Noah Answerth Biography

Dayne Zorko says he will speak to Noah Answerth after the defender taunted Melbourne forward Harrison Petty during the Lions' win.

Referencing a 2022 match-up where a Zorko comment – for which he later apologised – resulted in the Demon crying on-field, Answerth rubbed his eyes at Petty as if to suggest tears.

"I'll probably go have a word with him. That's not the way we want to win," Zorko told ABC Radio post-match.

"Heat of the moment, stuff happens. I'm sure he'd have fixed it up after the game."

The Brisbane Lions will have to kick off their 2022 finals campaign without Cam Rayner and Noah Answerth after the two were suspended for one match for a dangerous tackle and striking respectively.

Noah Answerth is set to play his first senior game in 18 months after recovering from groin injuries and says a long chat with Elliot Yeo, who suffered similar injuries, helped him navigate the most difficult period of his young football career.

"He took a good half an hour to 45 minutes to talk to me. He went through what he did to get back. He was probably the reason why the change happened for me, and for my career it's probably the best conversation I've had," Answerth said of his talk with Yeo.

"I always had this thought of getting back to play one game would be an achievement. To tick that off and that'll be an achievement for me personally. Hopefully, I can create a new career from there."

Noah Answerth is ready to hit day one of pre-season training after groin problems ruined his past 12 months.

Answerth first suffered the injury late in the 2020 season, missing that year's finals series, and did not play a single senior game in 2021. Following three failed comebacks in the VFL, the 22-year-old underwent surgery halfway through the year and has slowly made his way back from there.

"The approach we've taken has been slow, but I'm nearly back at a point where I can start running again with the group and full train in pre-season and hopefully play some practise matches this year, which is exciting," he said.

"I'm hoping that 2022 is a better year than 2021."

Noah Answerth is the round 20 2019 AFL Rising Star nominee.

A Hawthorn supporter growing up, Answerth says it has been the surreal experience of playing in the same backline as one of his boyhood idols, Lions veteran Luke Hodge.

"It's great playing with Hodgey. His leadership and organisation on game day and at training and around the club is great," Answerth said.

"He's a really good coach on the ground and he directs really well and I've learnt so much from him."

Noah Answerth makes his AFL debut for Brisbane with 12 disposals (10 kicks and 2 handballs), 7 marks and 5 tackles in a 49-point win over Gold Coast.

Brisbane select Noah Answerth with pick No.55 in the 2018 National Draft.