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5
Nick
MAXWELL
Nick
MAXWELL
2004-2014
DEFENDER
193cm
93kg
Recruited From
North Ballarat
Collingwood Debut
Round 9, 2004
Date of Birth
03 June 1983
Other Numbers
27, 43
thumbnail
208
CFC GAMES
29
CFC GOALS
18
Finals
1042
CFC Debut Number
CAREER AVERAGES
Disposals
13.6
Kicks
7.2
Handballs
6.4
Goals
0.1

Ex-St Joseph's and Geelong Under-18s player who joined the Magpies via North Ballarat.

Maxwell was overlooked in two national drafts and although he trained with Port Adelaide, Hawthorn and Geelong he was ignored. After three weeks training at Geelong he was told by Bomber Thompson that he would be discarded. The next day he was phoned by a Collingwood physio who did part time work with the Roosters and he enquired about a spell of osteitis pubis he was managing. Then Collingwood picked him up in the rookie draft.

He broke into the senior side midway through 2004 and immediately showed an energetic approach. He was used at both ends of the field, but looked more at home in defence in the closing weeks of the season. His breakthrough year was 2005 when he showed a down to earth approach to his defensive duties.

Early in 2006 he was usually assigned to much bigger forwards, but he played tall and handled them all. A mid-season injury cost him six weeks and he took a while to get back into form when he returned.

At first he was reluctant to accept the No.5 guernsey vacated by Nathan Buckley when Buckley offered it to him at the end of 2007, but expressed his respect for Buckley and said that he was under no illusions about being as good as the champion.

Late in 2008 he broke a bone in his wrist, but kept on playing and had one of his most important games for the club when he negated Adelaide's Scott Thompson in a final. He was appointed captain for 2009 and won all-Australian selection that year.

In 2010 led the Magpies to a flag and showed himself to be a natural leader. He captained the losing Grand Final side a year later and continued as skipper into a fifth year in 2013.

Maxwell handed over the captaincy to Scott Pendlebury in 2014, and began the year in fine form, notching his 200th senior game against Sydney in round two. A nasty ankle injury against Essendon in round 17 forced his premature retirement, but his legacy as a champion of one of the club's finest eras will live on forever.

CFC Career Stats

Season played Games Goals Finals Win %
2004-2014 208 29 18 63.9%

CFC Season by Season Stats

Season GP GL B K H T D Guernsey No.
Full Name
Nick Maxwell
CFC Last Game
Round 17 2014
Total AFL Games
208
Total AFL Goals
29

Other CFC Games

Team League Years Played Games Goals
Collingwood Night/Pre-season 2005 - 2014 19 1
Collingwood Reserves 2014 1 0

Awards

All Australian
2009
Best Clubman (Darren Millane Memorial Trophy)
2007, 2010
Best Finals Player (Bob Rose Award)
2009, 2010
CFC Captain
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
CFC Life Member
2015
Leading Desire Indicators (Gavin Brown Award)
2007, 2008, 2009, 2012
Premiership
2010
Runner up Best and Fairest (R.T. Rush Trophy)
2009