Scarlett calls Maxwell “overrated”

Matthew Scarlett (in his upcoming autobiography) calls Nick Maxwell “overrated” and says he is not respected by the Geelong team. I’ll open this up to discussion.

 

Comments

  1. I’ll buy in on that! I’ve been saying it for years, that Maxwell is a ‘good ordinary player’.. but as far as exceptional, I’ll go with Scarlo’s thoughts. Maxwell’s weaknesses have been for a long time mopped up by his fellow defenders, and seems to get kudos when being 3rd man up; yet one on one he is terribly exposed and often beaten. Scarlo has every right to point Maxwell’s rating being over the top, Scarlo’s record speaks for itself. Ok.. i am bracing myself for the barrage now… let it rip!

  2. What a week. The lady with the world’s largest shoe collection murdered! The royal scion born and named in the same week!! Now the children are calling each other names in the recess breaks!!!
    Be still my beating heart.

  3. I’m Ok either way about this.

    1. Maxwell I believe has always been honest about his leadership skills outweighing his football ability and is a good example of the right leader for that club and a skipper not being selected on pure talent. He wouldn’t be playing as many games as he has without being good, but I don’t think anybody including himself would call him a champion or star.
    2. Maxwell also seems Ok to dish it out and so I imagine isn’t particulalry fussed when he copped it back, and this would be water off a duck’s back to him.
    3. Good on Scarlo for being honest. We bag players who give glib and boring answers in the media, and hound them when they say something slightly controversial, so all credit to him for being honest about what happened, how he felt and what he did.
    4. Scarlo stood up for himself, copped his when it came to him in the Prelim, dished it back when he could in the GF, sounds like 15-all to me.
    5. Of more interest was the comments about sledging Harvey and thebackground to that non-handshake, through Harvey’s commest to Bartel. Seems to be a dent in the Harvey sainthood reputation there.

    Sean

  4. Yes, i heard Scarlett speaking about the issue on Mike Sheehans footy show recently. He didn’t mention the comnent Harvey ,made to Bartell, what i read this morning is the first i’ve been aware of that. Harvey does not come out of this exchange well. No matter how good a footballer Harvey was ,Scarltet was totally correct when it came to premierships, Scarlett playing in three , Harvey a miserable nought.

    Glen!

  5. I happy to stick up solidly for Nick.

    Seems like poor old Scarlett got all fussed up about some sledging. I didn’t know that he was a shrinking violet particularly as he liked to dish plenty out himself. Hard also to understand when Scarlett said (and I quote) ” That’s how I played football. What happens on the field, stays on the field, and when the siren goes you always shake hands and walk away”.

    Scarlett was a very good player as we all know but the fact is he never had the balls to put his hand up like Harley & Maxwell and put himself on the line publicly as the captain. He chose the cushy path & just slunk around following orders like all other privates. Not for him the burden of fronting the club, looking after sponsors, explaining losses, facing the music week after week……etc.

    The record books will show Nick Maxwell, a good ordinary player who never professed to be anything else himself, is in fact a premiership captain and a great leader of men. They come in all shapes and sizes and levels of talent.

    Scarlett can now add “hypocrite” to his super list of on-field achievements.

  6. never rated him.

  7. daniel flesch says

    “What happens on the field stays on the field ,” says Scarlo. But then he puts his beefs in print. One struggles to reconcile the words with the action. Good player lucky to feature in a successful team. That’s about it. Wonder how well the book will sell.

  8. Neil Belford says

    No axe to grind at all with any of the events, that is Scarlett’s side of some stories, I’m sure Maxwell and Harvey have their side as well, but why Scarlett feels compelled to write this kiss and tell pulp is beyond me.

    Scarlett must have had help writing, let alone writing a book if he can manage to knock out a story about “what happens on the field stays on the field”, proceed to character assassinate Harvey for not leaving it out on the field and for not shaking his hand, and not observe that he might just be introducing a small mountain of hypocrisy. Same principle applies to anything between him an Maxwell. Well left out on the field Scarlo, Harveys appraisal of your character is looking pretty good.

  9. Andrew Weiss says

    I do not follow Geelong or Collingwood but when it comes to ability I would put Nick Maxwell in the same boat as the former Cats captain Tom Harley. For both of these guys they were real generals of their teams backlines and were quite often missed when out of the side.

    Unfortunately i find Nick Maxwell quite arrogant both when he is playing and when he is doing a media spot compared to Tom Harley. Nick to me gives this potrayal that he is meant to be in the media whilst Tom looks like he is grateful to be in the media and people asking his opinions.

    As for Matty Scarlett – great competitor and great sledger / stirrer so am suprise that he is so honest when talking about players now that he has retired

  10. Mark Doyle says

    I think it probably ridiculous that the mythical almanac admin. person is proposing that the theme of Matthew Scarlett’s book is a history of sledging with Nick Maxwell. I suspect that the mention of this sledging history is nothing more than a publicity stunt by the publishers to con the morons who live in the northern and eastern suburbs of Geelong and the outer suburbs of Melbourne to buy the book.

  11. I can’t wait for Hayden Ballantyne’s bio – “Sucking In Scarlo”

  12. Peter B,
    You are in a very rich vein of form at the moment.

  13. Neil Belford says

    How about that mythical Almanac Adnin for making this stuff up about Scarlett. This wont fool any inner city elites you know AA, we know Scarlo’s book is about crocheting.

  14. Scarlett also declared Jordan Roughead as a premier defender after Rd2. Let us not confuse great CHB with observer/writer or even publicist – lest we be buffoons!

  15. e.regnans says

    No good by M. Scarlett.
    The action of including this guff in a book is fair enough. I guess he wants a point of difference in the market. But the action does not reflect well on him.
    Thoughtfuless of others: D
    Insight into others: C
    Insight (unwittingly) into himself: A
    Application of logic in framing of argument: D –

  16. Ripsnorter says

    I don’t know many people who really rate Nick Maxwell as a great player – he has been a good captain and plays his role as part of a very successful backline over the journey.

    I think their are times this year and in 2011 he may have been dropped if not for being captain but he had a fine 2012 and other good years for the Pies.

    I think that people have probably always under-rated him as a player and needed to come through via the Rookie draft to prove himself so will probably be nice to hear there are those who mix with elite Geelong types that really do rate-rate him as a great player.

    However we can never under-estimate the levels that former footballers will go to remain relevant or to flog a dodgy book.

  17. Danielle says

    Maxy isn’t a superstar and I don’t think he’s trying to be.
    His title as captain goes deeper than other clubs who give it to their MVP. He is our captain because he’s the one the boys feel has the right leadership skills to lead them and on a personal/trust level he is there for his team mates more than you could ever know, I know this for a fact but wont dish the details.
    Who cares what Scarlo thinks anyway.

  18. Not sure how Maxwell can be over-rated when no-one actually rates him anyway!

  19. Mythical. Love it.

  20. DBalassone says

    Well said Danielle.

    Maxwell overrated? No one claims he is a Bruce Doull; but I tell you that if it wasn’t for Maxwell Collingwood would not have won the flag in 2010. His entire final series was outstanding and his high mark in the dying minutes of the drawn Grand final led directly to the goal that got the Pies back in front (I think this moment has been lost in the Hayes point|Milne bounce aftermath). Maxwell backed himself on the half back flank, jumped early and outmarked the pack at full stretch, played on in a straight line and hit Didak with a pass – seconds later Cloke goaled.
    Scarlett is an all time great, but it doesn’t mean every opinion he expresses is correct, or even close to being correct.

  21. Not a big fan of Scarlo’s comments. That stuff is best left to Woman’s Day.

  22. Budgie, I concur with you on Maxwell.

    Glen!

  23. Stainless says

    Let he who is without fault cast the first stone.

    Maxwell is neither a great player or a great captain but he clearly has the blessing of the Collingwood faithful. He strikes me as a bit of a whinger at times but others would just say he’s a passionate advocate for his team and players which is fair enough.

    I think Geelong’s squeaky clean image is a bit tarnished in all this. A number of their players are reputedly serial sledgers. This is neither hard nor clever when you’re mauling your opposition on the scoreboard. Sounds to me like Scarlo got a rare taste of his own medicine in 2010 and didn’t like it much.

  24. Dave Nadel says

    Perhaps the attitude to Maxy from Geelong supporters on this thread comes less from support of their flawed idol Scarlett than from the knowledge that Maxy should have been one of their own and instead became a Collingwood stalwart. Maxy is a graduate of St Joseph’s College (which is normally a football factory for Geelong) and of Geelong Falcons. He could have been drafted by Geelong. He wasn’t drafted by anyone. He went to North Ballarat from where he was subsequently rookied by the Magpies.

    He wasn’t the best player to come out of St Joey’s but he may have been the best person. When a former fellow student fell on hard times it was Maxy rather than any of his Geelong based schoolmates who organised support. He is a good ordinary footballer (see Dyerisms) who is a fine leader of men. Matthew Scarlett is a highly talented footballer who exposed himself as a bit of a goose in his biography.

  25. Steve Fahey says

    A champion player does not make a champion person and Scarlett seems to add further weight to an already impressive body of evidence.

    I rate Scarlett as at least the equal of Silvagni, the full-back of the Team of the Century, as a full-back, although SOS could also go forward which Scarlett couldn’t. As a person, I rate him quite lowly.

    The assessment of Maxwell is peripheral to the main points here. Scarlett espouses that what happens on the field stays on the field. He largely avoided media throughout his career. At one level I understand that desire and sentiment but the equation is pretty simple – the players get paid as much as they do because of sponsors and media rights, so it’s incumbent on players to do the media stuff, albeit that some are happier to do more than others.

    I also saw Scarlett on On the Couch earlier in the year and was surprised to see him in the media. Of course there is a book, so all of a sudden he is happy to do some media, for his own gain rather than his club or even the code.

    I thought that his potting of Robert Harvey and outing of what he said so long after the event was dead ordinary. If you’re going to disclose what’s said on the field, make sure that you are also as willing to disclose the worst stuff that you have said. Has Scarlett done that ? Not that I can see, although I won’t be shelling out for his book. Like Dips, who admirably has not based his stance on a club line, I think that this sort of petty schoolyard stuff belongs in crappy mags, if anywhere.

    There’s probably an interesting discussion on sledging to be followed up here. I’m particularly uncomfortable with “victory” sledging, rubbing a win in others’ faces or the trend in our game over the past decade to get in people’s faces after they have made an error. truly childish, and some of my Pie boys are serial offenders.

    For what it’s worth, Maxy has been a good ordinary player who had a couple of stand-out seasons. I agree with the suggestion that those who say he is a hack might watch the 2010 finals, especially the draw.

    I hope that Scarlett reads this thread and similar threads in other forums but wouldn’t be too optimistic about it.

  26. Neil Belford says

    I think Scarlo has been played by a publisher/ghost writer actually. There is no other explanation for his complete stupidity. The quote below is from this article at http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-07-26/scarletts-sledge-wont-bother-maxwell

    ” Maxwell, however, had a different recollection of the incident, referring to the verbal altercation with Scarlett in his 2010 book One Grand Week.

    Walking to the huddle for the final change, Maxwell crossed paths with Scarlett. In the same game 12 months earlier, as the eventual premiers were having their way with Collingwood – leading by 34 points before romping to a 73-point demolition – the Geelong full-back had verbally taunted the Collingwood captain for 30 seconds, a string of abuse and invective designed to mentally upend his opponent.

    It was all gamesmanship, but Maxwell was not going to deny his chance to return fire 12 months on.

    “Jeez, you’re pretty f*&*ing quiet!” he yelled at Scarlett. “Don’t you have anything to say this time? You finished, old man.”

    Ever the competitor, Scarlett had one final shot. “You blokes will f*(& it up next week anyway.”

    “Maybe,” countered Maxwell. “but you won’t be there!”

    Scarlett said his team was also angered by repeated comparisons between Maxwell and the Cats dual premiership captain Tom Harley.

    However, the comparison doesn’t seem so unlikely now.

    Both are premiership captains and defenders. Harley’s career ended on 198 games with 123 wins and two flags. Maxwell’s sits on 191 games with 123 wins also. Maxwell played in one flag. Both earned All Australian selection once. ”

    Who ever thought Harley is a better player than Maxwell anyway – he is more handsome and better spoken. Those Geelong dudes are dead keen that we see them as all “champions”. Scarlo’s man crush is as lame as Abletts love interest with the good-average Cam Ling. Harley, Maxwell, Ling, they are what they are, no grounds for criticism of any of them as leadership equipped average players. Martin Pike has 4 premiership medallions – and he is not expecting a nomination to the hall of fame anytime soon.

  27. reeks of a ghost writer and publicist and is not clever….
    however, it is amusing that we scorn the platitude biogs that say nothing but then get all antsy when someone voices an opinion.
    The book will sell to a certain audience. I’ll not waste my time.
    (and Ling and Maxwell are overrated!!!)

  28. Peter Flynn says

    Scarlo’s comments are unedifying.

  29. Peter Flynn says

    I’m in the who cares camp.

  30. Anyone who has coached or captained Collingwood to a Premiership since 1958 has climbed a pretty big football mountain.

    I’m a fan of Nick Maxwell.

  31. Peter Flynn says

    Fair call Old Mate.

  32. Skip of Skipton says

    Being good leaders and captains is where the similarities between Tom Harley and Nick Maxwell start and finish.

    Tom Harley was a damn good footballer. He was All-Australian in 2008 and was awarded Brownlow votes on seven occasions during his career, compared to Maxwell’s once. He punched above his weight playing CHB for most of his career at Geelong and did a sterling job.

    There seems to be some vibe or mind-set getting around that Harley was a hack like Maxwell. Nothing could be further than the truth. Those who subscribe to that drivel have very short memories, (stemming from his last injury riddled campaign in 2009), or none at all.

  33. Plenty of hypocrisy reeking out all over the place here…
    Matthew Scarlett, the “champion” and “legend” who never “walked down media street” whilst playing, has published a warts and all biography. Well, who would have thunk it?
    I just cannot have it…..

  34. Matthew Scarlett’s record as the premier backman in the comp for around ten years (plus of course that memorable toe-poke) said it all for me.

    Happy to leave it that way.

  35. Geelong supporter but unimpressed.

    FWIW Maxwell does come off as a bit arrogant at times but until I catch up with the bloke for a beer that’s all I know. Don’t recall him potting his opponents in print or on TV though.

    Scarlett comes off as a bit arrogant at times etc. Now he has decided to pot Maxwell in print and on TV and Harvey in print.

    Two opinions two facts, that’s all I have to say.

  36. Geelong supporter but unimpressed.

    FWIW Maxwell does come off as a bit arrogant at times but until I catch up with the bloke for a beer that’s all I know. Don’t recall him potting his opponents in print or on TV though.

    Scarlett comes off as a bit arrogant at times etc. Now he has decided to pot Maxwell in print and on TV and Harvey in print.

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