PLAYING predominantly as a forward, Ryan Schoenmakers is stringing together some consistent performances and marked his return to the Hawthorn side with two goals against St Kilda on Sunday.
A late withdrawal from the Hawks’ previous clash against the Gold Coast – due to team balance in wet conditions – Schoenmakers flew back to Melbourne from Launceston to line up for Box Hill in the VFL, starring with three goals.
Settling more at the Hawks’ scoring end this year, Schoenmakers has played in five of the Hawks’ past six games, including six goals across his past three AFL outings.
And after putting in the hard yards, the 24-year old swingman is starting to see some reward.
“I’ve been working on my forward structure and competing hard over the last couple of weeks and some of the stuff is starting to come together now so it’s a good feeling,” Schoenmakers told Hawks TV after Sunday’s win.
Over the past month, Schoenmakers has added another dimension to a forward line which contains the likes of Jarryd Roughead, Jack Gunston, Luke Breust and Cyril Rioli.
Now into his seventh season, the South Australian is building the belief required to cement a spot in the reigning premiers’ best 22.
“(I’m) getting a bit of confidence out of it which is good,” he said.
Despite the 63-point margin against the Saints, Schoenmakers said the Hawks still have room to improve.
“There’s a few things we’ve got to work on, I mean we’re never going to be really happy during the season, there’s always going to be stuff to work on,” he said.
“But (we’re) just happy to come away with a good win over a quality side.”
The players’ immediate attention will now turn to their mid-season break as the Hawks have the bye during Round 11, with Schoenmakers looking forward to swapping sports.
“I know the boys have been pretty excited about the break,” he said.
“I’m hoping to get away and have a hit of golf with a few of the guys so yeah, pretty stock standard for me."
A product of the Tea Tree Gully Football Club in Adelaide’s north-eastern suburbs, ‘Schoey’ will have his eyes set on a return to his home state as the Hawks next face the Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval on 18 June.
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