Maxwell took over from the retired Scott Burns and his appointment came as something of a surprise to the AFL community.
But Malthouse said the match committee was certain they had selected the right man for the job.
"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 on Friday.
"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."
Malthouse said it was the way Maxwell did things to better the club that was a key in his appointment.
"All the things that he did at this football club, all pointed to a bloke who had the football at heart, he didn't do it for reward.
"He had players around to his place and spoke to them about diets, about procedures.
"Several players have stayed at his place over a period of time to adjust to Melbourne life, and the most significant thing there was no reward. He just did it because he thought it would help him and help the team."
He said Maxwell fitted the blueprint for a captain extremely well.
"If you had to draw a captain up, the idiosyncrasies of a captain, he's got so many of them.
"I think he'll just cement his position – I don't know if he's going to get better, but what he'll do is be a lot more consistent and he'll cement that role that he plays."
Bock, Mackay to miss clash with Pies
By Katrina Gill, for AFL.com.au/afc.com.au
A bursa has ruled Nathan Bock out of Adelaide's clash with Collingwood and David Mackay will also miss with hamstring tightness
ADELAIDE'S top-four prospects have been dealt a significant blow with centre half-back Nathan Bock ruled out of Saturday night's clash with Collingwood at AAMI Stadium.
The Crows, a game behind the fourth-placed Pies and the Western Bulldogs, must win to stay within reach of the double chance after last week's two-point loss to Geelong at Skilled Stadium.
Bock, 26, carried a foot complaint into the match against the Cats and wore a moonboot early this week to aid his recovery.
The club has now confirmed Bock has a bursa – a sac of fluid – in his foot and not a bruised heel.
Adelaide coach Neil Craig said he was hopeful the All-Australian defender would be fit to take on Hawthorn at the MCG next week.
“Nathan was too sore to train today without a needle, so we decided not to play him,” Craig said.
“When you’re playing with needles and training with needles the sorer the area gets. There might be a point where we have to say to Nathan, ‘We’re just going to have to go with this [injury],’ and he’ll be okay with that but we’re not at that point at the moment.
“The more time we can give the injury to settle down, hopefully, the better it will be.”
Dashing midfielder David Mackay is also likely to miss the all-important clash with Collingwood.
Mackay, who has missed two weeks with a hamstring strain, trained on Wednesday and was named in the 22-man-team but failed to get through the warm-up at training on Friday.
“David came off fairly early and he’s still a bit sore in the hammy,” Craig said.
“He had general soreness in both legs yesterday and just felt a bit tight today. We’ll wait until he cools down this afternoon to make a final call on him, but we won’t take any risks with David.
“He’s missed two games now and if it means another week [so be it], but I don’t want it to mean four weeks out again.”
Bock and Mackay are likely to be replaced by emergencies Brad Symes and Richard Douglas.
Veteran Michael Doughty also missed training on Friday to attend a family funeral, but will take his place in the side on Saturday night.
