Overlooked in the 2001 national draft, while Geelong Falcons teammates such as good friend Jimmy Bartel were snapped up, Maxwell had to look elsewhere, eventually opting for North Ballarat in the VFL competition.
But seven years later he is one of the few rookies – Brett Kirk (Sydney Swans), James McDonald (Melbourne) and Dean Cox (West Coast) being others – to have gone all the way to club captaincy
And he won’t be taking the position for granted as a result.
“A lot of guys that I’ve seen go through and that I’ve played with at the Geelong Falcons did get drafted straight up and, unfortunately due to different circumstances, didn’t go onto play senior footy,” Maxwell said at the Lexus Centre on Wednesday.
“To come through, I suppose a bit harder, and to see guys like Tarkyn Lockyer who have been on rookie lists before, and to see how hard they’ve had to work and sort of follow in their footsteps, I feel it’s made me a better player and a better person.”
“Humbled” and “honoured” were words Maxwell used to describe his feelings upon being told earlier in the day he would lead the Magpies in 2009 and, if his coach’s word’s were anything to go by, for a lot longer than that.
The highly-respected Maxwell said he wouldn’t set out to put his own mark on the leadership, believing the club was already set on the correct course.
However be believes there is one matter that needs rectifying.
“All of us here have got a job to do because we’re here to win premierships,” he said.
If the 25-year-old was intimidated by the challenge of leading the highest-profile club in the land, he was showing no signs of it.
“[I’m] more excited than daunted,” he said.
“I think I’ve been given this position because of what I’ve done in the past up until this point.
“I’m not going to change anything about myself or the way I go about it.”
Maxwell said could do worse than follow the lead of a fellow defender in regard to the captaincy.
“I suppose Tom Harley’s the one you probably look at the most, because we play a similar position,” Maxwell said.
“And seeing where he’s come from, he’s had a lot of challenges in his career as well … Seeing how good a team the Geelong Football Club is -- that’s what we want to create at Collingwood.”
