Throughout his seven years on Hawthorn's list, Tim O'Brien has constantly swung between either end of the ground.

Forward one week, defender the next - O'Brien hadn't quite claimed a concrete spot in his formative years as a professional footballer.

But a switch seemed to have been flicked in the final five rounds of 2019 when the 28th pick in the 2012 draft averaged 10.6 disposals, 5.4 marks and 2.4 goals.

Speaking from Launceston at the Hawks second pre-season camp of the summer, O'Brien said playing in attack is starting to feel more comfortable for him. 

"I've been training in the forward line, so that is the plan at this stage, but still with that second ruck as well, but that could be shared by myself, Jon Patton, Mitch Lewis, so there's a lot of options there,'' the 25-year-old said.

"But it will be mainly forward for me."

Of his 62 career games, O'Brien has played 19 of them in Launceston and said he loves getting down to the club's "home away from home", especially if it means giving back to the community.