> Nick Maxwell addresses the media before Friday's main training sessionCOLLINGWOOD captain Nick Maxwell says the best way to secure a top four spot at the end of the year is to not think about finishing in the top four.
Maxwell was speaking before training on Friday as the fourth-placed Pies prepared to take on the Lions, who are just two spots below them on the ladder, but with the same 11-6 record.
The skipper said looking beyond the coming match was a trap his side would not fall into.
"You can let it be a bit of a distraction, but at the moment all we're focussing on is Brisbane," Maxwell said.
"We're on the same points as them, so it's important that we win to keep the momentum going.
"You can't look too far ahead, because one of these teams will knock you off – that's how well the League's going at the moment, everyone's so even up there."
Brisbane forward Daniel Bradshaw – seventh in the race for the Coleman Medal with 40 goals this season – has missed just one week after injuring a hamstring, but has been named to play on Saturday.
Maxwell was asked if that gave Collingwood any worries, but he suggested the opposite would be the case.
"Good on him if he can came back that quickly, but obviously he'll have a few doubts in his mind," he said.
"We've just got to focus on us and what we're doing."
It's been a big week at the Lexus Centre, with a convoluted arrangement made public that will see Mick Malthouse remain as coach for the next two seasons with six-time club best-and-fairest winner Nathan Buckley working as his assistant (the baton will passed to Buckley after those two years and Malthouse will move to a "director of coaching" position).
Maxwell said the players were delighted.
"There's been a lot of speculation in the last couple of weeks, but we're happy with the decision and the process that the club went through.
"You can see the way we've been playing for Mick – we're happy that he's going to stay on for a few more years, so we're thrilled.
"The club did the right thing – they sought the best people and we think we've got the best people."
Having played with a lot of the players he will now be coaching, Buckley would have to alter the way he related to the players, Maxwell said.
"He's got the challenge of changing his relationships a little bit – he's a mate and a teammate to a lot of players, so now he's got to look into actually being a coach, so he's got a couple of years to develop those relationships and change them a bit."
