Jed Anderson’s breakthrough season all down to hard work
OUT of contract and almost out of the minds of Kangaroo fans, Jed Anderson is having a breakthrough season. He’s finally injury free, put in the hard work and loving footy again.
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AS the Darwin Buffaloes took to Sanderson Middle School oval for training before Christmas last year, Jed Anderson was just another player.
But alongside his brother, Joe, the mates he grew up with in the Northern Territory, and led by coach and former North Melbourne player Matt Campbell, Anderson, 24, realised he had his mojo back.
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“I found that love for footy again and sort of had that want to get better and play senior football and show everyone what I can do,” he saidthis week.
“I was just training with mates, helping them out week to week. It was good. I just loved being back there and playing footy.”
It had been another trying year for Anderson, who joined North Melbourne in 2016 after 10 games with Hawthorn between 2013-15.
Last season it was shoulder surgery after a training mishap in January, then a foot injury restricted him to only five senior games.
“I guess I was just playing catch-up footy, catching up with what I missed in the pre-season,” Anderson said.
“There was a little bit of uninterest and I lost the passion to play. It was just getting myself up each week to play. I battled through the mid-year through injury, and I was just finding it hard.
“Come game day I was just mentally fatigued and it gets hard to get that consistent footy.
“At the back end of last year I found that want again and played some good footy in the last five or six games, and playing that last game against Brisbane I was excited and ready to get stuck into it.”
A frank exit interview at the end of last year, during which North coach Brad Scott and his peers asked Anderson what he wanted out of football, set in train a plan to get him to where he is today — probably in the best form of his career.
He spoke to manager Tom Petroro and Kangaroos’ high performance boss Jona Segal.
The first answer was to be on the club’s pre-season trip to Utah. Anderson had to foot the bill.
“Utah was that first step to get in that pre-Christmas base running,” Anderson said.
“I had to pay (for) myself.
“It was something we (he and his wife Nicky) looked at and it was the best thing for us. Pretty much everything (can be attributed to Utah). It set me up.
“Leading into games I felt a lot fitter and stronger.
“I’ve just toned up a little bit. I feel my aerobic capacity is a lot better and I’m able to run out games.”
Anderson spent Christmas at home in Darwin and trained with the Buffaloes, his junior club. It was as much about family as football.
“Just getting back home with my wife and two kids (sons Elijah, 5, and Jasiah, 3), just seeing the family,” Anderson said.
“We didn’t get back there at all last year. It just made it special to get back home and just hang out with them and just do what we normally do and just relax. Just get away from the footy life.
“In season you’re focused on playing and wanting to play … I think you lose that sense of home and family life and I think just getting the balance right.
“The biggest thing was getting the balance right with footy and home life and it’s worked out really well this year.
“I’m happy on-field and off-field, which is good.”
Buffaloes coach Campbell, who played 82 games for North Melbourne between 2007-12, said Anderson fitted in seamlessly with the his old junior club.
“He had a pretty big impact on our club, but we also had an impact on him,” Campbell said.
Anderson played the game of his career against Carlton in Hobart last weekend. Now in his sixth season, he has played only 29 games, too often held back by injury and illness.
He had 23 touches against the Blues (12 contested), kicked a goal and played 61 per cent of his game time in the middle. Before Round 4 he’d spent only 32 per cent in that role and the majority of time forward.
Kangaroos’ midfield coach Jarred Moore said Anderson was showing newfound confidence and was the fittest he’s been.
“He’s just able to get to more contests and his workrate has gone through the roof,” Moore said.
“He’s certainly come a long way and he’s in a good head space, too. He’s just a good kid to work with. He accepts feedback really well and goes to work on what he needs to do.
“He has played forward a lot — he hasn’t done a lot of midfield stuff — and we’re going to work on a bit of that midfield craft to help him to become even better.
“But we’ve seen some good benefits already from the small stuff he’s actually trained in there.”
A noticeably bigger-bodied Anderson is relishing that chance.
“I guess I’m just playing the game I’ve always wanted to,” he said.
“I’ve always been that hard, contested footy player. I just probably haven’t had the continuity to play my role for the team over the previous seasons.”
Out of contract at season’s end, Anderson had thought about the consequences of another disappointing year.
“Towards the off-season it was more the pressure of what I was going to do if footy didn’t work out,” Anderson said.
“I guess I had nothing to lose coming into this year, with my last year, and I think I’ve just taken that attitude over the pre-season, ‘What have you got to lose in the end?’ and just put everything out there and if you get a new contract ... it happens and if you don’t, we’ll head to Darwin and spend time with the family.
“Just sitting down and thinking about it, I really wanted to play footy and wanted to play for North. I’m sort of excited where I’m heading. I’m just loving playing footy at the moment and love the team and where we’re going.”
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Originally published as Jed Anderson’s breakthrough season all down to hard work