Hawthorn Hawks

Pair of youngsters set to stay in Hawks’ nest

The duo of 19-year-olds have earned renewals from the Waverley Park side.

Published by
Ed Carmine

Teenaged Hawks Jackson Callow and Jack Saunders are set to remain at Waverley Park after the duo inked separate deals on Wednesday.

While the pair of 19-year-olds are yet to make their AFL debuts, the Hawks' commitment to finding and fostering young talent has been further entrenched with both Callow and Saunders signing one-year rookie contracts.

The news of their renewals was made public via an official statement from the club that was released just after 4:00pm AEST.

Callow first joined the brown and gold fold halfway through the 2021 season following Hawthorn's decision to part with the 17th selection of the mid-season rookie draft to secure his services.

After crossing over from SANFL side Norwood, the Tasmanian key forward prospect's contested marking ability was said to have impressed incoming coach Sam Mitchell throughout his few VFL appearances for Box Hill.

Whilst arriving earlier than Callow, Saunders also made the leap across from Norwood.

Having also made an impact at the reserves level during his eight appearances last season, Hawthorn outwardly claimed that the South Australian midfielder possesses an ability to run with pace for all four-quarters.

Within said statement, the club's Head of Football, Rob McCartney, claimed he was keen to continue watching the pair's development.

“We’ve been impressed with both of these boys’ desire to learn and improve across their first years with us,” McCartney said.

“Jackson trained with us over the pre-season and, when we didn’t pick him up in the pre-season draft, he went away, worked on his game and bettered himself ahead of the mid-season draft.

“Similarly, Jack came to the club with a bit of an injury but his commitment to his craft really shone through towards the back half of the year when we started to see some real development in his game.

“It’s an exciting time for the club with our list now set ahead of the national draft in which we have three picks inside the top 25."

With the ability to hit the track and stake their claim for a senior position just around the corner, the former Redlegs will be keen to put their best foot forward across the pre-season period.

Hawthorn has previously suggested that their first-to-fourth year players will commence the arduous stretch of training from 22 November.

 

Published by
Ed Carmine