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This point,he felt,was just as critical to this Collingwood team after narrow losses in the 2022 finals.
“An important part of the group are those players who didn’t play in the premiership but have the resolve to make sure they don’t miss out again. This year they have[Daniel] McStay,[John] Noble and others,then there are players they have brought in who want to have an impact like Lachie Schultz and the younger guys who are playing for their careers who haven’t been able to break into the side like Finn Macrae,Reef McInnes,” Maxwell said.
“It’s harder to break into a premiership team than a rebuilding team,and you are hoping they are the factors that push the team on,but then you are coming back to that ‘hope’ word again.”
Critical,too,he felt,was the presence of his formerpremiership teammates Scott Pendlebury andSteele Sidebottom,who carry those lessons of 2010 into this season and who understand the good and bad of Magpie euphoria.
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“The fans,the media,everyone expects you to be there again and do it again. But you have to remind yourself – and this is a hard bit – that everyone starts on zero again and doing it last year doesn’t mean anything for this year. That’s really hard when everyone is talking about you being there again already,and you have to start over and do all the same work.
“It’s almost impossible to answer if it is different at Collingwood because of the supporter base and the media exposure and pressure because I don’t know any different,only played at the one club.
“I know there is a lot more media,a lot more exposure. I have heard ‘Fly’[McRae] say after the premiership when people spoke of back to back,let us enjoy this one first.
“And that was a good thing,they did that,but then pre-season starts,and you can’t be thinking about celebrating.
“From the little bits and pieces I have picked up,Wadey[conditioning coach Jarrod Wade] and ‘Fly’ set things in motion three years ago with the physical work and last year was not meant to be the pinnacle of things they wanted to implement from preparation and conditioning and fitness,so they are confident that even though that step has been taken things they planned are still being implemented.”
The further difficulty is true of every premier. By virtue of winning you become the benchmark against which other teams pit themselves.
“They look more closely at your team and organisation to see what you are doing right and try to replicate it and,in so doing,also work out ways to stop you. It’s a hunter-to-the-hunted change.
“You look at who you have got and what improvements there are in your players. Some players won’t improve because they are at their peak,but you need them to give you absolutely everything they have got,the same as the year before,but other guys can get better and need to get better.
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“Jordy[De Goey],from all reports,is fitter than ever. Nick Daicos,it was a miracle he even got back to play in the finals,and he is now fit and going into his third season and only getting better.
“I also think ‘Fly’ is huge. He did it three times at Brisbane,so I think if anyone can do it[take the club back to the pinnacle again] he can.”
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