CTV > Thursday press conference with McGuire, Malthouse and Wakelin

Shane Wakelin was nearly gone two years ago, now he's on the verge of 150 Collingwood games.

Wakelin will notch the milestone on Sunday when Collingwood faces Carlton at the MCG.

Initially from Port Adelaide in the SANFL, Wakelin, who will turn 34 in August, has been an outstanding backline servant for the Magpies since crossing to the club via the 2000 draft, after being delisted by St Kilda following 94 games from 1994-99.

In reflecting on his eight years at the club at a press conference alongside president Eddie McGuire and senior coach Mick Malthouse at the Lexus Centre on Thursday, Wakelin acknowledged his time was almost up 18 months ago.

“It was probably only 18 months ago that Mick tried to push me out the door, or gave me some reasonably strong hints,” Wakelin revealed.

“I was totally understanding of that, and that was at the start of ‘06, and I’d come off third in the Copeland Trophy the previous year.”

But such is his character and commitment to the club, Wakelin persevered and now, with the Magpies sitting sixth at the halfway mark of the 2008 season, and set to have another tilt at the top four, he continues to play an important role in a key defensive post.

While it was only because a couple of young Magpies didn’t quite emerge as expected down back that Wakelin survived in 2006, he paid particular credit to Malthouse for the influence the master coach has had on his playing career.

“I still remember the first time I came to the club, we went around to Mick’s house, myself, Jarrod Molloy, James Clement and Brodie Holland, and I still remember the three things he said that night.

“ We’d all come from opposition clubs, and he said you’ll be remembered as a Collingwood player on how you produce on the field over the next four, six, eight years.

“You’ll either be remembered as a Fremantle or St Kilda player, or as a Collingwood player, and that’s one thing, the other two things, you’ve got to learn how to play one-on-one footy, and you’ve got to produce in the big games, and that’s in September, and that’s on the big occasions like the Carlton-Collingwood games, and ANZAC Day games.

“I suppose he’s got a massive expectation on every player, but every young kid who comes into our football club, there’s an immediate expectation that he’s got to perform and play his role in our group.”

The Magpies now face a resurgent Carlton team keen to knock off the black and white for the second time this season, but Wakelin is confident he and his team mates are well prepared.

“We obviously didn’t prepare ourselves well enough last time against them.

“We’ve got a lot to prove this weekend, we’ve got an enormous amount of respect for the Carlton Football Club, and in particular the way they’ve gone about their footy the last two months.

“We’ve got a lot of individuals in group who have really matured over the last month, and Sunday’s an ideal testing ground to show how far we believe we’ve come.”