Alex Johnson (Australian footballer)

Alex Johnson (born 2 March 1992) is a professional Australian rules football player for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played in the team that won the 2012 AFL Grand Final.

He made his first appearance at the senior level in the 2011 AFL season. Johnson made his debut in Round 3, against West Coast. He was educated at Xavier College in Victoria.

Having put on plenty of weight in muscle before the 2011 season, Johnson was able to not only break into the senior side but maintain his position for the entire year. Playing as the third tall defender in the side, Johnson performed his role wonderfully well and exceeded all expectations of him set by the coaching staff, ably filling the role left by retiring champion Craig Bolton early in the year. His poise and strong one on one contesting were the standout features of his game throughout 2011 and he also improved his rebound and attacking play as the season wore on.

Johnson was a key player in the Sydney Swans' AFL Premiership-winning side, playing every game in the regular season and the finals series. His ability to play as a key defender and professional approach to the game saw him awarded with the 2012 Swans Rising Star Award.

Since the 2012 premiership, Johnson has suffered repeated knee injuries, and as of July 2017 he is yet to make another senior appearance for Sydney. He tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in Sydney's 2013 NAB Cup match against the Gold Coast Suns, and underwent two knee reconstructions during 2013 – a traditional reconstruction in April and a LARS reconstruction in July. He returned to the field for the Sydney reserves in early 2014, but tore the ligament again in his first game back. It was not until September 2016 that Johnson was even able to return to running laps after this second injury, as it took a further three reconstruction surgeries between 2014 and 2016 before his knee successfully healed due to various complications and infections. Johnson remained on the Sydney playing list through this time, and performed an assistant coaching role with the Sydney reserves. He finally returned to the field for the Sydney reserves in July 2017, more than three years after his previous game.