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The Hawks were busy on Wednesday night in the 2022 Mid-Season Draft, bringing two tall and athletic players into the club, and I have no doubt that Mark McKenzie and his team will be happy with their work.
Hawthorn welcomed athletic ruckman Max Ramsden with the sixth pick in the MSD, and quickly followed that selection with the very popular choice of James Blanck with Pick 20. With the picks, the Hawks instantly got an injection of height - Ramsden sitting at 202cm and Blanck coming in at 195cm.
This might be the case of one for the future and one for the now.
Max Ramsden
An avid Hawks supporter (don’t we love drafting Hawks these days, and long may it continue) Ramsden has all the tools recruiters look for in a developing ruck prospect.
He’s tall, long and has fluidity with his movement. Ramsden looks as good when the ball is on the deck as he does when he’s attacking it in the air. As mentioned in the MSD preview, Ramsden is an incredible runner, clocking in a fantastic 2km time trial run of 6:04 as the most recent testing.
He might not be seen at AFL level for some time, as he will need to do some filling out over time, but he addresses a major list need and projects as a serious long-term option for the Hawks – and Clint Proctor won’t mind having a Hawthorn listed ruckman at his disposal at Box Hill either.
James Blanck
The Hawks love a feel-good story, and James Blanck is definitely one of those. The local boy who has come up through the pathway from Eastern Ranges to Box Hill and now onto Hawthorn’s list, Blanck is proof that if you put in the time and effort, you can be rewarded.
Blanck is a mobile lockdown defender who reads the ball well in flight and doesn’t mind coming off his man to take an intercept mark. Blanck has a legitimate chance to make his debut this weekend with Sam Frost suspended, and if he does it will be an incredible rise for the 21-year-old who helps to add to the Hawks key defensive stocks for the short and long term.
Blanck is also an Everton fan, which means nothing other than the fact he is now Darren Levin’s favourite Hawk.
There shouldn’t be any pressure on either of Ramsden or Blanck to do anything other than continue to develop over the course of 2022.
Ramsden will get his first taste of VFL action in coming weeks and that in itself will be a big step up from the NAB League and will take some time for him to adjust to.
Blanck is further advanced and may see some time at Hawthorn before the season is out, and if he does it will be another MSD success story for the Hawks.