Hawthorn's general manager of player personnel and strategy, Chris Pelchen, had a tough decision to make with the club's first pick.

Draft summary
"I wouldn't say anything threw things out. Like most clubs, you think the first 20 will come from 25 players and that was the case tonight. We are always hopeful someone will fall through and that was Isaac Smith. We had five guys circled for our pick 19 we thought were realistic, we didn't expect to get the guys that we knew would go in the top 12."

"Jed Lamb was one of those five players we had strongly considered for that pick. What persuaded us to go with Isaac was his genuine leg speed. We had to compare Jed's ability to play as a tricky forward and he is an outstanding kick which we rate very highly with Isaac Smith's leg speed."

Selection No.19: Isaac Smith (North Ballarat VFL)
Player profile
"He hasn't come through the elite pathways of many of these boys. He's from Cootamundra originally in NSW. He has been a late developer. He came through the VFL late in the year. He played a final against our boys, Box Hill, where he ripped us apart. He played three or four outstanding VFL games, but that Box Hill game has become a bit of an in-joke around the club."

Selection No.38: Mitch Hallahan (Dandenong U18)
Player profile
"With Mitch we were surprised moreso than with Isaac that he drifted out to 38. We rated him in the best 25. He has the ability to play a run-with role and be a strong bodied midfielder. He is not unlike Dustin Martin. I'm not saying he is going achieve what Dustin did in his first year but he is a similar type, highly competitive, inside type of player."

Selection No.55: Angus Litherland (Claremont)
Player profile
"He's not a gorilla defender but we still need a strong bodied defender. One thing that attracted us to Angus was that he is what we call a hybrid defender. He can play on a tall and short and has outstanding speed. He played a good game on Jed Lamb in the championships and that really stuck in our minds."

Selection No.66: Paul Puopolo (Norwood)
"It is a fair assumption to say he is a replacement for Campbell Brown. He has had five years in Norwood and is highly competitive. I'm sure he will be a player our supporters like watching. He is a genuine short defender and looking at the competition now with the running small forwards, all clubs need someone who can play on these tricky forwards. He is highly competitive and can slot straight in."

Selection No.86: Pass