After spending 54 days in custody in relation to a domestic incident over the summer, the North Albury excitement machine said it was the thought of playing again that got him through.

“It was always on my mind,” Maksymow, 22, told The Border Mail in a rare interview yesterday.

“I absolutely love football.

“It (jail) is definitely a place nobody wants to go.

“A couple of wrong choices ...”

Maksymow stopped there.

He’d said enough.

It’s obvious he’d rather talk about football.

And there’s a reason for that.

He’s seriously good at it.

The Hoppers’ livewire has been one of the stories of the Ovens and Murray season, booting 41 goals from just 14 games and playing a major part in the club’s resurgence under Jason Akermanis.

The North Albury coach said Maksymow hadn’t put a foot wrong since returning to Bunton Park in February.

“He knows that your chances eventually run out — no matter who you are — if you’re going to behave a certain way,” Akermanis said.

“Not just in footy, but in life.

“He knows the rules, he’s been disciplined, he comes to training and is on time and does all the things he knows he has to do.

“It’s been such a big year for him.

“It will be a shame to lose him, if he does go to a higher level, but he’ll be fine wherever he goes.

“He knows that if he keeps doing the right things often enough he will get rewarded.”

That started to happen even before this season had begun, with Maksymow spending a week training at Collingwood in late March after Akermanis got in the ear of his Brisbane Lions premiership teammate Craig McRae — a development officer with the Pies.

But the exciting left-footer is under no illusions he’s still got plenty of work to do if he ever wants to get to that level on a full-time basis.

“I need to have a better season than what I’ve had,” Maksymow confessed.

“When things aren’t working I think about the experience I had down in Melbourne and try to work that bit harder.

“Because that is where I’m aiming to go.”

Maksymow has his eye on playing in the WAFL first — a competition he believes would “suit his game” — before seeing where that takes him.

But if that chance doesn’t come about, Maksymow has no problem working on his game under Akermanis for another year at Bunton Park.

“This is my club,” Maksymow said.

“I’ll only leave if the opportunity at a higher level comes about.”

After all — he’s already learning from one of the best the game has seen.

But the 2001 Brownlow medallist isn’t the only former AFL star having an influence on Maksymow’s career.

He played under former Carlton superstar Brendan Fevola at interleague level in May this year, and was a teammate of ex-St Kilda ace Jason Gram at Bunton Park last season.

Both are big fans.

“Grammy always told me to stick at it,” Maksymow said.

“He really believes I can go all the way.

“I had a good chat with ‘Fev’ one on one and he told me what I had to work on to get to that next level.”

Akermanis believes Makysmow is a gamble worth taking for an AFL club.

“He’s still another five years away from being at his physical peak,” the three-time premiership star said.

“He’s kicked a lot of goals but there’s no doubt there’s still parts of his game, like all of us, that he needs to get better at.

“Kicking was the biggest thing — which we’ve got on top of — and now it’s about taking marks and keeping his feet and being the player we know he should be.

“If you can get him in with good education — whether that’s here with us, or at VFL or AFL level — you know he’s just going to keep growing and growing.”

And if Maksymow does that, the sky is well and truly the limit.