DRAFTEE Kieran Lovell says he’s settling into Hawthorn well, after moving states to chase his dream of playing AFL football.

Hailing from Huonville, south-west of Hobart, Lovell said moving states had been a challenge during his first pre-season with the club.

“I’m living in Balwyn with a host family which has been really good, they’re an awesome family and it’s an awesome place to live,” he said.

“Melbourne compared to Tassie, there’s a lot going on and the traffic’s not great compared to back home, but I’m definitely enjoying living over here.

“I didn’t really know anyone when I came over here, but now I’ve started to make some really good mates within the team and spending a lot of time with them outside the club which is making it pretty enjoyable.”

The 174-centimetre midfielder said that the biggest challenge on-field was ‘probably just backing up for training each day – five days or six days a week’.

“The consistency of effort has to be there each session or you sort of drop off a bit because the intensity level of everyone else is so high. You’ve got to be on the ball all the time,” he said.

Exposure to senior football during the NAB Challenge has shown Lovell what is required to get to the top level, and he’s determined to break into the Hawthorn line-up down the track.

“The little taste I got in the NAB Challenge was pretty exciting, and I was relatively happy with how I went. It showed me that it’s a massive step up,” he said.

“I’ll have to train really well and perform at Box Hill to try to get that chance at the highest level again. The first practice game for Box Hill I probably didn’t play my best, but it was good to see what the level‘s like and now I know what to expect.”

The comparisons between Lovell and four-time premiership Hawk Sam Mitchell are obvious, due to not only their ball winning abilities but also similar stature - Lovell being 174cm and Mitchell standing at 179cm.

Lovell admits that Mitchell has been a role model for him since arriving at the club.

“He (Mitchell) passes on a lot of advice and a lot of knowledge. He’s been around for ages and he’s almost played 300 games,” Lovell said.

“He’s been really good at showing me where to go in drills or talking to me about something I did in a drill – he’s been really good to learn off.”