Draft pick trading can happen right up until the point a name is called out, but Hawthorn National Recruiting Manager Mark McKenzie has suggested it is unlikely the club will move Pick 4.

Confident in what the club will have to choose from with its first top five pick since 2005, McKenzie conceded the club was nevertheless always open to potential negotiations with rival clubs.

“We like Pick 4, we think there are some really quality players up at that high order," McKenzie said. 

“But we never say no – we like the pick but we’re pretty open to a lot of things in regards to our picks.

“We think there is a number of quality players for all different positional types in this draft.

“We like this draft, we don’t want to over-complicate it too much, we’ll definitely look for talent first and then go from there."

How the draft order sits after trade period 

This year has been like no other from a recruiting perspective, with much less football to watch to gain an insight on the cohort of draft prospects, especially so for those based in Victoria.  

But McKenzie said he still feels well-equipped to make decisions on this year's draft crop, despite these challenges.  

“It's been a bit difficult.

“Watching a lot of interstate guys this year, you get to have a view on their football but obviously that hasn’t been able to be the case with the Victorian guys.

"But there’s a lot of footage from the Victorian guys over the last two years that we have to take into account.

“Then you follow up with your interviews, your reference checks and your testing and there’s still plenty of information there and there is some quality players from Victoria."

The Hawks will also be keeping a keen eye on one of their Next Generation Academy players in Connor Downie. 

“There is one player that comes into consideration for us this year in Connor Downie.

“And like with other father-son or NGA recruits of previous years, we will put them in an order and see where it lies from there.

“Connor has been a part of our program for a long time now, he is a quality kid so we will see where it lies on draft night."