ARMED with three selections in tonight’s National Draft, Hawthorn Recruiting and List Manager Graham Wright says the Hawks will take the best available player at each pick.
Hawthorn won’t enter the draft until the second round, at selection 31, after trading away its opening round pick for GWS midfielder Jonathan O’Rourke during the October trade period.
From there, the Hawks will add two more new faces, at picks 49 and 50.
“31 will be best available for us, so we’ll just see who’s there,” Wright told hawthornfc.com.au ahead of tonight’s draft meeting on the Gold Coast.
“We have a fair while to wait obviously, so it’ll be interesting to see what actually gets through to us at that pick.
“We’re comfortable we’ll be able to get a good player at 31 and hopefully there’ll be something else there for us at 49 and 50.
“We’re well prepared and looking forward to it.”
The Hawks also plan to take the best available players at picks 49 and 50 rather than filling a specific need but that could change on draft night.
“It’s pretty much the same deal (as pick 31 with best available) but it might depend on what we get at pick 31 because that might change our strategy a little bit,” Wright revealed.
“Certainly from the point of view now of the draft, we’d like to the best player where possible but that might change based on what we get at 31.”
Despite having to wait until selection 31 to bring in the Club’s first draftee, Wright is confident given the talent in this year’s draft pool, the Hawks will add a talented player.
History shows stars can slide past the first round, with triple Brisbane Lions premiership winner and Brownlow Medallist Simon Black taken at selection 31 in 1997 and fellow triple premiership player and all-time Lions leading goal kicker Alastair Lynch selected at Hawthorn’s final pick, number 50 in 1986.
The Hawks and Wright have had their own success while holding later picks – with dual premiership players and teammates Liam Shiels (pick 34) and Ben Stratton (pick 46) selected late.
Wright hopes to bring in players of similar talent who’ll thrive in Hawthorn’s development program.
“If we could guys as good as those players (Black and Lynch) that would be fantastic, Wright said.
“We had Liam Shiels at pick 34 a few years ago and Ben Stratton at 46, so there’s always good players around, it’s just a matter of trying to sort through them and work out which ones they are.
“We’ve been lucky because those guys have come into a good environment and done really well, so from that perspective we’re hopeful we’ll get a couple more like that.”
