A Hawk centred Mid-Season Draft Preview
A look ahead to the next step on our re-development journey
In the grand scheme of Hawthorn’s list building journey, this Wednesday nights’ Mid-Season Draft is a small but potentially important milestone. The Mid-Season Draft (MSD) is definitely not the fix-all for the Hawks problems, but it has the ability to be another vehicle to add talent to a list that is clearly in need of a talent-add.
Football people are split on the MSD, for every person that places value on it, you’ll find another who is vocal about how it is overrated. I can understand the criticism, and even the comments that Jai Newcombe is the exception, not the rule. Newcombe might one day go down as one of, if not the best MSD pick up of all time, especially if he continues on his current trajectory of development. But if we look past Jai, you will see that the MSD is dotted with success stories since it returned in 2019.
Everyone is familiar with the feed good story of Marlion Pickett and his Grand Final debut, he has since gone on to play 45 games for the Tigers and is an important piece of their list. Pickett, along with Will Snelling (42 games), Ryan Gardiner (32 games) and John Noble (55 games), are all still playing and contributing at various levels for their respective sides, after being selected in the 2019 MSD.
Due to the pandemic and issues surrounding it, there was no MSD in 2020, but there are further success stories through the 2021 MSD with Ashley Johnson, Ned Moyle, Sam Durham, Matthew Parker, Charlie Ham, Jackson Callow, Aiden Begg, Cooper Sharman, and Connor West all playing some sort of football at AFL level or developing well at the lower level.
This proves that this particular talent addition vehicle has value, and the Hawks enter the 2022 Mid-Season Draft sitting at 6th in the overall order, with the potential to have two picks in the draft, let’s look at some of the options Mark McKenzie might read out on draft night:
James Blanck
A name very familiar to Hawks fans who don’t mind watching some Box Hill Hawks in their down time, Blanck is a developing, solidly built key position defender who has had some great success at Box Hill in the last year and a half. The now 21-year-old came from nowhere in his draft year to come close to jagging a list spot, only to just miss out. Through the alliance with Eastern Ranges, he made his way to Box Hill has and developed into a consistent and reliable defensive pillar at VFL level. Blanck’s strengths are his closing speed, spoiling, intercept marking and rebounding. He’s not the finished product but if selected, he has the potential to become Grainger-Barras’ long-term running mate in the defensive half.
Jai Culley
Culley is the runaway leader for the top pick in this draft and there is only a very slim chance he makes it to the Hawks. Culley is a 19-year-old midfielder who can push forward, standing at 193cm, he is probably the best kick in the MSD, with a great combination of penetration and placement. Culley was fantastic in the Young Guns match against Vic Metro, kicking 4 goals, having a bunch of the football and contributing four score assists and two contested marks. If he’s available when the Hawks pick, they shouldn’t hesitate.
Josh Carmichael
A powerful inside-outside midfielder who has serious impact on the games he plays in, the 22-year-old Carmichael has impressed in his first year in the SANFL and is coming off his first full pre-season of football. Carmichael this year has had a very solid start to the season at SANFL level, averaging 24.6 disposals, five clearances and 1.1 goals per game. He uses the ball well, takes a strong overhead mark and loves kicking a goal when he pushes forward.
Hugo Hall-Kahan
A surprise packet this season and a player with real x-factor about him, Hall-Kahan has had a couple of days out in the NAB League this season, with a bag of five goals against Calder and four against Tasmania the standouts. Hall-Kahan is a very good marking threat, with his strong hands in contested situations a feature. He has also played up the ground a bit and loves to take the game on with his speed and line-breaking ability. A smart user of the football, Hall-Kahan will lower his eyes on entry kicks inside 50m, which would be a nice change to the way the Hawks have entered 50 in previous years.
Max Ramsden
A project ruckman, the 19-year-old Ramsden is a name who has come from the clouds, reminiscent of Jacob Edwards last year. Standing at 202cm and 85kg, Ramsden looks and moves incredibly well, with proof that that being in his time of 6:04 in the 2km time trial (for context, Matt Rowell ran 6:17 at the combine a couple of years ago). His best game to date has been the 23 disposal, 25 hit-out match against Tasmania back in April in which he was the dominant big man on the ground. If the Hawks select Ramsden, he could be one for the now and one for the future, with the potential to play games if Reeves/Lynch can’t this season, but also being able to develop at VFL as the number 1 ruck there.
Connor Ballenden
Ballenden has been linked by various media outlets as a potential target for a number of clubs, including the Hawks. The former Brisbane Lion big man has had a great start to the year in the SANFL and would surely solidify the Hawks tall man stocks, with his ability to play as a ruck/forward a gap in the Hawthorn list currently. If Reeves is back in a week or two, is it worth using a pick on a short-term solution like Ballenden over a long-term option like Ramsden or a different position altogether like Carmichael or Blanck? We’ll let McKenzie and his team make that decision.
