What’s in a name seems to be the operative principle guiding the Hawthorn Hawks as they prepare for the national and rookie draft that will impact the 2018 AFL Premiership competition.
The Hawks have decided not to pursue father-son selection for Devlin Brereton, son of Dermott Brereton, who played 11 seasons for the Hawks from 1982 – 1992 before spending the last two seasons of his AFL tenure with the Sydney Swans and the Collingwood Magpies.
The same is true for James Langford, whose dad Chris Langford played 303 games for Hawthorn between 1983 and 1997.
The younger Brereton was scrutinised by Hawthorn during the season while he was playing forward in some games with the Sandringham Dragons, where he was clocked amongst the elite with a speedy 20-metre sprint time. This past year, he was the captain of the side for Xavier College.
Rather than the two with the familiar surnames, they will set their caps on the hope of getting Next Generation Academy prospect Changkuoth Jiath as a Category B rookie. That move exposes Jiath to bids by other clubs, much the same process as that involved with father-son selections.
Jiath also played for Xavier College as a forward, along with stints with the Gippsland Power in the TAC Cup and Vic Country in the Under 18s Championships.
His figures are not exactly the stuff of dreams, but he did impress scouts with the capacity to make contributions across the ground.
“We’ve been working closely with ‘CJ’ (Jiath) throughout the year, and have been happy with his development,” Hawthorn recruiting and list manager Graham Wright told the club website.“He’s very versatile. He can kick goals while playing across half-forward, break the lines on the wing and occasionally run through the midfield,” Wright told Fox Footy.
The Hawks will now be focusing on whether to take Jiath with the national or the rookie draft and which pick to use to select him.
