One foot in the door of an AFL career, but no guarantees. Living the professional footballers life, but without the acclaim.
It’s not glamorous, but as Western Bulldogs second-year rookie Alex Greenwood explains an AFL apprenticeship is as much about preparing for the future as it is about the present.
Learning from the experienced today, and developing your craft for tomorrow.
“Being able to see [Boyd and Cross] go to work is pretty inspiring, and it’s not easy,” Greenwood told BulldogsTV.
“You can’t just slot in and do what they do, but you’ve got to slot in and take the steps in place to get to their level.”
“Macca always says to us as a mids group that ‘you guys are the heart of the club, you guys have got to drive it and be the engine room for the footy side.’”
“We know the pressure is on for us to step up. A lot of us aren’t actually at AFL level yet, so we me may not be doing it for the team yet, but we have to be improving so that in a year or whenever it may be that we’re there and ready to takeover that engine room.”
Gaining invaluable experience as part of Williamstown’s VFL finals campaign in 2012, the 19 year-old is confident his first full preseason has given him strong footing to continue his football education in 2013.
“To come in this year and be able do all the running, all the lifting, skills, and learn the method and the way coaches want us to play, you can’t compare.”
An ankle injury all but ended his 2012 pre-season, already cut short due to a late arrival to the Kennel via the AFL Rookie Draft.
Training under the watchful eye of midfield coach Steven King, and amongst a hard-edged young midfield group including Tom Liberatore, Clay Smith, Koby Stevens and Josh Prudden, Greenwood’s focus has been as much about developing his craft as it has been about building an AFL body.
“We’ve been together practicing body movement, how to use your hips, positioning at stoppages, and timing,” said Greenwood.
“That’s been the biggest thing, just the work around stoppages, being able to read the ball off the ruck and time it, so that you’re moving through the right areas at the right time.”
Right place, right time. Stoppage work would appear a metaphor for a rookies lot.
Do the work, develop your craft, and be ready for your chance when opportunity knocks.
