Hawks pick up ecstatic Thorp

[JezzHawk]

http://www.examiner.com.au/story.asp?id=372707

MITCHELL Thorp will join the Hawthorn Football Club after the Northern Bombers and Tassie Devils defender became the first Tasmanian to be picked in the top 10 of yesterday's 2006 AFL national draft.

Thorp will join fellow Tasmanian Grant Birchall at the Hawks after the club selected him with their first-round draft pick at number six yesterday.

Birchall was picked at number 14 in the 2005 draft and had a successful season this year playing 17 senior games and gaining an NAB Rising Star nomination.

Thorp was optimistic pre- draft that he might be picked up by Brisbane with its selection number 4 or Hawthorn at number 6.

The Ross 17-year-old was ecstatic to be heading to his preferred AFL club, the Hawks, after saying on Friday that Hawthorn was his number one preference because of its Tasmanian connection.

"I'm absolutely rapt and it's such a good feeling," Thorp said after the draft.

"I sort of got wind this morning that I'd get past Brisbane and I knew it was out of Hawthorn and Geelong.

"I'm over the moon - they play in Tassie and its the club I wanted to go to the most."

Thorp said he knew there was a lot of hard work ahead with his AFL career starting with training at Hawthorn on Tuesday.

"We'll see where it takes us but it's a fantastic opportunity and something I've wanted to do for a very long time," he said.

Four Tasmanians were selected making it a successful draft for the State's young talent especially since most pundits hailed it as one of the strongest drafts in its 20-year history.

St Kilda's Nick Riewoldt's cousin Jack Riewoldt was overlooked by the Saints with their first-round number 9 pick, but was snapped up by the Tigers at number 13.

Burnie's Tom Hislop was taken as Essendon's first-round pick at number 20 and North Hobart's Colin Garland went at number 46 in the second round to Melbourne.

"I thought Riewoldt might have gone a bit higher than that but it's all good and Colin Garland went at 46 so it's four boys in for Tassie," Thorp said.

A win-win scenerio for club and player. It's great to see the inclusion of Thorp into our squad.

 

[Gary Shadforth]

Hawthorn's latest recruit Mitchell Thorp, 17, with his parents Peter and Mandy Thorp at Launceston Airport after arriving home from yesterday's AFL draft in Melbourne.