Traded Alex Witherden (2016-2020)

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Lions’ last two months as good as finalists: Witherden

ALEX Witherden has ruled out any attempts from Brisbane to claim QClash underdog status, saying it was a sour feeling for the Lions to be stuck on equal points with the Suns on the ladder.

Witherden said the club had analysed performances since the bye and believed they ranked within the group of clubs challenging for the top eight.

“We had a look at the last six to eight weeks and are sitting within the top eight or 10 teams in the competition and we feel like that is where we are at the moment,’’ he said. “It is kind of frustrating and sour to be finishing the season on, hopefully six wins, because we feel like we could have already had nine or 10.

“But we have identified there are a few key areas that we need to clean up and focus on over the pre-season that will hold us in good stead for next season and we should be able to turn those close losses into wins.’’

 

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[Dalions]

It’s funny isn’t it?
The commentators for the game on the weekend did nothing but bag the shit out of Alex Witherden during the game.
And he ends up winning the player of the round for us!

 

[jackess]

It’s funny isn’t it?
The commentators for the game on the weekend did nothing but bag the shit out of Alex Witherden during the game.
And he ends up winning the player of the round for us!

Fair enough too. He had a great game.

 

[luthor]

It’s funny isn’t it?
The commentators for the game on the weekend did nothing but bag the shit out of Alex Witherden during the game.
And he ends up winning the player of the round for us!

They were pumping up Stephenson's tyres big time

Stephenson is a good player alright but they really showed their bias with their shit-canning of Alex.

Not much of an agenda there eh fellas?

 

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Q&A — ALEX WITHERDEN

Firstly, congratulations on being selected in the 40-man, 22Under22 squad. Is it a concept you’ve followed before?

Thanks Simon. Yeah, every year you have a look and see the emerging players who are picked in the squad, and it is definitely something that you’d like to be a part of. I know a few of the boys up in Brisbane were part of it last year, and I know the players that do get picked often go on to have successful careers.

How would you assess your 2018 season?

I think I started slowly just coming to terms with the different game style we have been playing compared to last year, in the manner that we’re a real team-based defence compared to one-on-one. I have been getting used to the zoning, and took the first month of the season to get accustomed. Post that, I feel like I’ve been pretty consistent most weeks.

So this would be the first time you’ve learnt to defend in a zone?

Yeah, it is the first time I’ve done it. In the under-age competitions, you’re usually just one-on-one with your opponent, which is what they want to see players play on each other and get the best players to stand out. But now, you work within a system and a team structure which was a bit different. Getting your head around that and not just worrying about your own backyard, you’re thinking about helping others and communicating and being in the right spot, because all it takes is one player to be out of position and the whole system can fall down.

Having Luke Hodge back there with you would have accelerated your learning?

He’s been massive, both on and off the field with the standards he sets. Whether it be training, the way you conduct yourself throughout the week, the amount of time you put in to watching vision or doing extra touch. Even how you speak in meetings and during a game and how you challenge teammates, he has really helped me grow and develop in those areas. On the field, he sets high standards for everything, in the past we would have let little things slip through the cracks, but not anymore, and that’s where our development and continual growth is going to come from.

Did you have an impression as to what Hodge would be like? And has he lived up to that, or been slightly different to what you expected?

He’s pretty similar to what I thought he would have been like. What you see in the media from Hodgey is what you get. He’s one of the boys outside of the club, which has probably happened more than I thought it would. I thought he would have spent more time with the coach and the senior boys, but he has been really good with spending time with the younger guys. He is like any normal footballer, he likes the banter around the change rooms and when appropriate, having a beer with the boys.

Surely, you have some funny stories from his time up there…

There’s a few! When he first got up here, we went to this Mexican place that we go to dinner pretty often, and it wasn’t his birthday, but we told the restaurant it was, and they brought out a tequila shot and a big hat, and they started playing music as well. I’ve never seen a man be as embarrassed as he was when that happened. That was a nice ice-breaker early days.

Whose idea was that?

It was mine actually! In hindsight, I don’t know what I was thinking, but I just thought it would be a bit of fun for the younger boys. He did appreciate it because he loves banter and stitching blokes up. It was pretty funny at the time.

Has he tried to get you back?

He got me back not too long ago. We had a team meeting, and I went to sit down somewhere else and he told me to come sit next to him, which I thought was a bit strange. He acted as if he wanted to talk about football, and then Fages told the group to look under our chairs and whoever has a little piece of paper under your chair, come up to the front because you have to dance. I looked under my chair, and obviously there it was! I had to get up the front and dance in front of the whole group, so he stitched me up there.

What were you dancing to?

I was dancing to Barbara Streisand. That is what he had on at the time, so that’s the hand I was dealt. Fages likes playing music before our meetings so it was just going to be luck of the draw.

You have only been there while Fagan has, so you can’t discuss what happened prior to his arrival, but how has the environment grown in his time at the club?

He’s been exceptional with what he has brought to the club. The care that he possesses for each player and his ability to build relationships has rubbed off on all of us, and I think we’re a tighter group because of it. Him and David Noble have set a strong foundation for the next 4-6 years with what we’ve got here with the younger players.

Being a Victorian and moving interstate, I imagine he has played somewhat of a father-figure role for you and the other younger players?

He absolutely has, because he moved from Tassie to Melbourne at a young age to pursue what he wanted to do. He has been through the same experiences himself, and even with his move up north to coach us, I’m sure he was a little bit homesick, so we were able to have a lot of honest conversations and he was able to guide us through the process a lot better. He took us out for countless breakfasts and continued to call us and provide any support we needed, which made the transition from Victoria to Brisbane a lot easier. To have an understanding coach and a figure to go to has been great.

How have you adjusted to life in Brisbane?

At first, it was a lot different to what I thought it would be. I thought Brisbane would be right on the beach like the Gold Coast, but it turns out the closest beach is about 50 minutes away. The city is nice here, it is a lot smaller than Melbourne, less busy and the weather is really nice up here all the time. You can get outside all year round.

You spoke about your defending before, but you’re quite an attacking half-back who goes for his kicks… does Chris Fagan feel the need to reel you in at times, or is he happy to back you in to really go for it?

Fages is really encouraging for me to back myself and continue to take the game on, but we’ve had conversations at times where it’s about finding that balance between being aggressive and being a bit kamikaze with the ball use. Now, I think I have found better balance where if I am going for a more challenging kick, I’ll make sure that we’re able to defend it, whereas in the past I would have tried to ping one through the corridor which would have left us really vulnerable to the counter-attack. I have become better at understanding the game and what one kick can lead to. Although I have played all games this year and a handful last year, he still understands that I’m still young and trying to improve each week.

How have you adjusted to playing all games this year?

There was a point mid-way through the season where I started to struggle because I don’t have the pre-seasons in my legs. But I felt the continuity of playing each week helped me to continue to develop and work on something different each week and add that to my game. Fages is always big on talking about what you’ve got in your kit bag and what you bring to the team, so I feel that when you have a weakness, if you’re continually playing you can work on it and iron it out and make it less of a weakness.

What are some of the weaknesses you have worked on so far?

Like many young kids, I have worked on my defensive running and aspects of the game. We all love getting the ball, so it is just about making sure you have the balance in your game both offensively and defensively. Not being as big as the other bodies, I have worked on being strong in the contest as well.

What are you working on this week?

I had a few clangers against Collingwood, so for me this weekend it is just about getting back to hitting the easy option and taking what is there in front of me. Also working on that help-side support because a couple of times I was caught out the fat side and might have been a bit too slow to react. As a team, we’re working on getting our ball movement going again — Collingwood did a good job at restricting us.

Are you understanding the errors you’re making on game day in real time, and can you rectify those quickly? Or are you still needing time post-game to look back?

I feel like I’m pretty good at assessing my own game and understanding when I have made a mistake. When you come in on Monday and do your review, you’re comfortable and you know what is going to be on there. That is a huge thing that I have worked out in the last 18 months, whereas you didn’t know what you were doing wrong initially. We have been educated so well, we know when we’re making mistakes.

I saw some footage the other week where Luke Hodge was off the ground reviewing footage, and then running back on and explaining to the player what the issue was. It must be like having another coach out there on the field…

Absolutely! The coaches have been great all year at getting vision down to the bench, but I think he is good at being proactive, rather than reactive to situations. If he sees something, he will get on the phone and talk to the box and will look at the vision straight away. He is an on-field coach in that regard.

What are you like away from footy? What do you like to do?

Away from football, I just like being active and having a hit of cricket or going to shoot some hoops. We will get a crew down to the park and will play a bit of soccer or something like that. It is good to stay moving on the day off and stay active. Otherwise, we have a movie crew, and down in Belinda, it’s $5 to go to the movies, so we nearly see every movie that comes out down there. I like spending time with the boys and getting up to a few shenanigans here and there. I don’t know if you saw, but last week, we sticky-noted Ryan Lester’s place!

Really?

Yeah, we got 1,500 sticky-note pads and went around there and put it all over the front of his house. Just little things like that are always good fun. I’m also doing a business management course at the club, so I’m keeping my options open for the future because you never know what this industry holds.

Why was Ryan targeted in this attack?

Because it’s his wedding coming up, so we thought it would be pretty funny to stitch him up and say congratulations in a different sort of way.

Yourself, Hugh McCluggage, Eric Hipwood and Harris Andrews have been included in the 22Under22 40-man squad, are you going to not vote for them and keep them out of the final side so you can have bragging rights?

[Laughs] No, they are very deserving of being in the team, so I won’t do that. Eric has nearly kicked 40 goals in his third year in a team that has won four games, Hugh has played some outstanding games for us and is showing why he was a No. 3 draft pick, and Harris holds things together down back.

Very diplomatic. Thanks for your time, Alex!

No worries.

 

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Alex Witherden was awarded Rookie of the Year in his second season at the Gabba. Earlier in the week, the defender attended the Rising Star luncheon in Melbourne after receiving his second nomination for the prestigious award.

Alex Witherden was awarded Rookie of the Year in his second season at the Gabba.

 

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Rookie of the Year

Promising young defender Alex Witherden has been selected as the Brisbane Lions' Rookie of the Year at the 2018 Club Champion awards night. Witherden missed just one match for the Lions this year after injuring his hamstring in Round 22 against the Gold Coast Suns and missing the Lions' final match against West Coast.

He averaged 22 disposals, seven marks and 4.6 rebound 50s per game, with his excellent foot skills and vision a trademark of his game. His tremendous season was rewarded at the AFL Rising Star awards ceremony yesterday, finishing third overall behind Collingwood's Jaidyn Stephenson and Adelaide's Tom Doedee.

It was in Round 9 this year when he claimed a second Rising Star nomination, following his first in Round 17 last year. He is one of just 11 players to ever be nominated twice in the history of the award. The Geelong Falcons junior was selected by the Lions at Pick No. 23 in the 2016 AFL Draft and played nine games in his debut season.

Earlier this year he extended his contract with the Lions for a further two years, until the end of 2020.

 

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How Hodgey changed a club

I was hanging around the pool, beer in hand, at the Far Out Beach Club in Ios on an end-of-season trip with my housemate, Corey Lyons. Holiday. Sunshine. Greek Islands. I didn’t think life could get any better. Then it did.

A mate back home sent me a Snapchat of Luke Hodge on the TV news talking about the possibility of joining the Lions. The story gathered momentum over the next few days and the messages started flying around the group. When confirmation came that Hodgey had signed, I felt this instant rush of excitement. It had been a a year since I’d made the move from Victoria to Queensland and now one of the modern greats of our game – a bloke I had grown up watching – was coming up to join us.

Suddenly, going back to training had an element of excitement.

‘I’M NOT SURE I CAN DO THIS’

I barracked for North Melbourne as a kid. It was the era of the Hawks’ three-peat and Hawthorn used to always belt us with that unsociable football of theirs. Hodgey was the key figure in all of it.

It wasn’t much fun watching the Hawks smash your team season after season but you couldn’t help but admire the way they went about it. They were tough, hard footballers and, as a young kid making his way with Barwon Heads and St Joeys’, they were the kind of players you wanted to emulate.

I’d watched plenty of YouTube clips of the ‘line in the sand’ game against the Bombers and others, but probably my most enduring memory of Hodgey as a young bloke was heading out to the 2015 grand final and watching him kick the banana from 40 metres out on the boundary against West Coast. He gave it the big pump-up afterwards and, from that moment, you knew Hawthorn were winning the flag.

A bloke I had grown up watching – was coming up to join us. Suddenly, going back to training had an element of excitement.

A year later, I was drafted to Brisbane. It was a difficult time for me. I’d broken my leg in my final year playing for Geelong College and had become very reliant on people within my network at home. Moving away from them to a new city, a place I’d never been before, was really challenging.

There was a period when I was told I’d need additional surgery on my leg. I went back to Melbourne to get it done. I was in the car with mum and dad one day and I remember saying to them, ‘I’m not sure I can do this.’

I wasn’t certain my leg would hold up again. It kept failing on me after the operation. That, coupled with the difficulty I was experiencing with the move north, really got to me. I was a scared kid without many life tools.

We got back home and my parents told me to get back up to Brissie and give it a red hot crack. It was the best advice they could’ve given me. I eventually got settled, found a house with a couple of the boys, made good friends and made the transition to senior footy.

Chris Fagan was a father figure to me during those early stages. He’d take me out to brekkie and tell me about all the doubt, all the uncertainty he’d felt when he moved from Tassie to Melbourne as a coach. Am I good enough to make it? I was experiencing the same emotions and feelings Fages did. It was reassuring to hear it wasn’t just me.

In the end, Fages was the one who convinced Hodgey to come out of retirement and head up to the Lions. He had a list full of young blokes like me who would stand to benefit by having a leader of his calibre around the club. It was genius.

 

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Witherden finishes third in Rising Star

Alex Witherden has finished third in the 2018 Rising Star award, with Collingwood Jaidyn Stephenson becoming the first Magpie to the claim the award.

No Rising Star nominee averaged more than Witherden's 22.4 disposals down back, with Coach Chris Fagan believing his charge would have been a worthy overall winner.

 

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Player Review: Alex Witherden

#29 - Alex Witherden
Alex Witherden joined elite footballing company in 2018 by becoming just the 11th man in AFL history to receive two Rising Star nominations. Witherden received the nod in his 18th AFL game after a stirring performance in the Lions’ first win of the season in Round 9 against Hawthorn. He would ultimately finish third in the race for the 2018 NAB AFL Rising Star.

Witherden was admired for his strong, consistent performances throughout the year. He put his hand up at the start of the season to take on the extra responsibility of kick-outs and was largely successful in getting the ball out of danger.

Some highlights in his second season included 27 disposals and three tackles in Round 5 against the Gold Coast; 29 disposals and two tackles in Round 12’s loss to Essendon and 27 disposals and two tackles in Round 17’s win against the Hawks in Tasmania.

Witherden spoke publicly on the influence Luke Hodge had on his game in 2018. His coach Chris Fagan also commented that his maturity and calmness on field was beyond his 20 years. He played every game for the season until he injured his hamstring in Round 22’s win over the Gold Coast, sadly ruling him out for the last game of the year against West Coast.

Witherden finished 10th in the Lions' Club Champion count and also received his first Brownlow vote.

Coaches Comment - Murray Davis, Backline Coach

"It was great to see Alex build on his first season, playing 21 games in 2018. An important distributor for us out of the back half and his game against Carlton in Round 16 where he had 31 disposals was a highlight."

 

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Young Lion doing extra sessions to fix his one flaw (Michael Whiting)

Alex Witherden isn't great at running. He doesn't particularly enjoy it, either. That's why the half-back's decision to seek a sprint coach in the off-season was so eye-opening.

The 20-year-old has played 30 games in his two seasons at the Brisbane Lions, is one of the best kicks at the Club and undoubtedly a crucial cog in any potential future success. But he needs to improve, and he knows it.

Following his debut season in 2017, Witherden let himself go a bit during the off-season and cut a forlorn figure at pre-season training, running extra laps through most of November and December to catch-up on his fitness. This off-season was different.

After speaking with Backline Coach Murray Davis at the end of last season, Witherden hatched a plan to find a coach that could help him run better and in-turn become a more dangerous player. After one week of holidaying in Bali, he returned to his hometown of Geelong and sought out sprints coach Sarah Cotchett.

"I wanted to improve on a few different components of running," Witherden said. "A lot of it being the explosive power running that's required by half-backs to get past (their man) and get handball receives."

Working with Cotchett and her sprinters from Witherden's old school, Geelong College, he went twice weekly for five weeks to work on foot position, arm drive and reaction off the ground. It focused both on being efficient and dynamic.

After a double hip replacement as a 16-year-old, Witherden has developed some running habits to compensate for the injury, including a noticeable splaying of his feet on impact.

"It's something I'll probably have to work on the rest of my career, but it was good to seek her out and try and find an extra one or two percent to help me become a better player," he said. "A lot of it as well was injury prevention after doing my hamstring (in Round 22 against Gold Coast). It had a lot of different benefits. "It's not going to make you kick the ball better but sometimes it's an area of your game you can change from being a one or two out of five to a three or four out of five and can enable you to do so many more things. "That's what I'm trying to do here."

The Lions have made no secret it wants a more explosive half-back to add to its mix of good ball users like Luke Hodge, Daniel Rich and Witherden. An exquisite kicker of the ball, Witherden averaged almost 22 touches a game last season – numbers equal to West Coast's premiership captain and All Australian Shannon Hurn – but wants to add the line-breaking, overlap element to his arsenal.

Witherden is as confident as any 21-and-under player at the club but concedes fear for his position has driven his desire for improvement. "The way our group is progressing, you can't afford to stand still anymore and you've got to look at improvements within your own game," he said. "I knew if I didn't go and get better then I wasn't going to be able to play and I wouldn't get a spot in the senior side. "We know as a group we all need to improve three or four percent this year to take that next step and push towards finals footy. "It was touched on by the coaching staff and leadership group at the end of the season that if we just do the program set for us, we'll continue to just be around the mark and mediocre, and we're going to have to invest in our own careers and invest in extra training to go to that next level."

Witherden now continues his drills once a week and says he can notice when his form has deteriorated. He returned to Brisbane more than three weeks before pre-season to run with a large group of teammates and ensure he was in good shape for day one.

"I'm not the greatest runner but I feel I've improved a lot and that's all they ask for…constant improvement," he said. "I've got a long way to go, it might take six months, it might take 12 months, it might take three years, but hopefully it's going to continue to make me a better player. "I've definitely improved as a runner and that's going to help me become a better footballer and hopefully help the team as well."

 

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Getting their kicks: Your club's top kick-in experts

2018 LEADERS: Alex Witherden (126 kick-ins - 48.1% of team), Daniel Rich (56 kick-ins - 21.4% of team)

Only Sydney's Jake Lloyd and West Coast's Shannon Hurn took more kick-ins than Witherden in 2018. The clever Lions half-back took the responsibility just under 50 per cent of the time following a behind. Although very adept at kicking the ball back across his body into the corridor, Witherden became more circumspect as the season wore on and often took safer option. He also played on more than 40 per cent of the time. Brisbane was also happy for its most penetrating kick, Daniel Rich, to start its chain of possession.

WILL IT BE THE SAME IN 2019?

No reason to change things up significantly. Witherden, Rich and Luke Hodge (who took 42 kick-ins last season) should be regular fixtures in the backline again and are three of the most accurate kicks the Lions have.

 

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Red-hot Lions ready for Kangas to bounce back (Michael Whiting)

GROWING up as a North Melbourne supporter, Brisbane's Alex Witherden knows all too well how the Kangaroos bounce back from a round one hiding. Including last Sunday's 82-point shellacking from Fremantle, North has lost nine of its past 10 opening rounds.

Five times they have rebounded a week later to win. After spanking premier West Coast first up, Witherden says the Lions are on high-alert for a "fired up" Kangaroos at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.

"Being a North supporter, I remember years and years where they'd always perform poorly in round one," Witherden told AFL.com.au. "They often lose in round one and then often perform really well in round two. "From round two onwards, that kickstarts their season. They obviously learn a lot from that round one performance. "It's something I noticed when I was younger. "I'd always get frustrated with round one, but they'd always bounce back."

Not only do Brad Scott's men have a good round two record, but it's been five years since the Lions have had success against them. In round 11 last year under the roof, North jumped to a 55-point half-time lead. Brisbane played the final three quarters that day with just one man on the bench following injuries to Allen Christensen, Hugh McCluggage and Charlie Cameron.

Despite the setback, they won the second half by a point, and although the match was well and truly lost, Witherden said the resilience they showed was a turning point. "We took away a lot of positives from that second half," he said. "Because we were so cooked we had to play a lot smarter. It helped our ball movement. "Boys were cracking in trying to win the footy because the boys didn't want to be chasing arse for the rest of the day.

"Fages had a stern word to us at half-time and we rectified things. "We took a lot away from that second half and from that point on in the season we started to play some good footy." In fact, following the next week's bye, Brisbane put another loss to Greater Western Sydney behind them and proceeded to rattle off three-straight wins. "This weekend will be a huge challenge. They'll be fired up.

"We feel we're in a better position this year compared to last year, out bodies have matured, we've got some middle-age recruits to help us around the ball and hopefully we can counteract the guys like (Jack) Ziebell, (Shaun) Higgins and (Ben) Cunnington who have got a hold of us."

 

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Witherden and Rayner sound like the modern day Redden and Rockliff.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Time for Witherden to lift. There's a lot of bathwater in this thread and this year he has been drinking copious quantities.

 

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[dizzysquizz]

anyone have any info on Witho signing 3yr contract extension ???

 

[WhiteLionFeva]

anyone have any info on Witho signing 3yr contract extension ???

Article on afl.com today saying it is imminent.

 

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Lion keeper: Brisbane close to locking in another young star (Callum Twomey)

BRISBANE has moved to lock down one of its talented youngsters, with Alex Witherden set to sign a new two-year deal. The half-back was not due to come out of contract until the end of 2020, having recommitted at the start of last year. However, the club is understood to have made him a priority re-signing and is looking to extend his contract through to the end of 2022.

Witherden is one of the Lions' brightest youngsters, having become a key part of the back half since breaking into the senior side midway through his debut 2017 season. Since his first game in round 14 that season, which was delayed after a broken leg in his draft year, the Geelong Falcons product has played 41 out of a possible 43 games.

The 20-year-old is one of the club's best users out of the backline and often takes the club's kick-outs, where his precise foot skills and vision sets up the Lions' rebound. The retention issues Brisbane faced in the past seem long gone, with key younger players Jarrod Berry (signed until the end of 2024), Hugh McCluggage (2021), Cam Rayner (2021) and Harris Andrews (2021) all committed long-term.

The Lions, who are perched in fifth position on the ladder after a brilliant start to the season under coach Chris Fagan, are aiming for their first finals appearance since 2009. Their 19-point win over Hawthorn on Saturday night was their fourth win from their past six games and they now face an under-siege Carlton at Marvel Stadium this week before a round 13 bye.