Hawthorn will field a strong team when it takes on Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium on Thursday night in the NAB Challenge. Of the 29 player squad, 13 premiership players from 2013 have been selected.
New Zealand rookie Kurt Heatherley will join his fellow 2013 recruits Ben McEvoy, Ben Ross and Billy Hartung in their first game in the brown and gold. Heatherley was identified as a footballing talent in NZ and played for junior NZ and Oceania/South Pacific representative teams before being awarded an International Scholarship by Hawthorn.
After relocating to Melbourne to complete his secondary schooling and playing school football and with Sandringham in the TAC Cup, Hawthorn were able to officially add Heatherley to their playing list at the end of 2013. Heatherley has spent plenty of time at the club over the past few years and now will get to join his clubmates in action in this first round of warmup matches leading into the 2014 season.
Hawthorn v Brisbane Lions NAB Challenge Round 1 Thursday 13 February 7.10pm, Etihad Stadium
| Hawthorn Squad: | Brisbane Lions squad: | ||
| 2. Jarryd Roughead | 2. Ryan Harwood | ||
| 3. Jordan Lewis | 4. James Aish | ||
| 4. Matt Suckling | 5. Jack Crisp | ||
| 5. Sam Mitchell | 6. Josh Green | ||
| 7. Ben McEvoy | 8. Rohan Bewick | ||
| 8. Taylor Duryea | 13. Trent West | ||
| 9. Shaun Burgoyne | 15. Dayne Zorko | ||
| 10. Bradley Hill | 18. Nicholas Robertson | ||
| 13. Kyle Cheney | 19. Jordan Lisle | ||
| 16. Isaac Smith | 22. Marco Paparone | ||
| 18. Jonathon Ceglar | 25. Daniel McStay | ||
| 19. Jack Gunston | 26. Tom Cutle | ||
| 20. David Hale | 29. Andrew Raines | ||
| 21. Ben Ross | 31. James Polkinghorne | ||
| 22. Luke Breust | 32. Sam Mayes | ||
| 23. Tim O’Brien | 33. Michael Close | ||
| 26. Liam Shiels | 34. Jonathan Freeman | ||
| 28. Paul Puopolo | 35. Ryan Lester | ||
| 29. Will Langford | 36. Matt Maguire | ||
| 30. Luke Lowden | 37. Patrick Wearden | ||
| 31. Angus Litherland | 38. Tom Rockliff | ||
| 32. Jonathan Simpkin | 40. Isaac Conway | ||
| 33. Cyril Rioli | 41. Mitch Golby | ||
| 35. Sam Grimley | 42. Justin Clarke | ||
| 36. Derick Wanganeen | 43. Nicholas Hayes | ||
| 38. Mitch Hallahan | 44. Archie Smith | ||
| 39. Alex Woodward | 45. Jordon Bourke | ||
| 40. Billy Hartung | 46. Sam Michael | ||
| 46. Kurt Heatherley | 47. Zachary O'Brien |
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