HAWTHORN speedster Bradley Hill hopes to remain a Hawk for the remainder of his career and a contract extension until the end of 2015 is the first step in that journey.

Hill wasn’t due to come out of contract until the end of next year, but his love for Hawthorn and his teammates produced no hesitation in his mind in agreeing to extend his stay in brown and gold.

“It’s really exciting to get another contract,” he told hawthornfc.com.au

“I’m loving Melbourne and obviously loving Hawthorn as well, I want to stay as long as I can.

“It was a pretty easy decision for me. I’m loving my footy at the moment - I’m playing senior footy and I want to stay at Hawthorn, that’s obviously why I signed up and hopefully I can stay here for the rest of my career.”

The 20 year old has played 22 games this year, including last week’s Qualifying Final win over Sydney - up from five in his debut year.

He missed just one match, in Round 8 this season and averaged 16.1 disposals and 2.1 tackles in his second season in the AFL and earned a Rising Star nomination in Round 6.

Recruited from West Perth, Hill arrived at Hawthorn having stunned recruiters at the Draft Combine in 2011, setting a new combine record for the beep test with a score of 16.01.

He rocketed up the draft order with his impressive testing at the combine, and finally ended up at Hawthorn via pick 33 in the 2011 National Draft.

But Melbourne is a long way from Perth, where his brother Stephen plays for Fremantle.

Hill admits he needed to mature quickly to adjust to life away from his family and confront the challenges of forging an AFL career, a task made easier by the support received from Hawthorn and his new teammates.

“You’ve got to mature pretty quick because you come over as an 18 year old and move away from your parents and your family,” he said.

“You arrive and pretty much are by yourself, I didn’t know anyone – you’ve got to meet new people and make new friends and get along well with your new teammates who you’ve never met before.

“This club has been really good for me so far, they’ve helped me out a lot and moving over from Perth, they’ve been really good at helping me out and getting me host family to live with who have been amazing to me.

“Now I’m really comfortable with the players – I get along really well with Cyril Rioli and a few of the other boys but he’s probably been one of the best for me, he’s really looked after me since I arrived at Hawthorn.”

Hill made his debut in his home state in Round 2 last season and has quickly become one of Hawthorn’s most important players.

In and out of the side last year, Hill has cemented his place in Hawthorn’s best 22, with his run particularly valuable to Alastair Clarkson’s side.

Criticised at times for a perceived lack of pace, Hill combines with fellow speedsters Isaac Smith, Shaun Burgoyne, Jed Anderson and Cyril Rioli in adding pace to Hawthorn.

“That’s what I’m in the side for, to run and carry the footy and hopefully that comes in handy in finals and helps the team out a lot,” he said.

He played in his first final last Friday night after missing out on the finals campaign in 2012 and the opportunity he has been given isn’t lost on him.

“Last week I played in my first final which was an amazing experience, some players have to wait a long longer to play finals, just look at Chris Newman from Richmond – he played 200 or so games without playing in one,” he said.

“It’s an honour to play finals footy, hopefully I can stay in the side for the rest of the year and we can get all the way to the end.”