Unwitting villain Brayden Maynard ready for his 200th match

Brayden Maynard never wanted to be one of the AFL’s bad guys.

But even though his teammates still love him and Collingwood continues to win, it’s a character the Magpies hardman is happy to embrace.

Maynard will line up for his 200th game against North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Sunday after establishing himself as one of the AFL’s most uncompromising defenders.

He is a Magpie favorite – and a nightmare for opposition fans.

“I don’t really like being hated by other fans. But I can understand why they hate me,” Maynard said coyly on Wednesday.

“But I promise I’m a good guy, a great guy.

“The only thing that really matters to me is what my teammates and the club think of me and I know that within four walls I think I have a lot of respect and I love everyone in this club.

“So that’s all that matters to me. I don’t really pay attention to outside noise.

“The guys I play with every week are the guys I play for and they play for me too.”

Maynard became Melbourne fans’ public enemy No. 1 after his collision with Angus Brayshaw in last year’s qualifying final that knocked out the popular Demon and ultimately ended his career.

He faced the Demons for the first time since the King’s Birthday and was superb.

Despite receiving less heat from the Demons players than expected, Maynard’s every possession was met with a chorus of boos from the Melbourne fans – soon drowned out by cheers from their Collingwood counterparts.

“There was a bit of a surge. I actually tried to stay off social media because I knew it was all going to come back,” he said.

“So I’ve been pretty successful in that sense.

“Getting booed every time I got the ball and then the army of Magpies coming out to those boos and cheering, that meant a lot.”

Maynard is adamant that his off-field character and his on-field character are two very different people.

His competitiveness came early – when he realized that school wasn’t for him, that football was his “only wood” and that he had to give it his all.

“It’s a bit like white line fever. I get quite angry and quite aggressive when I cross that white line, but it’s just part of who I am and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” did he declare.

“And I don’t think I would be here today if I didn’t have that balance between when I relax off the field, a big, gentle giant, and when I walk through it, I’m a different beast. “

Maynard hopes Nick Daicos will be fit for his milestone match after suffering a trapped shin against the Dees.

The midfielder did not train on Wednesday and will need to prove his fitness later in the week to play.

“You’d have to ask him but I think he’d be right to stand up,” Maynard said.

“He is hard.”