Werribee midfielder Joe Maishman described it as a “great honour” to play 50 games in the Victorian Football League.
Maishman was thrilled to be able to share his milestone day with respected teammates Ben Moloney and Sam Collins against Collingwood at Victoria Park on Sunday.
“To run out with Ben Moloney in his 100th and Sam Collins in his 50th was pretty special,” Maishman said.
Maishman reckons his season has been a “little bit up and down” individually.
Talk to his teammates and they are glowing in their appraisal of his season, but the 22-year-old is a harsh self-assessor.
“You’re just always a bit harsher on yourself,” he said.
“My good games have been good, but then I’ve had a couple of poor patches. I’m just trying to get more consistency out of my game.”
Maishman has switched roles this season.
In previous seasons he was assigned to a wing position because of his speed and the depth of inside midfielders through the North Melbourne alignment and the dominance of Matt Hanson.
This season, Hanson is on the long-term injury list and the North Melbourne alignment is no longer, so spots have opened up at the coal face.
Maishman is adding an extra dimension to the onball unit.
“I can just bring a bit more speed though the middle and provide a good mix with some of the bigger boys,” he said.
“I’m happy to have a move in there and play a bit inside and outside because that’s where I always played as a junior.”
Maishman put in one of his toughest pre-seasons to date to build up an even bigger tank.
The Geelong Falcons product is looking for an edge on the opposition and spending more time dissecting his game with the coaches.
That has been made possible since Werribee returned to standalone status and has its home ground back to full use at Watton Street.
Maishman is relishing the footy club feel at Werribee.
“Having no alignment and that one club culture has been great,” the Newtown resident said.
“We’ve got a great group of boys, a great group of coaches and we’re loving it.”
