What Clarko says
46. Derick Wanganeen
Hey guys, this is Alastair Clarkson your senior coach once again running you through our players one by one for the next 44 days.
Today, we're featuring Derrick Wanganeen.
We recruited Derrick from the Port Adelaide Magpies at the end of the 2010 season. Myself and our recruiters had been impressed with what we saw in Derrick a year earlier, but as luck would have it we didn't manage to pick him up at that particular time. Then, following another 12 months of development with Port Adelaide we found he was available again at the end of 2010 - we jumped on that opportunity to bring him into our system.
The thing we liked about Derrick in his junior footy was his squeaky clean skills, he's a really nice mover and uses the ball particularly well. He's a goal sneak that can also play in the back half when required. He's slight like many aboriginal players in their mid to late teens and he still needs to add some bulk to his frame over the next couple of years - a common theme for a lot of the younger players I'll talk about in the next few days.
Many Hawks supporters would have seen Derrick play at the Box Hill Hawks last season, he kicked a few goals as a goal sneak in the forward pocket and really started to figure prominently as the year progressed.
There's exciting things ahead for this young player - he's learning about his body and his work ethic all the time and we feel if he continues to progress over the next 24 months he could be a real eye opener for a lot of our Hawks supporters - so keep an close eye on Derrick he'll be wearing the number 46 again in 2012.
All the best until tomorrow when we'll look at Tom Schneider - another 2010 draftee.
Miss a previous 'Clarko on' article? catch-up with Clarko's Will Langford and Adam Pattison features.
