Nick Malceski
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | 15 August 1984 , |
| Recruited from | Eastern Rangers U-18 |
| Height and weight | 189cm / 88kg |
| Playing career¹ | |
| Debut | Round 11, 4 June 2005, Sydney Swans vs. Carlton Blues, at Telstra Dome |
| Team(s) | Sydney Swans (2005) 45 games, 24 goals |
| ¹ Statistics to end of 2007 season | |
| Career highlights | |
Nick Malceski (born 15 August 1984) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League. Malceski is of Macedonian heritage.
[edit] Overview
Malceski was recruited from the Eastern Rangers by the Sydney Swans in the 2002 AFL Draft. He was drafted in Sydney's 5th and last round selection at 64th overall.
In his first year at the club, the talented midfielder played in the Wizard Home Loans Cup and then followed up with a full season for the Swans Reserves, where he impressed coaching staff with his magnificent disposal skills on both sides of his body and excellent decision-making abilities in both attack and defence. After a successful first season with the Swans Malceski and coaching staff had high hopes for him making his debut for the seniors in the 2004 premiership season. Unfortunately, Malceski ruptured his left anterior cruciate ligament during a trial game, requiring him to have a knee reconstruction, thus ruining any hopes of him making a seniors debut in 2004.
In 2005, Malceski surprised everyone by fully recovering from his knee injury both physically and mentally, and was rewarded with a seniors debut. He scored his first career goal with his first kick. Malceski went on to play another four matches for the seniors in the 2005 premiership season and.
In 2006, Nick got the call up to play for the seniors in round 3, along with a new guernsey, No. 9. He played well and held his spot in the team, scoring five goals and averaged 14 possessions a game. However, Malceski pulled up with a hamstring injury during the first quarter of the Swans round 9 clash against Hawthorn at the MCG. Scans later revealed he would miss the next 3 or 4 weeks.
In the Round 4, 2006 match against Melbourne he had the opportunity to level the scores in the dying moments but missed from 25 metres out and the Demons hung on. This was an inapt way to cap off his game which was considered to have shown a lot of promise – with several long kicks and attacking flair shown. The match marked his arrival as a promising young player.
In 2007, Malceski continued to impress with exquisite disposal skills. Malceski cemented his place in the Sydney Swans team with several stand-out performances early in the season. His speed and accuracy off half-back has made him an important cog in the Sydney Swans team. In Round 5, 2007 against the Melbourne Demons, Malceski was awarded best on ground with 28 disposals and 1 goal. A great season performance in 2007 resulted Malceski to be runner-up in the clubs prestigious Skilton Medal, only second to Sydney midfielder Brett Kirk.
After his break-out year in 2007, Malceski and Swans coaching staff had high hopes for an even more successful 2008. However, their hopes were delivered a cruel blow when Malceski suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury to his right knee after he twisted it when changing direction during the 3rd quarter of the Swans Round 1, NAB Cup clash with Hawthorn in Tasmania. It was expected that the ACL injury would rule Malceski out for the remainder of the season, however, a synthetic ligament was installed into the knee and he returned to the side in a game against Essendon midway through the season.
[edit] External links
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