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Liam Picken — from hard nut to premiership star

AFL careers don’t come much more inspiring than Liam Picken’s

Born into a footballing family, Picken is the son of Collingwood Team of the Century member Billy Picken, and his brother Marcus Picken played alongside cousin Jonathan Brown at the Brisbane Lions, but Picken’s AFL journey wasn’t as clear cut.

The Hamilton native played VFL with Williamstown before being drafted by the Bulldogs at the mature age of 22 after the Seagulls offered to pay half of his first contract.

Toiling away as a run of the mill tagger for a few years, Picken was reborn as a half-forward come attacking midfielder when Luke Beveridge took over as the Bulldogs’ coach, which culminated in an unlikely premiership in 2016.

In the video above, the 30-year-old Almonds Australia ambassador opens up about his footy journey, having a young family and breaking a premiership drought with the club last season.

Picken, along with other campaign ambassadors Scott Selwood, Max Gawn and Brianna Davey and Ellie Blackburn, have launched an award to encourage Australians to shine a light on the ‘Hard Nut’ in their life, as part of the organisations’ Australian Hard Nut Awards.

From those who have dedicated their life volunteering at the local footy club, to players overcoming lengthy and challenging injuries, the Awards aim to profile those otherwise not recognised on a national scale.

For your chance to win up to 10 kgs of almonds and two limited edition AFLPA white Sherrin footballs, enter here!

Along with the prizes up for grabs, the ambassadors will take the opportunity to nominate a ‘Hard Nut’ in their lives, and roast a teammate.