By 12.30pm, after spending precious time with his new family, Maxwell was sitting "front and centre" in the sprung floor at the Westpac Centre as Collingwood players spent a couple of hours posing for team photos.
The second hour of the session was devoted to a series of 40 premiership team photos auctioned off to fans to raise money that will go to assisting the flood relief effort in both Victoria and Queensland.
The club’s leadership group initially floated the idea of auctioning off 20 photos with the premiership team as a way to raise money for the victims of the Queensland flood. Overnight $30,000 was raised.
As the flood drama extended to Victoria the club added a further 20 photos, some of them exclusive shots with Maxwell, Magpies’ coach Mick Malthouse and Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, to ensure about half the overall money raised would go to Victoria’s flood victims.
So the new father Maxwell’s presence was vital, his grinning demeanour hiding the fact he’d had no sleep overnight. His daughter had timed her arrival perfectly, because the never-ending line of supporters stretched past reception and the festive mood was obvious.
One fan handed Maxwell his baby to place in the premiership cup, while another cheeky supporter stole a kiss from Dale Thomas as she sat down in the shot. Another man squeezed his tattooed frame into an old No.35 jumper that Peter Daicos made famous and Simon Prestigiacomo ensured would be revered forever before squeezing his backside among the premiership team.
The banter was quick and fast, the only rotations being made were by excited fans planting themselves between midfielders Scott Pendlebury and Dane Swan or defenders Maxwell and Harry O’Brien. They too were now immortals.
Another quirk was also noted: this premiership photo would contain 23 heads. The decision to include Tyson Goldsack in the replay, to replace Leon Davis who had played in the drawn Grand Final, ensures future 2010 premiership reunions will have 23 special guests.
The vibe was light, but the cause good, the famous club and its players demonstrating an understanding of its place in the community.
"The floods were devastating, so we make sure we do (what we can). It’s only something small for us but hopefully it can help,” said Maxwell.
The 'premiership' shots raised approximately $80,000 (to be split between Victorian and Queensland flood appeals) and will be just one of many responses from the AFL community to support relief efforts in whichever way they can.
For the players, photo day was just another part of summer, part of the annual schedule; as for the 2010 premiership cup and the group that won it, they are now history.
New life is in the air. The 2011 group is assembled. The season is now officially underway.
