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On Sunday when Sydney captain, Stuart Maxfield, runs onto AAMI Stadium to play Port Adelaide he will rack up his 300th official AFL match, which will earn him automatic AFL life membership.
Since debuting for Richmond in 1990, the 32-year-old has notched up 271 premiership matches, 26 pre-season matches and two international matches (2001).
?It?s a huge honour,? Maxfield said prior to Wednesday?s training session.
The humble winger believes he achieved the milestone through a little bit of talent, a lot of hard work and a high work ethic.
?I was lucky enough to have a bit of talent as a junior coming through but I really am a player who has had to work pretty hard to maintain a reasonable consistent performance right throughout my career.
?So really for me it is just training hard and I suppose challenging myself along the way.
?There has certainly been a lot of highs and lows throughout every players career and at times you get comfortable with yourself but I think it is when you really do challenge yourself and get out of that comfort zone that you find out something about yourself.?
Maxfield moved north in 1996 then took over the captaincy reigns from ?Captain Courageous? Paul Kelly last year - a move providing new challenges.
?It was offered to me and a fair amount of thought went into it because it is obviously a pretty important role to take on and it has been a huge challenge.
?There were a number of areas where I had to probably, not change my personality, but certainly challenge myself and it has been an interesting journey so far.?
The journey saw him ?tested? when utilised as a bench player during the Rodney Eade years at Sydney, then finding a new lease of life, and more playing time, under coach Paul Roos.
?You go through different phases in your career and your character gets tested,? Maxfield said.
?When ?Rocket? (Eade) was coaching I think he took my game to another level at different times but he certainly used me more as an impact player off the bench and at times I was probably unhappy with that but we worked our way through that.?
Roos feels the decision to pick Maxfield as Kelly?s successor was an inspired choice because he inspires his teammates by leading from the front.
?He has really elevated into a great leader, terrific player? he is just the ultimate professional,? Roos said.
?We have been extremely happy with the way he has captained the club, I mean we couldn?t have asked for anything better after Paul Kelly.
?He has been a real win for us over the last couple of years at a time when we really thought ?who are we going to turn to?? and it?s just been proved to be a great selection and he has made it so.?
Although he tries not to think about the future, Maxfield admitted he would like to play on next season if his form and the match committee allow.
Since debuting for Richmond in 1990, the 32-year-old has notched up 271 premiership matches, 26 pre-season matches and two international matches (2001).
?It?s a huge honour,? Maxfield said prior to Wednesday?s training session.
The humble winger believes he achieved the milestone through a little bit of talent, a lot of hard work and a high work ethic.
?I was lucky enough to have a bit of talent as a junior coming through but I really am a player who has had to work pretty hard to maintain a reasonable consistent performance right throughout my career.
?So really for me it is just training hard and I suppose challenging myself along the way.
?There has certainly been a lot of highs and lows throughout every players career and at times you get comfortable with yourself but I think it is when you really do challenge yourself and get out of that comfort zone that you find out something about yourself.?
Maxfield moved north in 1996 then took over the captaincy reigns from ?Captain Courageous? Paul Kelly last year - a move providing new challenges.
?It was offered to me and a fair amount of thought went into it because it is obviously a pretty important role to take on and it has been a huge challenge.
?There were a number of areas where I had to probably, not change my personality, but certainly challenge myself and it has been an interesting journey so far.?
The journey saw him ?tested? when utilised as a bench player during the Rodney Eade years at Sydney, then finding a new lease of life, and more playing time, under coach Paul Roos.
?You go through different phases in your career and your character gets tested,? Maxfield said.
?When ?Rocket? (Eade) was coaching I think he took my game to another level at different times but he certainly used me more as an impact player off the bench and at times I was probably unhappy with that but we worked our way through that.?
Roos feels the decision to pick Maxfield as Kelly?s successor was an inspired choice because he inspires his teammates by leading from the front.
?He has really elevated into a great leader, terrific player? he is just the ultimate professional,? Roos said.
?We have been extremely happy with the way he has captained the club, I mean we couldn?t have asked for anything better after Paul Kelly.
?He has been a real win for us over the last couple of years at a time when we really thought ?who are we going to turn to?? and it?s just been proved to be a great selection and he has made it so.?
Although he tries not to think about the future, Maxfield admitted he would like to play on next season if his form and the match committee allow.
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