Welcome To Hawthorn - 2015 Draftees

[Mr.Craig]

Okay, so it's fair to say I was a little displeased at us bypassing certain players. Let's hope Wright has made the...Wright decisions.

Pick 19 - Ryan Burton (North Adelaide) 191cm/90kg Forward




Player Comparison - Sam Mayes

Knightmare Bio - Burton is a productive leadup forward who stood out through the 2014 season until injury which has kept him out this season. He was highly productive through the u18 championships presenting as a leading target and demonstrating strong hands overhead, consistently taking his marks on the lead and also showing that he can at times leap and take some strong marks. He has proven that he is a relatively reliable finisher both from set shots and general play. Other than being a leadup forward though I ask myself what else Burton can do, and until he proves he can push up into the midfield or play some other role I struggle to see how he will be AFL relevant with medium-tall leadup forward.

Zero Hanger Bio - Ryan Burton could prove to be one of the best players taken in this draft and he is unlikely to get drafted in the top 10. In 2014 many had him down as a potential top three pick, unfortunately a broken leg prevented him from playing football this year. An injury like that can have a lasting impact, the risk for the club that picks him up is that he doesn't get back to the levels previously thought capable. What many were looking forward to this year was seeing if Burton could transition into a midfielder who went forward at times, if he can then whoever drafts him will have an absolute jet on their hands. Regardless Burton should be selected in the top 20 of this year’s draft, he has the potential to become a dominant forward, too strong in the air for smaller opponents and to agile for taller defenders. Burton is an exciting player and should entertain fans for years to come.

Cal Twomey - Scroll through tapes of Burton's footy before his injury and you'll see why he was touted as such an early selection before the setback. He's a straight-kicking medium forward who can jump, twist and turn and mark really strongly on the lead. It's easy to see Burton's footy smarts come to the fore when he plays: he knows how to nudge an opponent out of a contest, how to kick a dribbling, snapping goal, and when the game needs someone to grab the moment, he's not averse to taking it. Burton tested at the NAB AFL Draft Combine and did well given his circumstances, recording a 3.09-second 20-metre sprint and managing 25.69 seconds in the repeat sprint (better than about half the participants). If it all comes together for him, Burton could be one of the best players of this year's draft. He's confident and has some star factor.

Highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00XQJbtf6mk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wrVwAZKayg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24yXnawpt6E



Pick 22 - Kieran Lovell (Kingston Tigers) 174cm/80kg Midfielder




Player Comparison - Leigh Montagna, Corey Gregson

Knightmare Bio - Lovell is a high production, extremely athletic small midfielder with rare agility and excellent pace and endurance. Lovell will regularly burst out of traffic and run around guys easily as if they’re stationary and look to take on the game with his pace. Lovell finds high disposal numbers through the midfield and has a nice balance between contested and uncontested ball winning numbers, with his contested ball winning numbers particularly excellent, with his strong body for his age helping with this.

Lovell as a ball user is generally clean but has also at times shown that he can shank some balls by foot for some awful turnovers. From a versatility standpoint I am not convinced that Lovell while he could play forward, would necessarily be as effective as he is through the midfield, as he doesn’t quite for me have that front half talent where he could offer heavy scoreboard impact or provide any particularly meaningful offense. Additionally from a tackling and pressuring standpoint while it’s something Lovell can do, it is not something he does as well as other smalls with his quickness.

Bound For Glory Bio - His first game for Tasmania in the TAC Cup resulted in 33 possessions, six tackles and 18 handball receives. He then went on to average 34 disposals and polled a staggering nine Morrish Medal votes from four games. Earlier in the year he tested for the Tasmanian state team. On the beep test he got a 14.9 which puts him up there with the best inside midfielders of the draft. He has a burst of speed coming out of stoppages and he also broke the AFL agility test record by 0.17 seconds in an unofficial Tasmania testing day on September 2. To add to his absolute elite agility, he has a sub three second 20 metre sprint.

Lovell averaged 34 disposals during his TAC Cup games and 35 during the u18 Championships.In all of his under 18 games this year he has only dropped below 30 disposals twice. These numbers are of the same calibre of Matt Crouch’s 37 disposals per game who is making a name for himself at Adelaide. Lovell has furthermore become an extremely gifted decision maker. We see Lovell rarely make a hiccup when disposing of the football. He always has that extra second of time due to the fact that he can weave and dodge through a contest with ease.

Highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcf2bap01ro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21l2176-bdU



Pick 44 - Blake Hardwick (Eastern Ranges) 181cm/78kg Forward




Player Comparison - Sam Lloyd, Mitch Hahn

Knightmare Bio - Hardwick is a high volume goal kicking small forward who seems always to be in the right place at the right time and has had some big hauls this season including 12, 10 and 8 goals this season in the TAC Cup. He is very much someone with a goal first, goal second, pass third mentality, as someone who will when he senses any opportunity will go for goal himself. Hardwick is mostly a marking forward who has only average hands overhead but leads to the right spots, gets to the drop of the ball and finds the spaces left behind in the forward 50m.

He isn't a particularly gifted ground level player or a particularly outstanding pressure forward. Hardwick has only on a small few occasions pushed up the field and at the next level I imagine he will need to integrate this into his game to have an AFL career. The times he has pushed up into the midfield he has found the footy to a reasonable standard but has lacked impact with his influence moderate-low. Hardwick has a reasonable powerful build and strongish body, he has good acceleration but is not overly agile and lacks any freakishly quickness.

Bound For Glory Bio - Blake Hardwick would have teams salivating over him if he was a key forward. He’s got the mullet, he’s a physical beast and he plays like Jason Dunstall. Hardwick plays out of the goal square, where he beats his opponents consistently on the lead. He’s got some nice acceleration off the mark, but his top speed isn’t terrific. He’s a smart small forward, who knows exactly where to lead. Marking is Hardwick’s strong suit. He’s a sure bet to take a mark on the lead, but he’s also equally adept overhead and in contested situations. He usually takes around five marks per game, and one or two of those will always be contested.

Hardwick is the leading goal kicker in the TAC Cup. He has kicked bags of 12, 10 and eight this year and really picked up the slack since Sam Weideman has missed through injury. He’s a wonderful set shot kicker, kicking 45.14 so far. He doesn’t mind if he’s 50 metres out on a tight angle, as his routine is the same for every kick. It’s technically sound and he stays cool under pressure.

Highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBdtg8V9iWk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkzO8f0hI2A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmwmgxQ4C8Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8VcWq0XPUs



Overview

We passed up the opportunity to take Collins, Hibberd, Bonner, Balic, Dunkley, Tucker, Mathieson and Mountford. Despite the obvious quality of the guys we did take I'm still perplexed by what has happened. I really hope I can return to this post in a couple of years and marvel at how we got it right but I've got so many doubts right now.

[Scrads]

Good luck lads, it's all there for the taking it just depends how much you want it and how hard you want to work for it.

[Mr.Craig]

Update -

Ryan Burton: An athletic forward in the Jack Gunston mould, Burton has put a serious knee injury behind him and has made an immediate impact at the Hawks with his fierce determination to improve and training intent.

Kieran Lovell: Looms as an AFL debutant this year after taking to training with the ease of a veteran. The 173cm Tasmanian, who has drawn comparisons with Sam Mitchell, has been a ball magnet in game-sense drills, is clean in possession and continues to improve his positioning without the ball in hand.

Blake Hardwick: Boasts an excellent understanding of the game, is neat with his skills and is hungry to improve as quickly as possible. Hardwick â€" who has the nickname 'Dimma' â€" has been impressing the Hawks with his strong attack at the footy like his namesake Damien Hardwick.

ROOKIES

Luke Surman: A back injury has restricted the 197cm rookie this pre-season, with Surman only riding the stationary bike and walking laps at training during the week. Has handled himself with maturity and looked natural leaping at the ball in the air before he was struck down with injury.

Kade Stewart: Only tips the scales at about 70kg, but the Hawks love the way Stewart throws himself into the contest with scant regard for his safety. He's another left-footer at Hawthorn with superb skills who is thorough with the way he reviews his training and has quickly become popular in the group.

Conor Glass: The Northern Irishman has amazed some at the Hawks with how comfortable he has looked at the level, despite his minimal exposure to the sport. Glass' skills were an asset in Gaelic football and he has quickly transferred that to the oval ball. The 18-year-old has trained mostly in defence but could move into midfield given his awareness in traffic. Glass returns home to finish school soon but will be back in July.

[powersuperkents]

I always rated Lovell quite highly out of the draftees (I think he will one day become the best player in the 2015 Draft) - Clarko knows how to draft them better than anyone.

It's good to see he's living up to those expectations in the VFL so far.

Hawthorn are probably the toughest side to break into, but do Hawk's fan, who also follow Box Hill, think he can debut this season? He's obviously a player who will have a huge impact later in his career, but I would be very interested in seeing his footy-smarts in action this season - his ability to read play and control the game are similar to that of Gary Ablett Jnr.   

[Bill Manspeaker]

gotta say that new recruit Andrew Stephens was magnificent for you guys on Saturday. found a handy player there

[Mr.Craig]

Lovell will likely play a couple of games.

[JBs-Hawks]

We've got a good one in  Lovell

[Mr.Craig]

Very much so.

Hardwick ans Stewart have been doing well in the VFL too.