't be commenting on recruitment at all," Shaw said.

"That should be left to the recruiting and administration and the coaching staff. As captain you don't even get involved in that stuff."

Collingwood midfielder Dane Swan has won his second straight club best and fairest for the Pies with 57 votes, well ahead of runner-up and Magpie captain Nick Maxwell with 48 votes.

Magpie captain Nick Maxwell expresses his distaste for Richmond's tactics in attempting to niggle the Collingwood players instead of winning the ball in a match where the Tigers were thrashed by 93 points.

Maxwell said Collingwood, who are preparing for the finals, were not in a position to retaliate.

"That's the way they decided to go, but I thought it was pretty average considering we couldn't fight back and considering they weren't prepared, a few of their blokes, to put their head over the ball when it counted," Maxwell said on Seven's AFL Gameday.

"There were certain instigators that were a part of that and they're the ones that should be fined, not the ones that were trying to break it up."

Nick Maxwell has excelled as captain of the Magpies, according to coach Mick Malthouse.

"I've got to say he's exceeded my expectation - I recommended him, well, we recommended him as a match committee to the board, but he's gone beyond that," Malthouse said.

"He's changed - he was brave, now he's become braver.

"He was always a good team man, he's become even better at that if he could become better at that. He has always had high principles, he's maintained them. Players knew where they stood beforehand, now they doubly know because he's captain.

"It's been a wonderful story so far, and I take my hat off to him."

Magpie captain Nick Maxwell says newly appointed assistant coach Nathan Buckley will have to adjust to being a coach to his former teammates.

"I suppose he has got a challenge of changing his relationships a little bit. He's a mate and a teammate to a lot of players," Maxwell said.

"Now he's got to look into being a coach. He's got a couple years to develop those relationships and change them a bit."

Eleven rounds into the season, John Anthony has seemingly come from nowhere to make the focal point of the Collingwood forward line his own.

"We feel confident as a backline that whenever we give him the ball he is going to kick a goal, and the team will be rewarded," Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell said.

"That is a massive feather in his cap, and an outstanding attribute to have at his age."

Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell is still confused about the bump.

"I'm definitely in doubt," he said when asked about the rule's interpretation during a panel discussion yesterday at the St Vincent's Institute breakfast.

"You've just got the split second to decide what to do," Maxwell said.

Paul Medhurst is a big chance to play in the Magpies' clash with St Kilda on Monday night as he recovers from an ankle injury.

"Medhurst will be a chance and the 10 days will help him a lot," Magpies captain Nick Maxwell said.

"A couple of our guys are a bit sore so the longer break gives them more of a chance to heal."

Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell defends teammate Josh Fraser after the Magpie ruckman was accused by Grant Thomas of having 'dogged it' against the Bombers.

"Because one person says something doesn't mean it's true. So one person makes a comment and people think that's gospel," Maxwell said.

"Anyone inside the club is all the opinion that matters. So Josh hasn't worried about it at all."

Nick Maxwell has received strong endorsement for his physical brand of football and fledgling leadership from former skipper and assistant coach Gavin Brown.

"It is always a possibility that can happen, but he is beyond his years in maturity and, to be honest, he has always played that brand of footy, he has always been hard and tough," Brown said.

"I just think he has been a bit unfortunate, really, a bit stiff, but that is the way it goes and he knows that. He has been exceptional. He realises his limitations and he is not trying to be someone he is not. I have been pretty impressed."

Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell accepts the Match Review Panel's two-match suspension for rough conduct.

Collingwood's Tarkyn Lockyer says he doesn't want Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell to change the way he approaches football.

Maxwell has accepted a two-match penalty for engaging in rough conduct against Geelong's Steve Johnson their clash on Easter Thursday.

Player at the centre of the season's first rules controversy says he would do the same again.

COLLINGWOOD captain Nick Maxwell will miss Friday night's AFL NAB Cup semi-final against Essendon at Etihad Stadium.

THE rule that allowed Collingwood's Nick Maxwell to be cleared on appeal was today tightened.

AFL match review panel chairman Andrew McKay was unrepentant yesterday for offering Nick Maxwell a three-match suspension.

The AFL is certain to address its rough conduct rules in relation to head-high contact after yesterday's historic decision to clear Nick Maxwell on appeal.

The lawyer who acted for Nick Maxwell in his successful appeal says the rule is virtually impossible to understand.

Collingwood to tell AFL appeals board that tribunal erred in finding that Nick Maxwell had alternatives in bumping case that led to suspension for rough conduct.

Collingwood has created history with captain Nick Maxwell becoming the first player to win an appeal under the new tribunal system.

AFL greats Kevin Bartlett and Nathan Buckley believe tribunal got it wrong when it suspended Collingwood's new captain Nick Maxwell.

Nathan Buckley has logged his support for Nick Maxwell and the bump, further clouding an issue that has divided the football community.

The father of Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell fears his son will be stripped of his natural attacking instincts if this morning's AFL tribunal appeal is dismissed.

Legendary AFL strongman Greg Williams yesterday declared the AFL had got it right in suspending Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell.

Collingwood will today make a second attempt to justify captain Nick Maxwell's much-publicised shepherd.

Collingwood will appeal the AFL Tribunal's "unreasonable" four-match suspension of captain Nick Maxwell.

Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell has had his appeal thrown out and he will subsequently miss the next four weeks.

Nick Maxwell is offered a three-match ban for a guilty plea to a head-high hit from the first pre-season match.

Nick Maxwell will face the tribunal after deciding to challenge the three-match ban offered to him.

Nick Maxwell insists the captaincy of Collingwood won't change him as a person or a player, but he can't wait for the challenges of dealing with the position.

Defender Nick Maxwell has been named captain of Collingwood, replacing the retired Scott Burns.