Massimo stakes his claim for round one
A great performance against the Dogs at the Whitten Oval has Massimo D'Ambrosio inching towards a round one berth against his old club
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In what has been an increasingly impressive pre-season from Bomber recruit Massimo D’Ambrosio, the former Don says he is ready to slot into Hawthorn’s round one team.
The fact that he would be playing former team Essendon in the opening round of the season would simply be a bonus.
D’Ambrosio was a standout in Friday’s practice match agains the Bulldogs finishing the game with 26 disposals and four inside 50’s and looked silky and composed with the ball.
While he wasn’t the big-name, back-page recruit doing the rounds like Ben McKay from North Melbourne at the end of last season, the fact that D’Ambsoio nominated Hawthorn was telling.
Still early in our journey to become an AFL on-field powerhouse once more, the ‘destination club’ status is something we striving for with an eye on landing a big fish in the future.
But in D’Ambrosio we managed to pick up a 20-year old who in a season-and-a-half of AFL football (he was recruited in the 2022 mid-season rookie draft), managed to eke out 16 games with the Bombers.
And when he gave his first public interview after the move, he put on record a confident forecast for what he thinks he can bring to our team:
“I look at players like Errol Gulden and Josh Daicos this year,
and I feel like I can have an impact like they can.”
Heading into the pre-season most Hawk fans expected that D’Ambrosio would start the season as merely a squad player – with plenty of work to do to even get a look-in at our starting 2024 line up.
What has followed has been a consistent pre-season where the quality of his delivery by foot has been getting more than just a passing mention as he looks to make a role at half back or on a wing his own.
With the current injury curse claiming Changkouth Jiath and with Karl Amon moving to the backline, a role on the wing is currently on the table, and his performance against the Dogs on Friday has made him a near round one certain starter.
D’Ambrosio told Hawks Insiders that it took him some time to settle in at his new club, but now that he is fully immersed with his new surrounds and teammates he is feeling better than ever.
“I’m feeling really good - I think I have settled in now and I really feel comfortable with all the boys, so that makes it a lot easier,” he said.
“I think it translates onto the field now that I'm feeling a lot more comfortable. I can start ramping up and do more things with my game and learn a lot more with the boys.
“So I'm really feeling at home and can't wait to get into games.”
D’Ambrosio admitted that the injury situation meant that spots were up for grabs for a number of players at the club and that he will continue to work hard to learn his craft to benefit the team.
“CJ is such an important player to for us, and him going down was very unfortunate,” he admitted.
“We don't want to see that because he has put in a great block of work, he went overseas as well to get all that fixed and he's done everything right, so it was a bit unfortunate for him and we're wishing him all the best in his recovery and we'll get around him.
“With the wing role, I think it opens up a spot for anyone really. I'm just looking forward to continuing to learn that role and half back a little bit as well, and hopefully I can fit into the team.”
Handed the number 16 which in the past (think Lachie Bramble and he-who-shall-still-not-be-named) has been taken by wingmen, the Point Cook product will be happy to play in any position.
He is very much hoping he gets the opportunity to run out against his former club Essendon when we take them on in the opening round.
“I think both the half-back and wing roles are suited to my skillset and I've been training a bit of both. So wherever it fits for the team I will be happy to play, so we'll see what happens.
“Round one will be interesting playing against my old team – I know all the guys so it will be interesting, so hopefully I can play but I'm not really looking too far ahead.
“I'm just taking it day by day and continuing to keep learning and building with the boys.”
Some more performances like we saw yesterday will not only get him into our starting 22, but perhaps make him a key addition to our next premiership tilt.
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Aside from the obvious reported upsides provided by Hustwaite and Mckenzie, there is always room for elite ball users in the team such as D’Ambrosio. So, on that alone, he is a definite lock. What dismayed me the most about the game was the simple skill and execution errors.
Keith, I agree with you 100%. We made some terrible mistakes that resulted in Bulldogs goals and denied us the opportunity to set up scoring opportunities. Whatever issues we have with game plan, running the ball out of defence, forward structure etc., if we make elementary mistakes, we will struggle to be competitive and this was the case last year. The other frustrating thing about that game was the number of times our kicks inside 50 were marked by Bulldogs' defenders. It will take time for our forward to get organised as it's a new group with a new coach, but we have to minimise opposition marks in our forward 50. Massimo is young, has a big asset in his kicking and is a far superior option than Harry Morrison.