Player Watch Alex Woodward 2011-16)

satan1

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Mar 24, 2011
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Re: National Draft - Pick 53 - Welcome ?????

Found this on the Phantom draft board.
Alex Woodward
DOB 11/6/93 Ht 174.5 Wt 80

Clearances these days are hugely important to winning football games and Woodward is one of the better extractors available this year. He lead the TAC in contested possessions (15 per game) and clearances (7 per game) and showed that he could do the same at the Champs where he averaged 10 contested possessions per game. There are a few things which need work with his game but being able to win clearances should get him drafted.

The Combine was a bit of a mixed bag for Woodward. It was not a surprise when he measured short of his listed 179cm height but measuring almost 5cm below his listed height did not help him and puts him firmly into the height of guys who struggle to be drafted. On the positive side though he tested really well in sprints especially in the 20m where he did a great time of 2.89 which was 7th overall. Woodward looks quickish on the park but 2.89 would have surprised quite a few and caused a few to take another look at him. His beep test was solid going over 14 but for some reason his 3km time was very poor. Something might have happened there that I don't know about but take it as a given he will need to up his endurance base when he gets into the AFL.

Woodward is a short powerfully built guy but he is a pretty smooth mover around the ground. He does not get a huge amount of uncontested ball and he needs to improve his work without the ball but this might come as his endurance base improves. What he has done which adds to his attractiveness as a draft prospect is make himself into a small forward prospect. He reminds me a lot of Christensen from Geelong who is similar in height and ball winning ability. Like Christensen I could easily see Woodward starting up forward before moving into middle as he gets experience and builds his engine.

Woodward is a very good mark for his size and he judges the ball very well in the air. He uses his body well and jumps at the ball strongly. He is also strong around the ball and can hold the man off the ball well. He is not very tricky when he gets the ball but he is a reasonable finisher when he gets the chance. His set shot is well balanced but I would not say his accuracy is great.

Through the middle of the ground he is a handball first and second and then consider kicking before handballing again type of player. When he does kick it’s usually a short to medium distance and he does not often look downfield. He is not the most accurate kick but again his style largely seems okay. His midfield work is often compared to Luke Ball and this is someone to think of when you want to consider what his kicking is like. Like Ball though his onball work is top shelf. He burrows into the bottom of packs and chases the ball with great tenacity. He says he likes to hit the ball with movement but more often than not he is camped at the feet of the rucks and has to extract it from there. He is very good at getting the ball free from the contest by hand although it’s not always to the most attacking option. His hands are pretty quick and he clears it out quickly.

When he doesn't get the ball himself he works hard to tackle the opposition player or block for his own player. He is a very good tackler and tackles with force concentrating more on hitting the opposition rather than just wrapping up ball. He is a very team oriented player who does all the little 1%ers that coaches love and are often overlooked by supporters. He is good defensively in contested situations but in the open field he needs some work and again I think as his endurance base improves so should this aspect of his game. He is prepared to work hard and as he builds his engine he could start up forward as a defensive forward before moving to the middle.

His TAC manager described him as "one of the more outstanding young men that I have met and has been a pleasure to have worked with". Some of these young blokes have a pretty inflated opinion of themselves and being a good guy is a point of distinction that can only help him get picked up.
 
With a lot of talk about the young man this pre-season prior to his injury I'm wondering what kind of player Woodward is. We haven't really seen much of him at the Hawks so I'm wondering if anyone had seen him go about it before we drafted him. Who does he play like. From the small amount of game time I have seen him play he is an inside mid but how does he go with speed, skills and so on? Hoping he can return next year and hopefully have the knee issues behind him.
 

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With a lot of talk about the young man this pre-season prior to his injury I'm wondering what kind of player Woodward is. We haven't really seen much of him at the Hawks so I'm wondering if anyone had seen him go about it before we drafted him. Who does he play like. From the small amount of game time I have seen him play he is an inside mid but how does he go with speed, skills and so on? Hoping he can return next year and hopefully have the knee issues behind him.

From what I have seen plays a bit like Tom Rockliff. Small nuggety inside player with a bit of pace and a nice leap. Handballs A LOT. Probably 2:1 handballs.
 
Talk about a s**t run... 4 knee reconstructions... the kids 23 years old, really feel for him. Probably time to move onto another phase of his life.
The resilience and experience to overcome challenges will set him up very well for the rest of his life. Best of luck Woody....
 
Shocking luck for Woody. His knees just keep letting him down. Really feel for the bloke. He gave it everything. If he hangs up the boots he can honesty say he gave it his all.
 
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