By JARROD POTTER
AFTER two seasons worth forgetting, his breakout 2014 season will be forever etched into Alex Woodward’s memories.
Woodward, 21, from Noble Park, continued his stellar 2014 by receiving the greatest nod in the Victorian Football League (VFL) when he won the J.J. Liston Trophy on Monday night.
Featuring in Hawthorn’s VFL-affiliated Box Hill Hawks line-up for most of the season, Woodward excelled to earn 20 votes from his 13 VFL matches to lead the count.
Putting behind him two difficult years nursing knee injuries, Woodward excelled in his first significant year on field as an senior footballer.
A three-vote haul in the final round – Box Hill’s 129-point pumping of Northern Blues – pushed him ahead of North Ballarat’s Liam Anthony (17 votes) to take the Liston Trophy.
“It was very unexpected but I’m very happy and very humbled to receive the award, it’s something special for sure,” Woodward said.
Woodward was on the edge of his seat as the count ticked towards the final rounds, but when he drew level with Anthony approaching the final round and Anthony failed to poll in his last game, Woodward knew he had just become a Liston Trophy winner.
“I was equal with Liam Anthony from North Ballarat and he didn’t poll in his last game and I thought I’d won it – or at least won it equally with him,” Woodward said.
“Then I polled in the last game – three in that game – to be an outright winner and that makes it even more special.”
The pleasing aspect for the 21-year-old midfielder was his ability to string together a sequence of great performances and push towards his AFL debut – which he received in round 18 against Sydney.
“Consistency is the word that comes to mind – each week was pretty much a learning phase for me and I learnt things from my game each week,” he said.
“After each game I sat down with the coaches and assessed areas that I needed to improve on and continue to do.
“I slowly did that throughout the season and it was pleasing to see I could string a few consistent things together.”
Woodward’s Box Hill Hawks have won its way through to the VFL preliminary final, following a gutsy 24-point triumph over Port Melbourne and, hopefully, he can feature prominently in the last match of the year – whether it is in the VFL or AFL.
“Still very focused on what I want to achieve this year – a premiership medal at either Box Hill or in the AFL considering I missed out last year on a medal I’m striving for one of those,” he said.
Woodward wanted to thank all of his coaches, the medical staff and his family for helping him get through the rough start to his AFL career.
“The Liston Trophy isn’t just a good reward for effort for me, but for all of the guys who were with me every step of the way,” Woodward said.
“Guys within the rehab staff – Phil Merriman – I work closely with at Hawthorn – Andrew Russell – the conditioning coach – Luke Boyd, those sort of guys who have seen me put in the hard yards early on in my career and continue to work with me.
“Development coaches DC (Damian Carroll) and Marco Bello, Cameron Bruce and Brett Ratten – the midfield coaches – have worked hard with me this year and also my family – their support has been amazing to this point.”
Former Dandenong Stingrays captain – and Woodward’s Hawthorn/Box Hill team mate – Mitch Hallahan jointly won last year’s Liston Trophy alongside Geelong’s Jordan Schroeder and North Ballarat’s Steve Clifton.
