Preview Rookie draft - picks 18, 36, 53 & 65

Jan 10, 2012
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Just remembered something pretty useful!

Was down for the Thursday training session at Waverley before the big prelim match against Port this year, only arriving about 2 hours early due to the boys coming out late.

I remembered there was a kid, looked really young being run with drills by Damo Carroll and I think Marco Bello as well. After just watching Lachie Langford's footage, it was him who was being trained by the two coaches! They did continuous kicking drills with him and ran a s*** load of laps. His kicking is good, still needs a heap of work, but he is a fantastic mark of the ball and reads the flight very well. Extremely raw however, very skinny and I wouldn't expect to see him play even Box Hill seniors next year, but an exciting prospect.
 
Just remembered something pretty useful!

Was down for the Thursday training session at Waverley before the big prelim match against Port this year, only arriving about 2 hours early due to the boys coming out late.

I remembered there was a kid, looked really young being run with drills by Damo Carroll and I think Marco Bello as well. After just watching Lachie Langford's footage, it was him who was being trained by the two coaches! They did continuous kicking drills with him and ran a s*** load of laps. His kicking is good, still needs a heap of work, but he is a fantastic mark of the ball and reads the flight very well. Extremely raw however, very skinny and I wouldn't expect to see him play even Box Hill seniors next year, but an exciting prospect.
well picked up ...;)
 
Sarcasm metre DING DING DING

I think we all understand that these kids didn't go top ten in the draft. All these kids require development and improvement in areas of there game. Some had injuries, whilst others have a lot of work to do on other areas of there game which meant they were rookie drafted. But going back to my original comment, the group shows real promise. With the hawks development program they will have the best shot at achieving there highest level of football and I don't feel it's inappropriate to be excited about a fresh crop of enthusiastic and talented youngsters.
Not having a crack at you mate. I get excited about it too. The amount of wraps these boys are getting does make it sound like we've got a bunch of superstarts on our hands. I'm just worried about how people start behaving if they don't come on like we expect them to1

That said, nobody knows that we don't. So until they don't crack it I say we should keep getting excited!
 
Just remembered something pretty useful!

Was down for the Thursday training session at Waverley before the big prelim match against Port this year, only arriving about 2 hours early due to the boys coming out late.

I remembered there was a kid, looked really young being run with drills by Damo Carroll and I think Marco Bello as well. After just watching Lachie Langford's footage, it was him who was being trained by the two coaches! They did continuous kicking drills with him and ran a s*** load of laps. His kicking is good, still needs a heap of work, but he is a fantastic mark of the ball and reads the flight very well. Extremely raw however, very skinny and I wouldn't expect to see him play even Box Hill seniors next year, but an exciting prospect.

Sure it wasn't Dangerfield?
 
Aug 27, 2006
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That hyphen bloke has great agility and is extremely balanced in the air. That's plenty to work with there. Club always picks a risky rookie and he's this years.

The 2012 Kevin Sheehan Medalist who hasn't played much football since the U16 champs. Safe to say there is plenty of potential there.

He didn't impressive very often we he did play Colts, played as a deep forward most times i watched him. Was good with ball in hand when he could get it.
 
Aug 27, 2006
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- Jared Hardisty: Really reminds me of a young Matthew Priddis from his footage. Good in tight confines and a quality releasing handball. I think if we can get him to shed some weight and improve his kicking he has a chance to make an impact

You'll all love the way Hadisty plays, he's at the bit all game. He's a machine. Priddis comparison is obvious but he's got more speed and is a better use of the ball.,

He's actually pretty lean, has surprisingly low skin folds. Can improve his numbers a bit if he changes up his running patterns, gets drawn into a few too many contests he can't reach.

His kicking is good. He's a left footer, capable of kicking it 55m off a few steps. He can absolutely hammer the ball flat, but has a tendency on occasion too over cook it when he does.
 

wheelie_hawk

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No Gowers or Hodge but a Langford, so romance isn't dead just yet. Will just wait to see how he develops. Happy to see a guy like JML given a chance especially given how much drive he seems to have. Hopefully some of the guys make it. Come on Grimm you can do it....
 

HawkintheTuarts

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Sounds like the end of the world .

Mind you, you would have said the same thing about Will Langford getting picked by us and look how that has turned out
Yep, because if you don't break out the cheerleading routine suddenly your Chicken Little? Quality projecting there.

Jennifer-Lawrence-ok-thumbs-up.gif


Bampton had a terrible 2014 injury wise and lost a bit of pace as a result. A sound 2015 for Norwood should put him in contention once again.
Yep , most likely reason, still a shame though, because injuries don't necessarily stop clubs, we picked up Miller-Lewis after all.

Really...I never saw Hallahan run 15.4 beep test. This kid is an elite runner..... Hallahan never was.

Most said Mitchell's ceiling was not that good, sometimes you actually have to draft footballers.

Lewis Mitchell Hodge Sewell.....all pure footballers. Its worked out well for us thus far.

Ok, so he's a faster version. I don't have anything against drafting footballers (you're the one who mentioned pace?), I wanted us to get Blaklely after all, who was available at 31 and is by far a more complete footballer than Hardisty (based on junior results).


Anyone know the bottom age limits for the draft? And is the Rookie draft age limit the same as for the Nat draft? (Not that they should be different, of course, but it is funny how no-one seemed to pick up on his eligibility).

31/12/96 for this year's crop.

Last year Kayne Turner was taken in the rookie by North and he has a New Year's Eve birthday, so was as young as you could get!
 

dipper86

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Ok, so he's a faster version. I don't have anything against drafting footballers (you're the one who mentioned pace?),

No I didn't mention pace....I mentioned beep test, aerobic capacity/fitness, ability as a midfielder to get from contest to contest, other than that he's a pure footballer.
I wasn't the one here saying his ceiling was limited or he was a poor mans Hallahan.

I wanted us to get Blaklely after all, who was available at 31 and is by far a more complete footballer than Hardisty (based on junior results).

Well Hawthorn certainly didn't think so and went another direction and in doing so thought they could pick up someone just as effective with similar footballing attributes from the Rookie draft.
 
Oct 2, 2014
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So wait - why weren't all these guys taken in round 1 of the AFL draft. Sounds like we nailed it!

Rookie Draft is usually time to take some players who were otherwise overlooked, or can be taken as a risk without losing too much. For example, I rate Daniel Capiron as an extremely talented half-back flanker (Gibson-esque) but he wasn't selected in the Draft or rookie draft due to his inconsistency. The same reason why Tom Lamb dropped from a potential top 10 pick to pick 32. Players are also selected on club needs-if a club badly needs midfielders they aren't going to take a project forward in the draft.

Development of skills plays a part in which players slide. What good is it if you get a lot of the ball, but the rest of what you do needs time and development, and to improve certain areas of their game before they become AFL standard. Langford and Bruest were on the rookie list, and weren't picks in the top 20-isn't it satisfying to know that they are becoming (if not already are) superstars of the game. Some players, like Priddis, also win a Brownlow. Talent takes time to nurture and develop, more so in some players than others, and of course someone who is already AFL standard with their skills will be selected much much much earlier than somebody who has the potential to be a solid player but needs to work on certain areas and improve their overall game style.

I can straight up tell you why Langford and Miller-Lewis weren't selected-gametime. Miller-Lewis (just from looking at his highlight reel in the small amount of games he's played) has a great amount of talent, but is constantly injured. Being unable to showcase your abilities and skills is a massive detriment, and unless he got a full season in (Im convinced he's first round pick looking at those highlights) he wouldn't have even been considered for selection. We're taking a risk on the guy-if he's fit and firing, the way he moves reminds me of Franklin. Big X-Factor. Hopefully he does get fit and can fulfil his full potential because he seems to be a gem in the rough. Langford V.2 didn't play TAC level, which means recruiters were less inclined to give him a glance. Obviously, we saw potential in him. These are risk picks reserved for Rookie Draft-no sane recruiter would overlook proven abilities and capabilities for simple raw potential and development in a normal draft.

Not sure why Hardisty wasn't picked up, to be honest. Big solid midfielder at 86kg (may need to lose some fat, admittedly), averages a lot of the ball (27 possessions, if my memory recalls), runs a 15.4 beep test which is phenomenal for someone of his size. 86 kg and a beep test of 15.4 has my mouth open in amazement. He's also a proven tackler aswell, and his sheer size would make him a presence in congestion. Perhaps he isn't overly quick, because to be at Hawthorn Im assuming his disposal efficiency and kicking are extremely good. If someone could provide his sprint times we'd see if he has any glaring weaknesses. Even if you can run all day doesn't mean you are quick. Seems to be a great pickup, again not quite sure why he didn't go in the actual draft.

Grimley...well, is Grimley. Hopefully he improves because he's looking to have the least upside of all of our Rookie picks. Which is kinda weird, because he's a proven goal kicker who won the VFL goal-kicking equivalent of the Coleman. Go figure.

So yeah. Just because these guys weren't high picks doesn't mean they don't have skill or talent, quite the opposite, they may have more talent than the actually players taken the draft but they develop slower or need to improve other areas of their game. They aren't as well rounded, or haven't proven themselves. We could very well have "nailed it" if Miller plays anything like Franklin, or if Langford V2 is a carbon copy of his old man; or we may have failed spectacularly in the form of Amos Frank (still love the bloke, very brave of him to try). It doesn't matter: it's the rookie draft, and this is where the real risks are taken, because if something goes bad we haven't really lost anything on the proper list.

Jesus, be happy for the boys. Using you own sarcasm, you sound so optimistic that rays of Sunshine are coming out of your behind. Lighten up-we're just speculating on potential. And from what I see, there is a lot of potential.
 
The last time brothers played for Hawthorn was August 15, 1998 when Shane & Justin Crawford helped Hawthorn defeat Brisbane at the Gabba.
Was that the last time Hawthorn played at the Gabba?
 
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