Teammate Alex Witherden reveals how Luke Hodge’s advice helped No. 1 draft pick Cam Rayner arrest form slump
Luke Hodge’s influence at Brisbane Lions has helped Cameron Rayner out of his early-season slump, with a teammate revealing the impact the veteran Lion has had on the No. 1 draft pick.
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A few choice words from former No. 1 draft pick Luke Hodge has Brisbane young gun Cam Rayner ready to fire in the biggest game of his career.
Much was made of Rayner’s early-season form and weight, with critics at one point calling for his demotion to reserve grade but the teenager has responded with a string of assured performances on the forward line.
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Brisbane teammate Alex Witherden is backing his housemate to improve even further after revealing Hodge and Rayner got together away from the club to talk about managing outside noise and life in the spotlight.
“There’s a lot of pressure externally on Cam and that just comes with the pressure of being the No. 1 draft pick but he’s pretty happy and easygoing,” Witherden said.
“Luke Hodge sat down with him and took him for coffee and spoke about the form issues earlier in his career and how he dealt with that and I think that helped.”
Rayner last month told The Courier-Mailhe had never lost the support of teammates and coaches — something Witherden was happy to back up.
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“Fages has stuck really fat with him and that’s given him a lot of confidence,” he said.
“He’s slimmed down a little bit, lost a little weight … and the way he’s dealt with (criticism) has just been first class.
“There’s been a lot of blokes in the past who haven’t been able to deal with it and he likes to stick it up people, so hopefully that’s what he’ll be able to do in the next couple of weeks and in the finals series.”
Originally published as Teammate Alex Witherden reveals how Luke Hodge’s advice helped No. 1 draft pick Cam Rayner arrest form slump
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