Alex Woodward (born 11 June 1993) is a professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawth ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). He attended Mazenod College and played junior football for Noble Park.

Football career

He was drafted by

with pick 53 in 2011 AFL Draft from the

Sandringham Dragons Sandringham Dragons is an Australian rules football club playing in the Talent League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. They are based at the Moorabbin Oval in Moorabbin, Victoria, representin ...

in the

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

. Whilst on Hawthorn's list, Woodward twice ruptured his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

(ACL) in his right knee and has had three

knee reconstruction Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL reconstruction) is a surgical tissue graft replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament, located in the knee, to restore its function after an injury. The torn ligament can either be removed from ...

s. Woodward has played primarily for

Box Hill Hawks The Box Hill Hawks Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill, currently competing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the VFL Women's (VFLW). Since 2000, Box Hill has had a reserves a ...

in VFL and finally made his AFL debut in round 18,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. After competing his first full year of football in three years, Woodward's hard work was rewarded with winning the

J. J. Liston Trophy The J. J. Liston Trophy is awarded annually to the best and fairest senior player in the Victorian Football League (VFL), which was formerly known as the Victorian Football Association (VFA). It is named after J. J. Liston, J.J. Liston, a busine ...

for 2014. He polled 20 votes. Woodward tore the ACL in his right knee early in Box Hill Hawks’ match against Coburg in the VFL in July 2015. Woodward was delisted at the conclusion of the 2015 season; however, he was re-drafted in the 2016 rookie draft with the 52nd selection. At the conclusion of the 2016 season, he was delisted again by Hawthorn. In 2017, he joined the Collingwood VFL team but ruptured his ACL again in his third game for the club, ironically against Box Hill. He returned strongly with the club in mid-2018, and managed to finish third in the J. J. Liston Trophy despite playing only eight games for the year. Woodward also served as a runner for the Collingwood AFL team during the year, and controversially became involved in the play during the

2018 AFL Grand Final The 2018 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the West Coast Eagles and the Collingwood Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 2018. It was the 123rd annual grand final of the Australian ...

to Collingwood's detriment. Late in the third quarter, Collingwood's

Taylor Adams Taylor Adams (born 20 September 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Greater Western Sydney Giants from 2012 to 2013 and the Colli ...

miskicked an attempted clearing kick towards centre half back; 's

Elliot Yeo Elliot Yeo (born 1 October 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Brisbane Lions between 2012 and 2013. Yeo won a premiership ...

and Collingwood's Jaidyn Stephenson would both have had the opportunity to contest the miskick, but Woodward inadvertently blocked Stephenson's path, allowing Yeo to take the mark uncontested and kick a goal. The goal gave West Coast the lead for the first time since early in the game, and West Coast went on to win by five points. In August 2019, following his 5th ACL injury, Woodward announced his retirement from playing football altogether.

Statistics

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2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

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Honours and achievements

Team * Minor premiership ():

Individual * J.J. Liston Trophy: 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodward, Alex 1993 births Living people Box Hill Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Sandringham Dragons players Australian people of Filipino descent J. J. Liston Trophy winners 21st-century Australian sportsmen