DRAFT day last year was a day of mixed emotions for Ryan Schoenmakers. He had no issues with moving interstate from South Australia and was stoked to be taken in the first round.

But he was a key position player drafted to the reigning premiers that already had an abundance of big men.

While excited about joining Hawthorn, he was well aware he would have to wait a while for his first senior game.

“Coming in to a premiership side I didn’t know what to expect. I was just excited to get drafted. You don’t really expect to play many senior games. Certainly a goal of mine was to play one throughout the year but I’ve been a bit fortunate that the injuries in the team have helped me getting a few games,” he said.

So imagine his surprise when after a couple of NAB Cup games he was named in the round one side against Hawthorn’s grand final opponent Geelong in front of 69,593 people.

“It was the biggest crowd I’ve played in front of. It was a bit overwhelming at the start of the game but the atmosphere and noise was pretty intense. The speed of the game was a step up from what I was used to.”

Schoenmakers has played nine senior games for the Hawks this year after he was taken with pick 16 in last year’s NAB AFL Draft.

While he played most of his junior career as a forward, Hawthorn took him with a long-term view to playing in a key defensive spot and Schoenmakers is happy to play the role the team needs.

“I have been thrown around a bit as a youngster. I played up forward for most of my junior footy so playing down back is good just to learn a new role and give me something to focus on. Hopefully I can stay down there for a while and get settled into a position.”

Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead are the two main reasons Schoenmakers is unlikely to see much time up forward but the 18-year-old says both have been invaluable for his football education.

“It’s always going to be hard to break into a forward line like that. They are two of the leading forwards in the competition. That is definitely going to be hard. There are a few opportunities in the backline at the moment with injuries to senior players,” he said.

“At training when we do full ground drills and game-like situations, I get a bit of an insight to what they want to do. It’s good for me as a backman as well to play on quality forwards.”

Another fountain of knowledge for Schoenmakers has been Trent Croad. Croad’s foot injury has been a big reason for Schoenmaker’s exposure at senior level but the Hawk veteran has taken the youngster aside for plenty of advice along the way.

“He’s been a big help, especially over the last couple of weeks when he’s back out on the track. He’s been a bit of a mentor to me. He’s gone about his training the right way and is doing everything he can to get back into the side. I’m not really sure where he’s at with his progress. Hopefully he will be back,” Schoenmakers said.