HAWTHORN has uncovered some real gems at the NAB AFL Rookie Draft over the past fifteen years.
We take a look at seven of the best players to have become Hawks through the rookie draft from 2000 onwards.
(Note: Names below in order of games played)
Brad Sewell
2003 Rookie Draft, pick 7
Matches: 200
Premierships: 2008, 2013
Peter Crimmins Medallist: 2007
Represented Australia: 2008
With pick seven in the 2003 Rookie Draft, the Hawks drafted an 18-year-old from TAC Cup side North Ballarat Rebels by the name of Brad Sewell.
Over the next decade, Sewell became one of the club’s most dependable midfielders, playing 200 career games (the most of a Hawthorn rookie selection).
He played six games in 2004 – his debut season – and 12 the following year, before becoming a permanent fixture in 2006.
Premierships in 2008 and 2013 were among the onballer’s defining moments, and he also won a club best and fairest in 2007, before retiring at the end of 2014.
Michael Osborne
2001 Rookie Draft, pick 11
Matches: 168
Premiership: 2008
Represented Australia: 2008
Utility Michael Osborne got a taste of AFL football in his first season, 2001, and by 2003 was a regular for the Hawks.
Recruited from Labrador in Queensland, Osborne played 168 games for the Hawks in a career spanning 13 seasons.
His best year was undoubtedly in 2008 – the year the club won its first premiership under Alastair Clarkson – when Osborne played a career-best 23 games and averaged a career-high 18 disposals per game.
Clinton Young
2005 Rookie Draft, pick 18
Matches: 137 (Hawks 116, Magpies 21)
Premiership: 2008
Nicknamed ‘Dasher’, the long-kicking left-footer joined the Hawks in the 2005 Rookie Draft.
The Wimmera product debuted in his first year at the club, playing seven games, and doubled that tally the following year.
He featured in the 2008 premiership, playing 116 games for the club before joining Collingwood at the end of 2012.
Young retired from AFL football at the end of 2015.
Robbie Campbell
2001 Rookie Draft, pick 27
Matches: 116
Premiership: 2008
Ruckman Robbie Campbell played 116 games for the Hawks, after being selected with pick 27 in the 2001 rookie draft.
Drafted from Murray Bushrangers, the 199-centimetre big man debuted in his second season, playing 32 games across the next four season.
From 2006, he made his mark, playing all but one game across the next three seasons, including the Hawks’ 2008 premiership triumph.
Campbell retired due to injury after 2009, making a one-year comeback with Melbourne in 2011.
Luke Breust
2009 Rookie Draft, pick 47
Matches: 116*
Premierships: 2013, 2014, 2015
All Australian: 2014
Represented Australia: 2014, 2015
Three-time premiership star Luke Breust has become one of the Hawks’ dangerous forwards, since joining the club with pick 47 in the 2009 rookie draft.
Breust got his first taste of AFL football in 2011, and has played all but two games across the past four seasons.
He kicked 57 goals in 2014 to earn All Australian selection, and another 52 goals in 2015.
With 116 games to his name at just 25 years of age, Breust is on track to break Sewell’s record for the most games played by a Hawthorn rookie selection.
Stephen Gilham
2006 Rookie Draft, pick 34
Matches: 114 (Power 1, Hawks 98, Giants 15)
Premiership: 2008
After one game in three seasons at Port Adelaide, the Hawks took a chance on defender Stephen Gilham in the 2006 rookie draft.
Gilham didn’t disappoint, becoming a regular player in just his second year as a Hawk.
He played 98 games for the club across seven seasons – including the 2008 premiership win – before finishing his career at GWS Giants.
Matthew Suckling
2007 Rookie Draft, pick 22
Matches: 102*
Premierships: 2014, 2015
Represented Australia: 2011
Skilful left footer Matt Suckling joined the Hawks with pick 22 in the 2007 rookie draft, becoming a two-time premiership player.
The 27-year-old played 102 games for the club, before joining Western Bulldogs at the end of the season.
The Wagga Wagga product was a regular for the Hawks in 2011 and 2012, before an ACL injury saw him miss all of 2013 – and the first of the club’s three-peat premierships.
But Suckling bounced back to feature the following year, and as the substitute in this year’s premiership.
