Picken made his debut against North Melbourne on 5 April 2009, collecting 9 possessions in a traditional tagging role against Kangaroos stalwart Brent Harvey, in which he kept his opponent goalless and largely ineffective.

[1] Since his brilliant debut, he has since played on other key players to great effect including Andrew McLeod, Leigh Montagna and Brett Deledio.

[4] While playing in a pre-season game against Hawthorn in Ballarat, Picken received an accidental knock to the head and suffered severe concussion and because of side effects missed the entire 2018 season.

[8] Liam Picken has pledged to donate his brain in hopes to aid further research in chronic traumatic encephopathy as a result of repetitive head injuries sustained during his time in the AFL.

[9] In March 2023, Picken lodged a claim in the Supreme Court of Victoria against the AFL, the Western Bulldogs and two Bulldogs club doctors regarding concussion-related injuries, with Picken alleging that he was left in the dark about “irregular” cognitive tests, that he was never sent for expert help and he was repeatedly sent back onto the field to play despite repeatedly raising concerns about his ongoing concussion symptoms.