Noah born to footy but big boots to fill
FROM a young age, Noah Anderson understood what it would take to achieve success in the AFL.
The number two draft pick spent his childhood watching tapes of Hawthorn’s 1989 grand final triumph as his father, Dean, kicked four goals to propel the Hawks to a sixpoint win.
And now Noah is hoping that history repeats itself, albeit at the Gold Coast Suns.
“He played in the ’89 grand final so I’ve seen that a few times,” the 18-year-old said. “Hopefully (I follow in his footsteps). That wouldn’t be bad at all.”
While Anderson was always bound to pick up a Sherrin at some stage, his introduction to Australia’s native game was unassuming.
“My first memory would probably be playing footy in the kindergarten back in the day and heading to the park after school and kicking the ball around,” he said.
“I was pretty co-ordinated and knew how to move around so I think I was all right.”
From humble beginnings, Anderson went on to build a draft resume that competes with most.
From captaining Vic
Metro at the Under 18 National Championships to earning All-Australian honours and winning two premierships in 2019, one with his school Carey Grammar and the other with the Oakleigh Chargers, Anderson quickly firmed as one of the draft’s top prospects.
Though it wasn’t until he spent a week training with Melbourne that Anderson began to believe his AFL dream might become a reality.
“I don’t know if there was a specific moment (he knew he wanted to be an AFL player),” he said.
“I think it grew on me slowly.
“I had a week of training at Melbourne last year and during that week I thought: ‘You can actually probably do this.’ And it escalated from there.”
Anderson’s draft year wasn’t without its challenges though, with the 188cm prospect admitting his versatility became his biggest test.
“It’s obviously not a huge challenge and I haven’t had any major injuries, touch wood but I’ve been thrown around (the ground) a fair bit,” he said. “I’ve played on most parts of the ground so I’ve had to keep adjusting.
“Inside or outside (midfield), it doesn’t bother me but I assume I’ll probably continued to be thrown around a bit so I’m accepting of that challenge.”
Anderson will now begin the process of acclimatising to a Glitter Strip lifestyle after making the move north with best mate and number one draft pick, Matthew Rowell.
“A lot of the boys have asked me if I can surf and I said no but I think I’ll try that out and I played a fair bit of golf as well,” he said.
I HAD A WEEK OF TRAINING AT MELBOURNE LAST YEAR AND DURING THAT WEEK I THOUGHT: ‘YOU CAN ACTUALLY PROBABLY DO THIS’ SUNS DRAFTEE NOAH ANDERSON