A pre-season replicating a former teammate and now AFL-listed player has laid the foundation for a year which has put Hawthorn Next Generation Academy prospect Keenan Boi on the AFL Draft radar.
The Gippsland native is tied to Hawthorn's Academy through his Mum's Indigenous heritage and Dad's Mauritian heritage.
He has averaged 16 disposals and two goals in the Talent League as a dynamic and powerful goalsneak and was arguably Vic Country's best in two of the three games he played.
It comes after he reached out to first year Melbourne player and Gippsland Power alumni Tom Matthews late last year.
“I knew Tom had a strong pre-season leading into his top-aged year last year and I knew I had a lot to work on,” Boi admitted to Zero Hanger.
“I wasn't the fittest and wasn't in the gym much so I text Tom and asked: “what did you do, how did you do it, how did you train, how much did you train, what did you eat?” and got as much info as I could out of him.
“He set himself up shape and mind very well. I took a leaf out of his book and went to work.
“I shot him a text and he was really good and gave me everything he did and that helped me a lot and I've stayed consistent with it even when there are distractions. He said if you stay consistent it will work for you. And I stuck to what he told me to do.”
The upshot? Boi is running more than 12 kilometres per game this year, having peaked at about nine kilometres on good days last year. That added endurance has maximised his influence on the game.
Boi has always had the goal-scoring ability regardless what level he is playing – last month playing senior footy for Warragul, he kicked two goals from the arc and won a Zambrero for kicking goal of the day. He would have won two if two were on offer.
But he's rounded that out with a sturdier underbelly of forward skills, with the added endurance providing another dimension to his game: pressure.
“Growing up in juniors I never knew what tackling or pressure was because I would never really do it,” Boi said.
“I learned how to do the defensive stuff last year. I had to base my game off to hold my spot and now it's one of the stronger points of my game.”
Boi, who has so far spoken to 10 AFL clubs, has trained with Hawthorn's VFL affiliate Box Hill late in the season.
He has also been around the Kennedy Community Centre every Monday night throughout the year and spent two separate week-blocks training with Hawthorn's AFL side in pre-season which has sharpened him ahead of a breakthrough year.
While he has flown largely under the radar this year, he is viewed in the top rung of small forwards available, arguably trailing only Sandringham's George Dimer, Western Bulldogs-tied Khaled El Souki and teammate Marlon Neocleous of players in his position.
“Being at Hawthorn was an experience like no other; you see these guys on TV and now you're training with them. You watch what they do and how important it is to prioritise things like recovery, vision and preparation which was cool to see.
“Getting knowledge off (Connor MacDonald, Nick Watson and Jack Ginnivan) about where to place myself off a front and centre was important and I worked closely with Jack Gunston about my set shot routine and he helped me fix my ball drop because there were critiques around that.
“I've got a much more set out routine which is as you're meant to and I have hardly kicked any set shot behinds this year.”
Boi is one of six Hawthorn-tied prospects strongly on the AFL Draft radar across the 2026, 2027 and 2028 drafts, which provides an intriguing sub-plot as the Hawks chase several high profile players in the trade space including Ben King and Zach Merrett.
Oakleigh defender Zane Adams is a first round prospect next year, while Gippsland pair Charlie Fischer, an Issac Quaynor-style defender who can also play as a goalsneak, and tall swingman Henry Allsopp, are all in the draft reckoning next year.
The dynamic Hudson Brown is one of the leading 2028 prospects, having starred at under-16s level for Vic Country this year.
And then there is Cooper Hodge this year if he chooses to nominate Hawthorn as a father-son prospect, but he also has the option of nominating Brisbane as an Academy player – regardless, he shapes as a selection later in the draft.
Boi's Gippsland Power coach Kris Pendlebury has been taken by the Academy prospect's ability to keep his feet at stoppage and power through which has been the source of several of his goals this year.
“He's really quick and powerful: they're the two areas that are AFL level,” his Gippsland Power coach Kris Pendlebury told Zero Hanger earlier in the year.
“I don't think I've ever seen him lose his feet when he's over those groundballs,” Pendlebury exclaimed.
“He seems to be strong through the hips and can break through a tackle and he's good at keeping the ball alive in front of him to give him opportunities to swoop on a groundball and his ability to get the ball to his foot is really impressive.
“I think the high forward suits his running and he's a really good field kick."
A conversation with Pendlebury after the first month of the season proved to be the tonic which elevated his output.
Boi started the season strongly, but short of where he could have been given his immense talent and hard work in pre-season.
“I started the year slowly. I wasn't anywhere near the standard of footy I wanted to play and then reset after the Vic Country trial (in April), I reset and have hit the ground running which was good.
“I sat in (coach Kris Penldebury's) office, became vulnerable, explained my concerns and thoughts and he helped me formulate a plan around how I was improving and how to improve.
“It was around not riding the highs and the lows and staying on the highs all the time because that's not how footy works and staying really level and taking it as it comes and sitting in the moment and doing what's required at the time.
“Before that, I was worried about what I had to do. Being my top age year, I thought I had to have certain numbers and was worrying about the draft constantly whereas ‘Kritta' brought it back to the fact it's just footy and I play because I love it and take it as it comes which has benefitted me a lot.
“In general, my footy has spiralled up since then. I feel like I've been on a gradual trajectory and never looked back like I used to. I'm just staying in that level space.”
Now with an extended body of work behind him and also having proven his capabilities as a pinch-hitter in the midfield, the AFL interest he worried so significantly about, has come in a wave.
As for the prospect of lining up alongside Nick Watson and Jack Ginnivan and having a packed out MCG?
“Ever since I was little, I've always had this vision that I want to play AFL footy and it's never changed.
"I've always been driven to do it and I've worked so hard to get there now so it's becoming more and more realistic by the day.
"It's exciting to watch at home on the TV so I think about lining up along side 'Ginni' and 'Wiz' and those sort of players for sure.
"I was a big Cyril Rioli guy when I was younger. He's my wallpaper on my phone. I watched him growing up a lot and I watch his highlights all the time."
