Maxwell an 'enormous acquisition'










 Australian football











 David Polkinghorne


 Giants co-captain Phil Davis hopes to utilise former Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell. Photo: ROHAN THOMSON




 Greater Western Sydney co-
 captain Phil Davis says Nick Maxwell
  is an "enormous acquisition" 
 and he wants to tap into the experience
  that helped end Collingwood's
  premiership drought as the 
 Giants look to end an AFL finals 
 drought of their own.
 


 GWS appointed Maxwell as a 
 leadership consultant, where he'll 
 work closely with Davis and his 
 fellow co-captain Callan Ward.
 Davis said he'd already spoken 
 with Maxwell a couple of times and 
 was confident the former Collingwood
  defender, who captained the 
 Magpies to their 2010 grand final 
 victory to end the club's 20-year 
 drought, would be a valuable asset.
 Maxwell holds a similar role 
 with NRL club Melbourne Storm.
 "I've had a few conversations 
 with him ... he's an extremely impressive
  guy," Davis said. "He's had 
 an enormous amount of success on 
 the field and last year did great 
 work, from all reports, with the 
 Storm and he's just got a wealth of 
 experience.
 "He's going to be an enormous 
 acquisition. He was in charge of 
 one of the great Collingwood teams 
 of the modern era. They broke a 
 20-year drought to win that flag in 
 2010 and to be a premiership captain,
  it's a pretty good thing to have 
 on your CV and he's a great tool to 
 have at this footy club."
 The Giants fell  short of finals this 
 year, missing out on the top eight 
 by  two wins after tasting victory 11 
 times - almost double the number 
 of wins they had in 2014. They'll be 
 hoping to continue their upward 
 trajectory and get their first taste 
 of finals football next year.
 GWS have always drawn comparisons
  with Gold Coast, having 
 joined the AFL just a year later 
 than their fellow expansion club.
 Their improvement was very 
 similar over their first four years in 
 the AFL, but the Giants will be hoping
  to avoid copying the Suns' fifth-
 season slump that saw Gold Coast 
 win just four games in 2015.
 "Every club is pushing to make 
 the final eight and we're no different
  from anyone else," Davis said. 
 "We understand we've got an 




 enormous amount of improvement 
 if we want to put ourselves in that 
 position. Hopefully we can make 
  three steps forward and put ourselves
  in a position where we can 
 compete for that final-eight spot."
 Davis hoped his injuries were in 
 the past after missing the end of 
 this season due to a hamstring injury.
  He also missed seven weeks 
 due to a sprained ankle.
 Injuries have plagued the Giants 
 key defender, who suffered a life-




 threatening kidney knock last year, 
 missed half of 2013 due to a back 
 problem and had his last year at 
 the Adelaide Crows cut short by 
 shoulder injuries. But he's hoping 
 to put that behind him going into 
 his seventh AFL season.
 "It'd be nice, I've got to stop running
  into bigger people, but hopefully
  going forward I can have a bit 
 of luck, stay on the park and the 
 team in general can keep as many 
 players on the field as possible," 




 Davis said. "It was a frustrating 
 year, but I had a really good break, 
 got away, refreshed and the body's 
 feeling pretty good and ready to go 
 for another campaign."
 The Giants have a training camp 
 in Noosa next week and will announce
  on Tuesday that they'll 
 hold their annual community camp 
 in Canberra on   February 26 - the 
 day after they play the Western 
 Bulldogs in a pre-season trial at 
 Manuka Oval.