Hawks youngster Denver Grainger-Barras says he is enjoying the challenge of a more intense pre-season, revealing the workload between his first and second has drastically increased.

Grainger-Barras arrived in Victoria from Western Australia last year after being selected by Hawthorn with Pick 6 in the 2020 national draft.

The 19-year-old went on to play five games in 2021, with a knee injury limiting his game time.

Speaking on the Talking Hawks podcast, Grainger-Barras said the biggest difference he has noticed between his first and second pre-season was the workload.

“We had only a week pre-Christmas when I initially got drafted – that week flew by, there wasn’t too much strenuous training,” he said.

“All the really challenging drills got modified, I had to sit back and watch, which at the time was super frustrating.

“Whereas coming into it this year, I’ve been spending a lot more time on the track in every drill, including all the running at the end.

“It’s definitely a massive step up and I wish I took advantage of the more chilled sessions last year – it’s been good, but challenging.”

Hawthorn’s first-to-fourth year players commenced their pre-season training on November 22, while the senior players made a return on December 6.

Following the conclusion of the 2021 home-and-away season, Grainger-Barras enjoyed a two-month break over in his home state of Western Australia after being separated from his family and friends for months due to COVID-19.

All players and coaching staff are currently having a short break during the Christmas period before recommencing pre-season training from January 10.  

Grainger-Barras said there were several players flying on the track so far this pre-season.

“Finn Maginness is an absolute work-hard bull, Mitch Lewis has been really good on the track, his fitness and size is really good,” he said.

“Lachy Bramble has also been a stand-out – just seeing his work rate this pre-season and his ability to learn and take in as much as possible is really eye-opening.

“Even though he is a younger player, he’s definitely leading quite a bit.”

Grainger-Barras said he was looking forward to playing under coach Sam Mitchell, someone he had gotten to know during his time at Box Hill in 2021.

“I’d just come off a knee injury which set me back for a while, so I knew that when I went back to Box Hill I just had to focus on getting myself better,” Grainger-Barras said.

“It was super challenging at the start, but it was super easy with Sam – his simple advice such as ‘go out and mark the footy, catch the footy and stop your opponent from kicking goals’ really helped me to just focus.

“Him as a head coach I think is going to be instrumental in Hawthorn’s success. He knows how to get the best out of everyone.”

Grainger-Barras said he has also enjoyed his time so far alongside the Hawks new-look coaching panel which includes the likes of three-time premiership Hawk David Hale.

“He (Hale) just has a great aura about him, he’s got a really inviting personality, he’s someone who you know you can go to, he has the wisdom to answer any question,” he said.

“You can already see he’ll develop really strong and deep connections with every player.”

To hear more from Grainger-Barras on the Talking Hawks podcast, visit https://linktr.ee/TalkingHawks.