Draftee Josh Weddle has entered his first pre-season in fine form, taking out the club’s 2023 time trial.

The 18-year-old has produced some impressive running times since arriving to Hawthorn at Pick 18 in the 2022 national draft.

The time trial on Thursday at Caulfield Grammar saw players run four separate 1km segments with short breaks in between.

Weddle led the way from the get-go for each interval and was barely challenged throughout.

Young ruckman Max Ramsden also showed off his incredible pace and endurance, while recruit Karl Amon – who was a regular time trial winner during his time at Port Adelaide – did not disappoint in his new colours.

Other stand-outs on the day included 2021 draftee Ned Long and Box Hill recruit Fergus Greene, who rounded out the top five.

High Performance Manager Peter Burge said several Hawks caught his eye in the running session. 

“Josh Weddle, who came in through the draft this year, has been a stand-out in both of our pre-season trials,” Burge said.

“Changkuoth Jiath impressed again and Lloyd Meek, who’s come from Fremantle, is another. He’s a big guy, so his ability to run and churn out the kilometres is really impressive.

“Tyler Brockman, who’s back with us today, looked really good too – it was great to meet him and see how he moves.

“And then on the other end you’ve got Luke Breust, one of our veterans, who’s still going along and moving really well.”

Burge said he has been impressed by the work ethic of Hawthorn’s young group after joining the club at the end of last season. 

“In our first running session pre-Christmas, the guys were outstanding. I was actually really pleasantly surprised at how well they did in that running session, and today was just as good,” he said.

“I’m really impressed with where they’re at, they’ve done some great work over the three-week Christmas break and have presented themselves really well today."

Josh Ward, the reigning time-trial winner from last year, was the only Hawk who did not take part in Thursday’s session.