Senior Pies won't play every game

Collingwood skipper Nick Maxwell says senior players will be managed during the season. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

CAPTAIN Nick Maxwell flagged the probability that senior Collingwood players will be rested from games this season.

Maxwell said the demands of the AFL now mean player management was a critical element of week-to-week planning.

"I think we're already seeing that players don't play every game. You've just got to manage players a lot better,'' he said.

"That has happened against the newer teams in the competition, like Gold Coast and GWS. But what it also does is give others a chance.

"I know the older players, it's pretty hard to convince them to take the week off and rest up because they're used to playing every game.

"Darren Jolly famously played 150 games in a row and trying to convince him to have a week every now and then, given that he carries such a big load, was tough. But now he's really starting to embrace that and that's something a lot of older players will have to do.

"I understand we know what's best for us and everything is what's best for the team. We want to make sure, should we lose someone during the year, we've got someone who can step in and they haven't played 10 games of VFL and have to come into the seniors. It's too hard to do that. So we understand it (resting) is part of football now.''

Maxwell is adamant the Magpies have regained the winning urge that drove them relentlessly to the 2010 premiership. And much of that edge has been created by the infusion of experienced "recruits'' Clinton Young, Quinten Lynch, Ben Hudson and Jordan Russell.

"I think there's more of a hunger than I've seen. After 2010 when you get that success, you think you can just roll along,'' the Pies captain said.

"We had success in 2011, we only lost to one team (Geelong) for the whole year, but we lost to them three times and when it mattered. Last year was a change with a new coach and a different game plan and we lost a few guys through injury.

"But this year the hunger is back. We've seen that over the pre-season and with new guys we've brought into the group from other clubs."

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