Connor MacDonald was delighted to start his AFL journey on Wednesday night, but it was a “shock” which club drafted him.
The Hawks grabbed the youngster at pick 26 of the AFL National Draft earlier this week, with the hope he can add some grunt around stoppages for the club’s shallow midfield.
He averaged just under 30 disposals for the Dandenong Stingrays in his four NAB League appearances in 2021 and is renowned as a good decision-maker.
Hailing from Haileybury Grammar, his coach, Matthew Lloyd, couldn’t believe the Hawks had selected MacDonald.
“Connor MacDonald… who went to Hawthorn at pick 26, (I’m) shocked he went to Hawthorn because he had so many clubs keen and they didn’t give much away at all, but they played the poker hand and got in before Carlton was about to take him,” Lloyd told Sportsday.
Sportsday co-host Gerard Healy then asked the draftee to confirm if it was a “surprise” when the Hawks swooped.
“Yeah, exactly right,” MacDonald replied.
“They played a straight bat very well throughout the year, they kept their cards close to their chest and didn’t give too much away, so I wasn’t really expecting it and it was a bit of a shock, so I’m very excited to get started.
“They certainly did their homework and played it very well.”
Despite the shock, the 18-year-old holds no bad blood with his new club.
Hawks coach Sam Mitchell presented him with his jumper and MacDonald enjoyed their short interaction.
“He rocked up to my manager's house last night (Thursday night) and presented me with a jumper, so that was really awesome,” MacDonald said.
“I just noticed that he was really laid back and could have a joke but then also very serious at the same time, that’s one thing that stood out to me.
“He said, ‘Training first thing Saturday morning, enjoy this now and be excited for the next opportunity and it’ll all start pretty quickly’.
“Obviously his story, he had to work really hard and come in the back door, (he) certainly didn’t come in the front door, he probably had a lot of setbacks and had to work pretty hard.
“So, I think that’s one thing that I took away, just from having a five to ten minute chat to him.”
MacDonald joins Josh Ward, Sam Butler and Jai Serong as the others selected by Hawthorn in the National Draft.