The 2010 premiership captain was charged with the task of selecting the most inspirational on-field leaders of the past 25 years and being born and raised in Geelong, he placed Tom Harley as No.2 on his list.
"Who would have thought after crossing from Port Adelaide that he would have such an influence over the Geelong Football Club?" Maxwell said. "He really set the culture that got them three premierships."
Also on his list were Collingwood's previous premiership captain, Tony Shaw, and his coach, Nathan Buckley.
Of Shaw, he said: "Not the fastest player, he wasn't the strongest player, but he was one of the fittest. And he was hard, mentally tough and he helped deliver a premiership to Collingwood (in 1990) that took them a long, long time to get."
Maxwell admitted he might cop some flack for placing Buckley on his list. "People will say I'm biased because he's now my coach, but I also played under him," he said.
"When Collingwood was really struggling, he led the way on the field. As he developed as a player and as a captain he developed a team that was all about team and took them to the 2002 and 2003 Grand Finals."
James Hird, Scott Wynd, Michael Voss, Stephen Kernahan and Wayne Carey are among those who also feature on the list.
To see his surprise selection at No. 10 and to see which player he chose as his No. 1, click here.
Personal Best appears every Wednesday on AFL.com.au.
Next week: Geelong's Tom Hawkins rates the best centre half-forwards of the past 25 years.
