THREE new faces will don the brown and gold on Saturday, with Tim O'Brien and Derick Wanganeen to make their AFL debut, while Ben McEvoy has been named for his first match for Hawthorn.
hawthornfc.com.au caught up with each of them ahead of their first matches for the Club to find out how they were told, their thoughts on representing Hawthorn and more.
Hear from Ben McEvoy
Hear from Tim O'Brien
Hear from Derick Wanganeen
Below is some of what the trio said.
Ben McEvoy…
…On playing his first game at his new club
“It’s very exciting, I can’t wait to get into it. As they always are, it’s been a long pre-season but I think we’re in pretty good shape. I’m very excited to be pulling on the brown and gold for the first time.
“It hasn’t been too bad in the NAB Challenge but I’ll be nervous as hell on the weekend.”
…On pulling on the jumper for the first time
“It should be pretty special for the first time so I’m excited about that. I will be nervous, but hopefully I can do it justice.”
…On building relationships with the midfielders
“I’m starting to build some real connection with the midfielders and I felt pretty comfortable out there. I’ve got a good understanding of how we play so hopefully we can put it all together on Saturday.”
Tim O’Brien…
…On how he found out
“I was just at home yesterday and ‘Clarko’ gave me a call – I was pretty excited to see his name on the phone.
“You don’t get too many calls from him, so I knew it was going to be good or bad – I was either going to be playing or told I was an unlucky one who missed out. Luckily enough, I’ve got a game and I’m really excited.”
…On his emotions
“I’m very excited but there are a few nerves there at moment. Hopefully I can try and use them for a positive and get out there and use that energy.”
…On which players have helped his development since arriving in 2012
“The way the affiliation with Hawthorn and Box Hill is run has made it really easy because you play the same sort of footy and it’s easy to transfer from the VFL into the AFL.
“Jarryd Roughead has been really good with me, he works with me a lot and talks through some things as well as Jack Gunston. We play in a reasonably similar way, so I work pretty closely with those guys.”
Derick Wanganeen…
…On how he found out
“I got a call from Clarko on Wednesday – I actually missed his call from the start so I gave him a call back and he just said ‘congratulations, call your folks because you’ve got your first game under your belt this weekend.’”
…On wearing the jumper for the first time
“I feel privileged. This is a great club and I’m happy to pull on the guernsey this weekend.”
…On whether he expected to earn his debut after having three years on the rookie list before being delisted and then re-rookied at the end of last year
“Round 1, I certainly didn’t expect it but I’m very happy. I got delisted, which was very disappointing but the Club let me know that they were going to re-list me so that gave me a bit of security.
“I’ve had a very strong pre-season – I just wanted to put my head down, bum up and have a strong one to hopefully be selected at some stage during the season.”
…On the guidance sought from Cyril Rioli
“He’s had a big impact on me - when we do all of our running I team up with him because. In the past my fitness hasn’t been quite there, so I team up with Cyril for the running sessions and boxing.
“He’s been around for a while, he’s an established player so he has been there pushing me along from the get go.”
…On becoming a small defender in the middle of last year
“I was a bit inconsistent when playing a small forward so Damien Carroll (former Box Hill Coach) moved me down back, which proved to be a good move. I’ve enjoyed my time down back and I’ve played some pretty good footy down there.”
