Aidan Johnson’s rise from country footy to Melbourne

A few years ago, Aidan Johnson was kicking bags of goals in country footy while on the tools and having sausage rolls for lunch. He tells JAY CLARK about his meteoric rise.

Aidan Johnson spoke with his construction boss the night of the AFL national draft with a euphoric message.

He wouldn’t be coming into work at the ABN Group the next day.

The former plumber and bush footy star from the Ovens & Murray and Hume leagues had officially become Melbourne’s newest wrecking ball forward when the Demons selected him with pick 68 last month.

It was the shock of the second night of the draft. One from the clouds.

Only a few years earlier, Johnson was on the tools, kicking bags of goals in the country, and eating sausage rolls for lunch without really considering if he could ever make it to the AFL.

But the Demons’ recruiters saw something in the hard-at-it goal kicker this year for Werribee in the VFL.

It was his trademark hard edge. His desperation at the footy. The extreme effort at every contest.

And a new-found dedication to the game off the field.

The penny dropped for Johnson at the end of 2023 when the bruising big man overcame a patella tendon injury and dropped 13kg with the help of Werribee premiership captain Dom Brew and his meat-only diet.

Johnson celebrates Werribee’s VFL premiership win with Hudson Garoni.

There were ice baths every morning and saunas every night to help get into shape.

But at a time when AFL clubs are mining the bulk of their teenage talent from Melbourne’s elite private schools, the mature-age Johnson offers something very different.

Simply, the 24-year-old is a brute at the ball.

Johnson is a man who can help shake-up Melbourne’s forward line and add a distinctly new dynamic because of his athletic and aggressive edge.

Recruiters say when the 193cm Johnson launches at the Sherrin and tackles opponents, he throws the kitchen sink at every contest.

And he is unafraid to help out in the ruck, which will be music to Max Gawn’s ears.

The new Demon knows his robust attack on the ball is his one wood.

“I play an aggressive style of footy,” Johnson said.

“I like to say I play on the line, or on the verge.

“So I just compete. Never stop competing.”

Johnson was drafted to Melbourne with pick 68.

Aidan Johnson and Jay Dahlhaus celebrate a goal. Picture: Rob Lawson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

When coach Simon Goodwin walked up Johnson’s driveway and rang his doorbell on the night of the draft to welcome him to the Demons, he asked for more of the same in red and blue.

Approaching a big year for Melbourne, the bargain-basement pick-up offers Melbourne something it arguably hasn’t got.

Jacob Van Rooyen needs some key forward help and the race between Johnson, Daniel Turner and Matthew Jefferson is on.

And Johnson is already ready to go for round 1 next season.

Across three years playing country footy, Johnson starred for the Brock/Burrum Saints and Lavington Panthers before Covid-19 hit in 2020, shutting the game down in regional areas.

But when Cats’ livewire Shaun Mannagh left the Panthers to give his AFL dream a shot at Werribee, he urged Johnson to do the same.

So Johnson moved to Melbourne, only to be grounded by knee troubles in 2023 which left him unable to climb up stairs let alone take hangers.

He was struggling to walk and hard days working as a plumber wasn’t doing his footy any favours.

But through the setbacks and frustrations, he showed reliance and an enormous amount of persistence in the hope of becoming the AFL’s latest mature-age success story.

“I was on the tools at the time and I would be walking in the trenches or whatever and my knee would just buckle and collapse,” Johnson said.

“I was just always falling over walking around on job sites because my knee was that sore.

“That was the darkest time.

“I had moved my whole life down to Werribee but I just couldn’t get my knee sorted and I legit thought I wasn’t going to be able to run again because I was just always in this excruciating pain.”

What a night! 🤩
Watch the moment Aidan Johnson was drafted by @melbournefc last night, surrounded by his Werribee teammates Dom Brew, Hudson Garoni and Sam Azzi 🖤💛 pic.twitter.com/3iNNf3MPKH

— Werribee FC (@WerribeeFC) November 22, 2024

In his toughest moments, on the phone calls to his parents and his sister, they urged him to stick at it, even when the knee pain was unbearable.

But then he met one of Melbourne’s physios, who shed new light on the patella problem, and with a new training program, the pain began to ease in preparation for the 2024 season.

That is when Johnson buddied-up with Brew, the ultra-professional ballwinner currently on trial for a list spot at the Western Bulldogs.

So meat pies were out and cans of tinned tuna were in. Every meal was lean meat.

He also moved into an office role at work as a construction manager which gave his knee more of a rest.

Draftees Harvey Langford, Aidan Johnson and Xavier Lindsay at pre-season training. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

And after shedding 13kg, Johnson starred in the VFL as an aggressive and mobile forward despite rupturing his bicep mid-season.

Johnson said meeting Brew and adopting his off-field approach – which included the meticulous diet – was the difference.

“That was probably the biggest thing, just seeing how professional he (Brew) is and how he goes about it, and his eating habits,” Johnson said.

“I had the typical tradie diet, eating pies and going to takeaway stores for lunch and he is eating tins of tuna and meat kind of thing.

A MASSIVE AIDAN JOHNSON GOAL!
In the dying stages of the third quarter, Johnno with pure strength in the ruck!
We lead by 9 points at 3QT, one to play… let’s do this!

⚫️🟡 #TheStoryContinuespic.twitter.com/uhcIk7rkkN

— Werribee FC (@WerribeeFC) June 2, 2024

“So adopting that sort of lifestyle was the biggest thing that helped me.

“So it was ice baths in the morning and saunas at night, the whole kit and caboodle.

“I didn’t get offered a contract at Werribee or anything like that. They said you have got to work for it and get your body right and that kicked me into place.

“Dom was a bit of a mentor and dropping 13kg helped hugely along with getting off the tools.

“So we would go food shopping at the South Melbourne markets together, eating full meat, mince, making bone broth.

“It just all happened at once.”

Aidan Johnson running laps with Harvey Langford. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Johnson crashes a pack while playing for Yarraville-Seddon. Picture: Andy Brownbill

This week at Melbourne training Johnson was already making an impression, desperately diving and scrapping for the footy as if his life depended on it.

And then after training he has been heading out to car yards looking for some new wheels because he is still driving his boss’s ute.

“I owe him a few beers, definitely,” Johnson said.

But his circle of friends are ecstatic for the former country footy goal kicker who is ready to ramp up the hard work as practice matches loom next month.

As far as he has come, Johnson said he is basically starting his footy journey all over again at Melbourne, with no real expectations on himself to play straight away.

But his teammates already know, be careful getting in his way.

“I just want to get in and work hard and learn the system,” he said.

“I’m not pinpointing anything beyond that, or putting a ceiling on what I can do.

“I just want to give it everything and see where things take me.”

Originally published as Aidan Johnson’s rise from country footy to Melbourne