Max Bailey Biography

The coach of Box Hill Hawks' VFL premiership-winning side, Chris Newman, will be replaced by fellow Hawks assistant Max Bailey for 2019.

Newman will take up a role as an assistant as part of Alastair Clarkson's coaching group at Hawthorn.

"Chris and Max have been fantastic coaches for us over the last couple of years and we're rapt we've been able to promote from within our club and elevate both of them into new roles," Hawthorn football manager Graham Wright said.

"They are both exceptional people and coaches, who bring a great deal of knowledge and experience from their playing careers that has been vitally important in helping our players develop, both on and off the field."

Hawthorn premiership ruckman Max Bailey will return to the club next season as a development coach.

"We are delighted to have Max back at the club," Hawks football manager Jason Burt said.

"Max was obviously a talented footballer but he is also a humble person with an incredibly strong character.

"We believe he will be an excellent fit, and will have plenty of knowledge to pass on to our players."

When Max Bailey started looking for a change from the AFL "bubble", he didn't expect his next move would take him to the foot of Mount Kilamanjaro in Africa.

But next month the retired Hawthorn premiership ruckman will pack his bags and step outside his comfort zone for a 12-month stint volunteering at a remote village in Tanzania.

It will be half a world away from where Bailey made his name and he isn't sure what to expect living the simple life on the slopes of the world's fourth-tallest mountain.

"I'm waiting for the shock to hit me when I get there," he said.

"People who've done it before they say you can't really prepare, you can have an idea but it's so different to the way we live here that you've just got to roll with the punches when you get there.

"Kind of not knowing is a good thing as well, I just want to get there and have all these different experiences.

"After eight years of playing and coaching (at Richmond) for two years I felt like I needed a bit of a change in what I was doing.

"As much as I love footy and the places footy has taken me and what it's done for me, you're in this bubble environment and that's all I've known for the last 10 years.

"But the big thing as well was trying to feel like you're making a difference somewhere – not that you don't in footy, but you're helping blokes who are already at a very high level themselves.

"The idea of helping people who don't have much and hopefully making a difference for them was a pretty big attraction."

Fresh from retiring from playing AFL football, Max Bailey joins Richmond as a development coach.

Knee issues prompt Hawk ruckman Max Bailey to call it quits, becoming the third Hawthorn player to announce their retirement following the club's 2013 premiership win.

"My initial thoughts when I realised it was going to be the case that this was my last year were disappointment and sadness," an emotional Bailey said at the club's best and fairest count.

"But the longer I've thought about it, the more I realise that I've been extremely blessed to have played 43 AFL games – 43 more than I ever thought I'd play.

"For that to culminate in playing in a premiership on Saturday was beyond my wildest dreams."

Max Bailey will consult a surgeon before deciding if his career is over due to loss of cartilage in his right knee following two knee reconstructions.

"If there's hope that they can do something with my knee that will help make it better, that gives me the mental edge to think I can do it again," Bailey said.

"If it's going to be worse, then I probably can't do another year like I did this year.

"It's not major [surgery]; it's just the cartilage and maybe a clean up and a bit of a play around in there will be able to ease the pain a bit."

Max Bailey's manager Shane Casley says ongoing knee concerns may force his client into early retirement.

"It's no secret Max has been struggling with his knees this year. Most weeks it's been a battle to get on the park," Casley said.

"Max wants to play on but he'll be guided by the doctors."

Max Bailey's manager Shane Casley says his client has no intention of leaving Hawthorn and will not be testing the free agent market.

Bailey's ability to shoulder most of the Hawks' ruck load this year has released Jarryd Roughead and David Hale to spend more time in attack, with Roughead taking his game to another level on his way to the Coleman Medal.

"Max is not going anywhere, he's Hawthorn through and through," Casley said.

"When Max has been fit and up and running this year he's been the Hawks' No. 1 ruckman.

"He obviously hasn't been able to play every game this year and clubs need to make sure they have some back-up."

Max Bailey says he knows what he needs to do to be a regular member of the Hawks' senior side.

"I need to get a bit more involved around the ground, take some more grabs," Bailey said.

"It's about making sure I win the ruck contest first of all, and then getting involved around the ground.

"When I do that, I know I'm valuable to the side and I can stay in there. If that drops off, that's when I probably second-guess myself."

Hawthorn tells Max Bailey he needs to add to his game to break into the team in 2013.

"The ruck position has been most affected by the sub rule, so the ability to do something else as well as ruck is really important," Hawthorn head of coaching and development Chris Fagan said.

"For most of them, that's being able to go forward and take a mark; so he (Bailey) has definitely got to work on that. That's the next part for him, and he's well and truly aware of that."

Injury-plagued Hawthorn ruckman Max Bailey has signed a new one-year deal with the club.

"By the time he was ready and raring to go, the Hawthorn team was reasonably settled. He was waiting in the wings in case there was an injury," Hawthorn's general manager of football operations Mark Evans said of Bailey's 2012 season.

"The challenge for Maxy is, now that he's of good health and has a good pre-season he hopefully resumes the number one ruck mantle."

Talented ruckman Max Bailey will make a comeback in the VFL soon after recovering from wrist surgery.

"If you get caught in that self-pity cycle, it's not real healthy," Bailey said.

"I'm still pretty fortunate to be here, so I'm enjoying it. It's a good club to be at, and I'll get my turn eventually."

Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson says he didn't handle the pressure well as St Kilda charged home last week.

"[I] talk a lot about calmness and poise, I think we're getting better at that ... but there's still opportunities for us to get better," Sanderson said.

"I personally didn't handle those moments great in a game - you look at the scoreboard, you look at the clock and you think, 'Time's going to run out here soon'.

"Dean Bailey's been fantastic. I've got Darren Milburn sitting next to me who's really calm, and obviously (Scott) Camporeale and (Mark) Bickley who provide really good debate at important times."

Hawthorn has placed ruckman Max Bailey on the long-term injury list, meaning he will be out at least until round 12.

After the injury was first detected in the pre-season competition, we were keen to see how Max went with it and we thought that a few months' rehabilitation was standard for this type of injury," Hawthorn football operations general manager Mark Evans said.

"Placing him on the long-term injury list now means he should return a little after that three-month mark."

Hawthorn ruckman Max Bailey will miss the start of the 2012 premiership season with a wrist injury.

"He's had a previous fracture in that wrist, and he's just re-aggravated that fracture," Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said.

"They'll ascertain the severity of the injury when they get in there, but we're not expecting him to be playing before round six or seven."

His third knee reconstruction out of the way, Hawthorn's Max Bailey returns to the Hawks lineup this weekend.

Injury-plagued Hawk Max Bailey is yet to decide whether he will play in Hawthorn's final NAB Challenge match since recovering from an injury to his reconstructed knee.

"I trained last week and it felt really good and pulled up well so I'll go again this week and it will be up to the fitness. If they're happy with it and I'm happy with it, we'll go from there," Bailey said.

Luckless Hawthorn ruckman Max Bailey says he is on a fast track to recovery after a knee reconstruction.

"This time I'll come back quicker," Bailey said.

"It's been a really good recovery. Last time there was a lot of cartilage damage and it was always swollen. This time it's not a problem."

Hawthorn has taken former Bulldog Wayde Skipper with its first pick in the NAB AFL Rookie Draft to potentially ruck in place of Max Bailey who is out for most of the season.

"There is no urgency to make a decision like that. There has been no indication given to Wayde about that at the moment. With Max we have got the flexibility to add him to our long term injury list but at this stage we haven't done that," Hawthorn general manager of player personnel and strategy Chris Pelchen said.

Jinxed Hawthorn ruckman Max Bailey has vowed to return from a third devastating knee reconstruction and play on next season.

"He is amazing to go through everything that he has been through and still have such a great attitude," Bailey's manager Shane Casley said.

"Mentally, he is in surprisingly good shape, he is really upbeat and really determined to play again.

"The good thing is, having done it all twice before, he knows exactly what he is facing and what he has to do to get back."

Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson describes himself as a 'passionate peanut' after abusing Bomber players, Jobe Watson in particular, following Hawthorn's loss to Essendon which resulted in injuries to Brad Sewell and Max Bailey.

"That's just the passion of the game. I've come out onto the ground ... I think he was shaping up to come and shake my hand but with the blood boiling it was the last thing I wanted to do," he said.

"If I was going to be accommodative of any Essendon player it would have been Jobe but I didn't even want to speak to him, so it wasn't the way we wanted to finish our season, that's for sure."

Luck continues to desert Hawhtorn's Max Bailey who will have to undergo a full reconstruction on his left knee after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament against Essendon.

Max Bailey completed his tortuous journey back from successive knee reconstructions on Saturday night with a 23-hit-out performance.

"Thursday when I was told I was very excited, but I seemed to stay pretty calm. I think I was more nervous for my first game back in the VFL. It went pretty quick in the end, but it was just good to win," Bailey said.

"It was bit of a blur really. The first 10 minutes I was on I blew up pretty quickly, but I was pretty happy. I've got a few things to work on, but that's always the case."