Senior Noah Answerth (2018-)

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dlanod

dlanod

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Sep 14, 2006
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Brisbane Lions
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Noah Answerth: 182cm, 82kg, 06/08/1999

  • Oakleigh Chargers junior and captain in 2018
  • Vic Metro representative
  • player able to play in defence or forward
Steve Conole, Recruiting Manager, says:

“Noah is an Oakleigh Chargers junior who captained them this year.”

“Showed fantastic resilience to come back and play some really good footy for the Chargers and Vic Metro after fracturing his back in 2017.

“He’s a really competitive player and showed his versatility in the championships, playing as a shutdown defender and forward.”

http://www.lions.com.au/news/2018-11-23/pick-no-51

EARLIER this year, it seemed Noah Answerth was almost certain to be drafted. The rebounding half-back had a competitive streak, serious speed and was set for a big season.

Instead, he was forced to wear a back brace for 13 weeks.

The incident happened in Answerth's second TAC Cup game this year, when his Oakleigh Chargers faced Eastern Ranges in early April.

Answerth flew for a mark and when he went to ground, someone landed on him and his body was compressed at an odd angle.

He suffered a fracture to his L1 vertebra, which is located about three-quarters down the spine.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-11-19/freak-fracture-fails-to-break-chargers-spirit

#12 Noah Answerth

I really enjoyed the game of the Charger’s skipper, a competitor that was never going to let Dandenong have anything easy in any circumstance. He started at the first centre bounce and often went back to help his defence by sitting in the hole or directing traffic. He produced a big moment in the second term, chasing down the dangerous Toby Bedford deep in defence who looked like snapping a simple goal. He was effective at the stoppages too, using his body to advantage, spinning out of trouble and quickly releasing at one point in the second quarter. He was not far off Rowell and Collier-Dawkins as Oakleigh’s best, collecting 26 disposals, four clearances and six rebound 50s.

https://www.afldraftcentral.com.au/2018/09/24/scouting-notes-2018-tac-cup-grand-final/
 
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Freak fracture fails to break Charger's spirit

"EARLIER this year, it seemed Noah Answerth was almost certain to be drafted. The rebounding half-back had a competitive streak, serious speed and was set for a big season.

Instead, he was forced to wear a back brace for 13 weeks.

The incident happened in Answerth's second TAC Cup game this year, when his Oakleigh Chargers faced Eastern Ranges in early April.

Answerth flew for a mark and when he went to ground, someone landed on him and his body was compressed at an odd angle.

He suffered a fracture to his L1 vertebra, which is located about three-quarters down the spine."

"He has been fully fit for about two months and does not have any concerns about suffering a repeat of his back injury, considering he is highly unlikely to replicate the unusual manner that he was hurt. Answerth joined the rest of his Oakleigh teammates for the start of pre-season last Wednesday."

http://m.afl.com.au/news/2017-11-19/freak-fracture-fails-to-break-chargers-spirit
 

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AFL Draft review: Brisbane (Pete Williams)
Noah Answerth – Medium Utility

A value get late in the draft, Answerth is that player all clubs need. Not flashy, but can just get the job done with very few deficiencies in his game. He can play back, forward or midfield, and he will play an offensive brand of football, or lock down if you need him to. After a horror back injury in 2017, Answerth put his best foot forward in 2018 and captained the Oakleigh Chargers to a grand final in the TAC Cup. Like many of the others selected, Answerth is a natural born leader and has a no-fuss approach to his football.
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FROM BACK BRACE TO BRISBANE (Kavisha Di Pietro)
It was his second game as a top-age player for the Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup when Noah Answerth flew for a mark. The rebounding half-back had done it countless times before but this time against the Eastern Ranges was different. Answerth fell hard, another player landing on top of him, constricting his body at a compromising angle into the ground. The then 17-year-old lay on the Ikon Park surface, awaiting assistance from medical staff to stretcher him off and take him down the race, as onlookers watched on in shock.

In the rooms, Answerth was surrounded by his concerned family and Chargers staff as they awaited knowledge on the severity of his freak injury. Scans confirmed that Answerth had sustained a fracture to his L1 vertebra — an injury that would rule him out of his 18th year in the TAC Cup and see him spend 12 weeks in a back brace.
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The former Chargers captain would have been forgiven for thinking his draft dream was over but he approached his setback with a determined mindset and the hope of still getting drafted. “I was hoping it wasn’t over so I tried pretty hard to do my rehab,” Answerth told AFLPlayers.com.au after being selected by the Brisbane Lions with pick 55 in the National Draft. For the first six weeks, Answerth wore a custom-made brace and was limited in his movement and unable to do much more than “lay down and rest.”

It was six weeks after the injury before Answerth could begin any form of physical activity again. He spent time with the Chargers physiotherapist Scott Hancock, working on rehabilitating his injury and trying to regain his strength. It is the work he did with Hancock and Kieser Australia that Answerth credits for fast tracking his rehabilitation and allowing him to miraculously return to the football field at the end of 2017.

“Oakleigh were really good to me and got me a spot as a 19-year-old on their list,” he said. “If it wasn’t for that I don’t know if I would’ve ended up here. I’m really thankful that they put all that time into me so I’ve been able to fulfill my dream to get onto an AFL list.”
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Brisbane had made their interest in Answerth clear but he didn’t start watching the National draft until pick 50, instead spending the day with his girlfriend. When Answerth finally sat down to watch the coverage, he only had to wait five picks before he heard his name called out by Andrew Dillon with the Lions last live pick. “It was pretty emotional for the first couple of minutes but then it was an amazing feeling,” he said. “I knew that Brisbane were interested but to actually get to the Lions, I’m really happy.”

Answerth was able to enjoy the weekend with family and friends, helping to ease the transition, before moving to his new home last Tuesday. In his move north, Answerth has been reunited with his close friend and former Chargers teammate Toby Wooller, who has been showing him around the city and helping him settle in. Newlyweds Ryan and Emi Lester have taken on the role of housing Answerth while he settles into life in a new city. “It’s been really good so far. I’ve felt nothing but welcomed to Brisbane and it already feels normal to be here,” he said. “I’m pretty lucky to have been put with Ryan. “I couldn’t have asked for a better place to be at the moment… they’ve given me my own room, too.”

Answerth was a talented dual-sports athlete growing up, swapping his football boots in the winter for a baseball glove in the summer. A trip to the USA and some encouragement from a primary school friend saw Answerth fall in love with the American sport, joining the Waverley Wildcats at the age of 12 before moving to the Cheltenham Hustlers. “I was playing cricket but I didn’t really like it so I thought baseball was the next best thing,” he said. Answerth represented Victoria in under-14s and under-16s but with his football commitments increasing, he made the difficult decision to give up baseball and pursue his dream of playing AFL.
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Described as “committed” and “consistent” by those who know him, Answerth remains humble and determined in repaying the faith the Lions have shown the 19-year-old. Brisbane have given me an opportunity and there is nothing more I can do than be as committed as I can,” he said. “I really want to enjoy my time up here and give the club everything I’ve got.” After spending his first year out of school undertaking a carpentry apprenticeship, Answerth is putting his budding building career on the back-burner as he focuses on life at the elite level.
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Science and luck: How the Lions' list has come together (Callum Twomey)
YOU MIGHT not know much about Noah Answerth. At least not yet. He's a first-year player for the Brisbane Lions who has managed 11 games in his debut season, settling in seamlessly in the club's backline. But Answerth embodies the shrewd, smart and targeted recruiting which has rocketed the Lions into premiership contention this season.Brisbane was interested in Answerth at the end of 2017, when he was first eligible for the draft, but didn't have a rookie selection and he had missed most of the season with a fractured back. He came back and played well for Oakleigh last year as an over-aged player and again the Lions tracked him closely, but they ran out of picks to select him at last year's draft.

That was until they called North Melbourne. In the first draft where picks were able to be swapped 'live' during the draft, Brisbane traded its 2019 future fourth-round pick for the Roos' pick 55 and swooped on Answerth. They had identified his pace, rebound and ability to play as a small defender as an area of need and traded in to the draft to grab him. He hasn't let them down yet, with the 19-year-old becoming a regular senior player.

Brisbane's rise up the ladder has been borne from a mix of factors: a coach and football manager setting the plan and driving it; a development program that is well resourced and run; a productive Academy; a playing group that is young, close and committed and a recruiting team that has followed a clear strategy.

Of the Lions line-up that comprehensively beat Port Adelaide on the weekend, 10 of the players were drafted by recruiting manager Stephen Conole, who has steered the club's recruiting division since 2012. Hugh McCluggage and Eric Hipwood would have boosted that number to 12 if not for injuries.

There has been some decisive recruiting calls that have shaped Brisbane's rise into third place.
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Just listened to an AFL podcast where they mentioned players that should get a Rising Star nomination. No mention of our boy here but he has looked the part in every game he has played. We will all enjoy watching this young lad over the next decade.
 
DERRINALPHIL said:
Just listened to an AFL podcast where they mentioned players that should get a Rising Star nomination. No mention of our boy here but he has looked the part in every game he has played. We will all enjoy watching this young lad over the next decade.
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Agree Answerth first season so far has been top shelf. Doesn't do the eye catching things they look for in these awards. For mine every bit of a future 200 game defender for us here. He's such a baller...man crush imminent haha
 
Lionwest said:
Agree Answerth first season so far has been top shelf. Doesn't do the eye catching things they look for in these awards. For mine every bit of a future 200 game defender for us here. He's such a baller...man crush imminent haha
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He just seems to run his own race down there.
He’s fit in seamlessly!
 
Brisbane rookie Noah Answerth shows true grit (Terry Malinder)
SOME of the AFL's best forwards can testify to Noah Answerth's determination. The kind of grit that allowed the Brisbane Lions' rookie defender to treat a broken back two years ago merely as a stumbling block on the way to an AFL career. The 19-year-old was playing for the Oakleigh Chargers in the elite under-18 TAC Cup competition in Melbourne when he was crunched in a marking contest.

A player had landed on Answerth's back, leading to the fracture of his L1 vertebra, towards the end of the spine. It was only round two, but Answerth wasn't expected to play again that season - let alone be drafted at the end of the year. He would be confined to a back brace for three months and had to wait six weeks before he was allowed to swim or ride an exercise bike.

"I had really good support from family and friends," he recalled ahead of the Lions' twilight clash with the Bulldogs tomorrow at the Gabba. "I was pretty driven to get back as soon as possible. I had a good plan set up to do that."

Noah Answerth on the move against Hawthorn last week.


Answerth had looked to Dallas Cowboys star Tony Romo for inspiration. "He did the same injury," the teenager recalled. "I took a bit longer (to get back). They (the Chargers' physios) were pretty cautious with my recovery (but) I think it's paid dividends now. "I haven't got any back problems, which is good."

Though he tread carefully, Answerth's rehabilitation was quick enough for him to return to the field for the Chargers' last game of 2017. It wasn't quite enough for AFL clubs to take a punt on him - just yet anyway. "The Chargers were good enough to give me a spot as a 19-year-old, which they don't often do," he said.

Answerth would play every game in 2018. He wasn't going to be overlooked in the draft this time. The Lions, who had been interested the previous year, pounced on him with their last pick in the national draft - No.55 overall. "To get a spot on a list after all of that has been pretty amazing," he said. "I didn't think I was going to be drafted. I can't thank Brisbane Lions enough for given me an opportunity."

Answerth has never been one to take things for granted, especially after his older Kade's failure to snare an AFL berth. "He'd won B and Fs (with the Chargers) and was best on ground in grand finals ... (but) with my brother not getting drafted I never thought I'd be able to," Answerth said. "If I wasn't going to make AFL, I'd still be playing footy and enjoying it."

Noah Answerth celebrates kicking one of his two AFL goals.


Known as a sponge around the club, Answerth was looking to simply soak up as much information as he could in his debut year. "Coming in, I was eager just to learn, get to know all the players and the coaches ... I wasn't expecting to play," he said. After being given his senior debut in round six he has suddenly become an integral member of the team, which is entrenched in the top four, playing as a lock-down defender.

Skipper Dayne Zorko has waited almost a decade to play a final, but Answerth is on the verge of contesting a finals series in his first season. The quiet achiever has come a long way since being given the run-around, by Swan Tom Papley, in his second game. "I walked off thinking I've got a lot to learn. He's pretty difficult to play on," Answerth said. "I don't know if I've taken any scalps but I've been lucky enough to be given a few roles and done my job."

He took the honours against All Australians Toby Greene and Luke Bruest just last week in the Lions' win over the team he grew up barracking for, Hawthorn. "I had to pinch myself getting to play on him," he said of Bruest.

It's nothing compared to the "surreal" experience of lining up alongside his childhood idol, ex-Hawk and now Lion general Luke Hodge. Answerth recalls a conversation at the club prior to his first meeting with Hodge: "I had one of the coaches tell me, 'You're just going to have to be normal.' "Once you're working with him, and get to know him, it does become normal."
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I reckon TheBrownDog will like Noah even more after reading this. ;)
 
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