By JARROD POTTER
SENIOR football has finally cut Hawthorn’s Alex Woodward a little slack.
The last two years have been an immense challenge for the 20-year-old midfielder from Noble Park, having suffered back-to-back anterior cruciate ligament injuries in 2012 and 2013 on the same knee.
“Tough initiation I’d say coming into an AFL system,” Woodward said.
“As a young player all you want to do is make an impact and a good impression on the group and I thought my first pre-season was good.
“Did everything I was told to do and was fortunate enough to get a NAB Cup game in – albeit five minutes of it.
“Unfortunately did my ACL in that game and 10 months into that rehab I had a training mishap and I ruptured it again.”
His stint on the sidelines rehabbing his knee left him without a match under his belt since the 2011 TAC Cup grand final where he captained the Sandringham Dragons to a premiership over the Oakleigh Charges 17.11 (113) to 16.9 (105).
There is light at the end of the tunnel though.
Woodward bonded in the recovery group with Hawthorn’s other injured stars at the time – like Max Bailey, Brendan Whitecross and Matt Suckling – and last week played his first full match since 2011, earning 17 possessions in Hawthorn’s 131-point drubbing of the Brisbane Lions.
“It was a good pre-season,” Woodward said.
“This pre-season was a bit different for me – it was a slow build up for me going into training and probably what I would’ve preferred which was good… and the club looked after me – once I was confident in my movements around the ground, and I really built up into that.
“It’s been a while since I’ve done my football pre-game routine – it was more excitement than nerves.
“My first few touches were a bit fumbled but I got better as the game went on – I learned a lot from that game and had a bit more time than I thought, but I was happy to get through it.”
Bailey’s influence on Woodward has been especially significant, with the premiership ruckman passing on number 39 to the young midfielder and Woodward has appreciated everything the club and its staff and players have done to accommodate him through his turbulent times.
“The easy option would’ve been to let go of me, but they (Hawthorn) stuck with me,” Woodward said.
“You find good support around Hawthorn when it comes to knees – I’ve built a really strong relationship with Max Bailey over the last couple of years.
“He’s done three knees, so the support he gave me was unreal through my two years in rehab.
“He offered the jumper to me at the end of last year when he was going to retire and I couldn’t jump in it quicker and it was great.”
Woodward and his beloved Hawks will face Melbourne in an AFL practice match at Casey Fields on Saturday from 1pm.
