Daniel Wells' career has been littered with niggling injuries that has kept a once-potential star from reaching his true potential but Collingwood assistant coach Brenton Sanderson says the midfielder is ready for a big 2018.
After Nathan Buckley said the former Kangaroo was "out of shape" when he joined the Pies in the 2017 preseason, Sanderson says there's a lot more to like about Wells this time around.
"A guy we're all excited about, without getting over the top about it, is Daniel Wells who we saw in 10 games last year and he was just silky smooth in the games that he played," Sanderson told AFL.com.au.
The Mapgies lost just two games when Wells was on the park last season which saw him average over 18 disposals and one goal from his 10 outings.
"He's definitely had more training under his belt at this point this year than what he did at this point last year," Sanderson said.
"If he can get up and running by round one and start the year like how he finished it in that purple patch through the middle part of last year he's going to be really exciting for us."
Sanderson said the club will look to add depth into their midfield ranks this season with 21-year-old Brandon Maynard looking to get more time up the ground.
The strong, big-bodied youngster had a breakout 2017 season with Sanderson saying his body type is exactly what the Pies need.
"You can never have too many big bodies around the footy and we've seen that with a lot of the successful teams over the last few years," Sanderson said.
"They're putting those guys that are 190cm, 192cm, 194cm, bigger bodies around the footy.
"We saw a snapshot of Maynard pinch-hitting on ball and he looked really good.
"Once again we'll see Maynard a little bit more through the midfield but he'll still be used across half-back with that powerful left-foot kick."
