Hawthorn’s new recruits have shined in their first official club hit-out, with key forward Mabior Chol emerging as a key stand-out at the club’s intraclub match on Thursday.
Speaking to the media post-match, Assistant Coach David Hale lauded the work of several fresh Hawks, including Chol who finished with three goals on the board.
Jack Ginnivan also looked lively in the forward line, booting two majors including one impressive snap from the left pocket in the last term.
Essendon recruit Massimo D’Ambrosio also impressed with his running power, breaking lines with his speed and accuracy by foot, which included slotting a goal.
Meanwhile, draftee Nick Watson was also busy alongside Ginnivan, with moments of brilliance inside 50, including a couple of clever goals.
In some unfortunate news from the game, James Blanck (ACL) will miss the upcoming season, while Changkuoth Jiath (hamstring strain) is expected to be sidelined the next six-to-eight weeks.
Hear from Hale below on some key points from the match on Thursday.
On the standouts of the game
“Mabior Chol has been great. He is that tall target we have probably been lacking the last couple of years who can take a big mark up forward and provide a presence to the smalls that we’ve brought into the club. The intensive and competitive desire that he brings to our team has been really important. He’s going to be a part of that forward line going forward. Max Ramsden today had a really good influence in the third quarter and he’s probably still a first-year tall in the sense that he’s a mid-season pick, he can run, he can cover the ground and he’s a good overhead, so he’s got a bright future as well. We’re also really excited about Henry Hustwaite's development, he played a few games at backend of last year and is really clean with ball in hand, he makes good decisions and always seems to have time in congestion. I think everyone has seen pre-season training with Massimo D’Ambrosio, he has been really impressed with the way he can kick the ball too."
On the new faces in the forward line
“It's very exciting, Nick Watson is a top draft pick for a reason, he’s got plenty of skills with his forward pressure and goal sense. We're excited by what he’s done so far. The defenders that they (Watson and Ginnivan) come up against will find it hard. As a small forward the footy arts and craft is something that’s hard to coach at times and both of those guys do that pretty naturally. Nick’s done everything he can for this pre-season period to get a look going forward.”
Midfield/forward selections for round one
“We’ve got lots of depth through our midfield and through our forward line, it’s going to be really hard to pick spots in that Round 1 team. It’s really important that the standard of play we wanna get to is high. The more guys we get putting their hand up and pushing for that spot is something were really excited about and really excited for those guys involved. Our midfield depth is going to be a bit deeper than what we’ve had in the past, we’ve got the guys that have played last year in James Worpel, Jai Newcombe and Conor Nash with a lot of guys that can go through Josh Ward, Cam Mackenzie, Connor Macdonald. The last couple of years we probably haven't had that depth of talent on the list. In the last two drafts we’ve got some really high-quality blokes through and they are starting to show their talent which is what we want them to do. It’s going to be tight for selection Round 1 and it’s going to be exciting for us going forward.”
On the intraclub injuries
“It was a bit flattening (seeing the players get injured). I think everyone in the back of their minds was thinking about those two, it’s always hard in a footy sense they train and there brothers in the sense that they spend so much time together. It took a little bit of time to get them going again and in the last quarter we saw a bit more of the footy we were after. It’s always hard when someone you know gets injured in that situation.”
Hear more from Hale post-match below.
