Watch Tarkyn Lockyer address the media after Tuesday's trainingCOLLINGWOOD midfielder Tarkyn Lockyer doesn’t want Nick Maxwell to change the way he plays despite the Magpies having to go without their skipper for the next two weeks.
Maxwell, in his first season as captain, will miss the next fortnight after accepting a penalty from the AFL’s match review panel on Tuesday for engaging in rough conduct against Steve Johnson during the teams’ clash on Easter Thursday.
It was the second time this year the defender has been cited by the MRP, with the Magpie earlier this season getting off a suspension after appealing a ban for bumping West Coast Eagle Patrick McGinnity in the Pies’ opening NAB Cup match.
Maxwell’s latest indiscretion means he will not only miss Friday night’s clash with the Brisbane Lions, but also the biggest home-and-away clash of the season – his team’s Anzac Day blockbuster with Essendon.
“It’s disappointing, Maxy’s a wonderful leader and that’s why he’s the captain of the club, so for him to get two weeks is disappointing,” Lockyer said after training at Gosch’s Paddock on Tuesday morning.
Despite the ban, Lockyer said he loved his skipper’s hard-nosed approach and wouldn’t want to change anything about his playing style.
“I personally don’t want him to stop playing the way he plays because that’s what makes him such a good player and so valuable for the team,” he said.
“If you’ve watched Nick Maxwell play over the last few years you’ll know that he plays a very physical type of game.
“All the one per centers and all that sort of stuff, he’s won all those awards for us in the last three or four years.”
Lockyer further backed his captain by saying it wasn’t just Maxwell’s on-field example that made him the right man to guide the Magpies.
“As a captain, we love the way he goes about it as and that sort if stuff but it’s also the other stuff that he brings to the table that you don’t see out on the ground that makes him so good.”
