SPORT Burton’s coming of age
THEY were big shoes to fill, but Ryan Burton wasn’t swimming in them.
First, Grant Birchall copped a fractured jaw in Round 3 and later a knee injury in Round 8. Then James Frawley (toe) and Ben Stratton (knee) both went down in Round 9.
In the space of a fortnight in 2017, nearly 600 games of AFL experience and eight premierships vanished from Hawthorn’s starting 22.
A South Australian kid recruited as a forward a little more than 12 months earlier was assigned the defensive act almost impossible to follow. This was a youngster who had slid down the 2015 draft order because his broken leg was so horrific his surgeon said the bone was “not in fragments, it was in dust”.
But after being overlooked in last year’s season-opener, Burton won the Rising Star nomination the next week and played every game up until Round 23 in a consistently composed campaign.
Chucked in the deep end, the versatile tall swam to a fourth-place finish in the best and fairest.
Cool and composed on the field, the quietly-spoken 21year-old is no different off it.
And as we sit outside a Hawthorn cafe beneath a huge mural with his face on it, it’s easy to see why this is a young man Hawthorn has quickly developed so much faith in. One who has been earmarked as a leader and who was bestowed with Sam Mitchell’s No.5 jumper.
“I ’ m not the kind of person to put my hand up to say I’ll do this stuff ... but I’m happy to. It’s a bit different — my big head on the side of a building,” Burton smiled.
“I feel like the club has put me up for a few things like this. In terms of leading the club it’s not something that’s at the forefront of my mind or anything. I just try to do my role on the weekend and help out wherever I can during the week. “At the moment I’m still trying to cement my spot.” Touted in early 2015 as a potential No.1 pick, Burton’s knee injury and subsequent slip from prominence meant he arrived via pick 19 to a Hawks side fresh from three consecutive premierships. Injury and his team’s strength meant the debut was delayed, but Burton has spent the first two years of his career nurtured by excellence. Luke Hodge, Josh Gibson, Jordan Lewis, Jarryd Roughead, Mitchell and on it goes. “It helped me in a way, because at another club I would have been their first pick or second pick and thrown straight in and I would have needed to play straight away and adopt a big role,” he said. “But Hawthorn didn’t need that. They had no holes to fill and they just took their time with me which was probably the best thing.” A glut of premiership stars have since moved on. Combine that with last year’s 12thplaced finish sprinkled with a few previously unheard of thrashings and 17 players turned over in the past two years and the critics have the recipe for the word “rebuild”. But Burton isn’t having it. “We don’t tend to listen what the media has to say when it comes to negative things like that about us as a club. “We’re confident in our list and it’s relatively healthy list. Some senior guys are coming back into a young side which held its own for the second half of last year.” GOALS BEST 6.0 7.3 12.8 15.10 5.2 8.5 10.8 11.12 INJURIES CROWD THE Western Bulldogs have given their fans hope that last year was an aberration, downing Hawthorn by 22 points in their JLT Series pre-season clash in Ballarat.
After a see-sawing first half, the Dogs broke away in the third quarter to prevail 15.10 (100) to 11.12 (78) in front of 4565 fans at Mars Stadium.
Looking to bounce back after missing the finals last sea- son for the first time since 2009, the Hawks led by 10 points at halftime but could only manage three goals in the second half.
The Dogs piled on five goals in the third term but lost veteran forward Liam Picken to concussion late in the quarter.
Picken was taken off the ground on a stretcher after a collision with teammate Josh Dunkley but did not need to go to hospital.
“He doesn’t know any other way, Picko. He’s just full on and wants to make a contest,” stand-in coach Daniel Giansiracusa said.
“We’ll assess him throughout the week so, hopefully, he’s all okay but at least he was up and about after it.”
It was otherwise smooth sailing for the 2016 premiers, who had plenty to prove after limping last season to a 10thplaced finish.
Reigning best-and-fairest winner Marcus Bontempelli (25 disposals, seven inside-50s) was typically prolific in the midfield, while Dunkley slotted three majors.
Hawks fans would have relished seeing the blistering speed on display from Port Adelaide recruit Jarman Impey.
“He’s going to be pretty electric for us,” coach Alastair Clarkson said.
“He’ll provide a pretty potent forward line when Cyril returns with (Paul Puopolo) and Lukey Breust.”