CLICK HERE FOR THE NICK MAXWELL INTERVIEW WITH CTV AFTER TRAINING IN MACKAY
CLICK HERE FOR THE PHOTO GALLERY FROM WEDNESDAY'S SUPER CLINIC AND TRAINING SESSION IN MACKAY
Nick Maxwell spoke to CTV in Mackay on Wednesday shortly after Collingwood conducted a super clinic for hundreds of enthusiastic locals and trained at the recently redeveloped and very impressive Harrup Park.
The Magpies’ playing an coaching group is visiting the central Queensland coast region as part of a four-day visit to the area to promote the club and the game, and also capitalise on the opportunity to take a short break due to the AFL’s split round.
Best-known for mining and sugar production, Mackay is also a rapidly developing area for AFL football, and Maxwell said the Collingwod players were very impressed by the enthusiasm shown by the locals and the visiting school children from other regions in the state.
“It’s been really good, and all the kids were in their own teams with their own (club) footy jumpers, so it just shows that they play regularly,” Maxwell said.
“There’s a lot of black and white out in the crowd, probably a couple of thousand people here, so it’s been a good turnout for us.”
Maxwell, who has played all 11 games this season for a career-total of 58, said the Magpies remain extremely positive about what lies ahead in 2007 after such a promising start, and have and will continue to use the trip north to identify areas to work on during the second half of the season.
“We’ve spent a few days up here, and we spent a bit of time having a chat about where we are and where we think we need to get to, what we have to do differently and what we have to do well and keep doing.
“So it’s been good to get away, with the players and coaches and sort a few things out. We’ve sort of had a bit of ‘R and R’ here and there, just to relax and recharge the batteries, and get ready for Sydney.”
The 24-year-old is adamant last Monday’s narrow loss to Melbourne won’t derail such a promising campaign.
“We’re pretty disappointed with two days ago when we went down to Melbourne, but we’re still 7-4 at the halfway point.
“So we’re one game worse off than where we were last year when we were 8-3, but we think we’ve got a better side (this year), and everything’s working better than what it was last year.
“Basically, we’re happy with our progress and we’re one game off top spot, so although we are disappointed with how we went last weekend, we’re still happy with the way we’ve gone so far.”
Collingwood arrived in Queensland on Tuesday, and spent one day at Hamilton Island before making the journey to Mackay, where players and coaches will remain until Friday.
