Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson and Denver Grainger-Barras had built up rapport before the young key defender was drafted to the Hawks.
Grainger-Barras, who hails from Western Australia, was selected by Hawthorn with pick No.6 in the 2020 AFL Draft – the club’s first top 10 draft pick in over a decade.
In a zoom meeting leading up to the draft, the 18-year-old recalls Clarkson’s first impressions of him and that he’s offered to take the four-time premiership coach out for breakfast when he lands in Victoria.
“I remember we had a zoom call a while ago,” Grainger-Barras told SEN Mornings.
“He opened up the zoom and the first thing he (Clarkson) said to me was, ‘You look like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo’. I thought that was rather funny.
“I sent him a photo from a couple of years ago with long hair and I looked exactly like Shaggy.
“He flicked me a message saying, ‘Congratulations mate, you’re the only person in history to have a nickname six weeks before you’ve been drafted’, which was so funny to hear from Clarko.
“It was amazing to have a laugh and I offered him out to breakfast when I get over there, so I’m really excited to go over and pick his brains a little bit more.”
Standing at 195cm, Grainger-Barras’s intercept marking impressed recruiters when playing for WAFL club Swans Districts last season.