Growing up, the talented Greenwood was passionate about his cricket and basketball, football often took the back seat.
“Cricket was the big one when I was eleven or twelve… as a young kid it was cricket and basketball - but by the time I got to 15 or 16 footy took the spotlight,” Greenwood said.
“I started playing footy well and made the Eastern Side then made the Vic Metro side and it started taking off and kind of dragged me along.
“Footy is number one at the moment and I have no issues with that.”
Picked with the Bulldogs third round selection in the Rookie Draft last December (pick 45 overall), Greenwood’s first AFL pre-season was less than ideal.
Injuring his ankle in mid-January kept him off the training track for the better part of Summer and restricted him to upper body weights in the gym.
“It was just such a crucial time and I was out for about eight weeks… I couldn’t do leg weights for about six weeks so that did put me behind,” he said.
“That was fairly disappointing and it has come out this year where I don’t have that real strength yet but hopefully come next pre-season I won’t be sitting on the sidelines and I will do everything and get stronger quicker.”
Despite the setback Greenwood has still managed to add 5kg to his lighter frame and is becoming more confident in his core strength each week.
“As each month goes by I can hold myself a little bit more, stand up in a tackle here or stick a bump there,” he said.
“When I first came here I think I was 71kg which is pretty lightweight for an AFL standard but I am up to about 76kg now so there has been weight put on - and I am holding that now.
“Hopefully by the end of next pre-season I can be closer to 80kg if not above.”
The midfielder, known for his work around the stoppages and clean hands, believes he has learnt more about his footy in the seven months since being drafted than he had in the five years previous.
“I have learnt more this year than… in the four years or five years leading up to now - so that has been a real positive,” he said.
“I think the biggest thing for me is stoppages and positioning, how to win the footy and running patterns and things like that.
Embracing full time football, Greenwood is realising it is all about putting in the hours and doing all the small things day in, day out.
That attention to detail is perhaps indicative of why he chose an accounting major for when he begins university study in the coming weeks - to “start ticking the brain over”.
Holding himself to the highest standard, he is first to admit that there is still room for improvement but he will not shy away from putting in the work.
“It is the commitment to the little things, the attention to detail - often it can go under the radar but how important the small things are,” he said.
“Monday through Friday and on game day [it’s about] doing the basics and the small things right, getting it done and not sweeping it under the carpet - addressing your needs and having a really tight eye for detail.
“There are definitely areas that I have got to get better at but overall I have been doing extra things outside of the Club and looking after myself.”
Splitting his time between the Williamstown Seniors and the Development Squad, Greenwood has made strides in his development this season.
Despite being the youngest player on the Bulldogs list he has been named among the best in four of his six appearances in the development squad at Williamstown.
Lining up for his sixth appearance in the senior VFL team last Sunday, Greenwood is also building confidence in his abilities at the higher level - keen to solidify his spot by years end.
“I just want to try to get as many senior [VFL] games as possible, so hopefully I get my chance there and I can take that - just showing the coaches and the Club that I am someone worth keeping,” he said.
Described by Development Coach and Senior Williamstown Coach Peter German as being a real determined hard worker who wants to improve, Greenwood is only at the very beginning of his AFL journey.
“Alex was probably the baby of our group to come in. We see a lot of upside in him,” German said.
“He is starting to become more effective on the outside of play and starting to win more ball in general play and really starting to use it.
“He is starting to adapt more as an AFL footballer - I see that he should return to the senior VFL team soon and hopefully he can really start to consolidate a spot there with the lot of the hard work he is doing.
“He is a really hard worker, really diligent and a really good listener who wants to improve - good traits to have for a young man.”
Greenwood has set his sights firmly on making an AFL career for himself at Whitten Oval -envisioning playing amongst a ruthless midfield featuring the likes of Mitch Wallis, Clay Smith and Tom Liberatore.
“[I am] just another hard player that can play the way the Coach wants me to and commit to the side and make a difference,” Greenwood said.
“It is pretty exciting to be a part of the new breed coming through.”
