WHEN Hawthorn drafted Luke Lowden at the end of 2008, he was seen as such a long-term project that they let him spend his first season as an AFL player lining up for his school, Caulfield Grammar.
In between taking taxis to and from Hawthorn's Waverley Park base after school some days, Lowden trained with Caulfield but he was given as much time as possible to develop.
The Hawks even allowed him to delay shoulder surgery so he could eke out a few more games for Caulfield, where he had grown to love after joining as a boarder from Shepparton.
That was six years ago. On Saturday, after seasons interrupted by injury and the usual ups and downs, Lowden will make his AFL debut for the Hawks against West Coast.
Everyone thought the scrawny-but-skillful ruckman might take a while, but few believed he would become the longest-serving current player in the competition without a senior game.
"The Hawks knew it would be a long-term thing, but I didn't think it would take this long," says Greg Meredith, Lowden's former first XVIII coach at Caulfield Grammar.
"But I reckon the big players do it hard in the AFL, I really do. There's so much asked of them physically and not many of the real big guys are born to do all of that physical stuff. Some of them have to learn it and I think that's been the case with him.
"He's had some bad luck with injuries because they've stopped him at times when you thought he was just going to get going. But the Hawks kept him.
"Every week I read his reports from Box Hill in the VFL and it says the same things: dominated the ruck, played well forward. I'm glad they're playing him."
Meredith remembers the first thing that struck him about Lowden when he arrived at the school on a scholarship – "Just how bloody big he was!" – but that didn't necessarily compute with how Lowden played.
"It was funny because he was so tall but at that stage he wasn't much of a ruckman. As a forward he would take your breath away at times because he could run out and pick the ball off the ground with one hand as if he was 5-foot-10 but he was 204cm," Meredith said.
"He played more like a ruck rover than a ruckman in those days."
When Chris Pelchen and the Hawthorn recruiting team visited to meet Lowden and his parents were unable to make it, Meredith sat in on the interview, proud of the way Lowden took in the experience.
"It was pretty confronting. They put him under a lot pressure and I thought he handled it really well," he said.
Lowden is part of a strong link between the prestigious Melbourne private school and successful club.
The origins are bound in a friendship between Pelchen and Caulfield's football director and former Richmond and Hawthorn star, Barry Rowlings.
"A lot of recruiting blokes ring you up and say 'How's this bloke going?' or 'How's that bloke going?' and Chris used to keep an eye on them and I used to give him a rundown of all of the kids," Rowlings said.
The year before Lowden was selected with pick 63 in the national intake, they rookie-listed Grammarian Hugh Sandilands.
Taylor Duryea, himself made to earn his place in the current Hawthorn team, arrived a year behind Lowden, and two years after that came Jordan Kelly, a medium defender yet to debut but with some talent.
When the club was deciding which school to send relocated New Zealand recruit Kurt Heatherley, it was an easy choice. Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson is now a Caulfield Grammar parent.
"I've asked 'Clarko' a few times, 'What are you going to do with Lowden?' and he kept saying 'He'll be right, he'll be right'," said Meredith, who checks the AFL teams every Thursday night and was pleasantly surprised when he saw Lowden's name in the Hawks team.
Lowden's story is littered with little setbacks. There have been injuries – among them shoulder, thumb, wrist and groin issues – and the day-to-day grind.
"The whole footy thing was initially all a bit much for him. It's taken him a while to get a handle on that. He's not the only one there, a lot of kids take time with that, especially big kids," Meredith said.
And then there has been a pecking order within the club.
Since Lowden was drafted by the Hawks, 10 ruckmen have been picked ahead of him: David Hale, Ben McEvoy, Jonathon Ceglar, Wayde Skipper, Max Bailey, Robert Campbell, Brent Renouf, Jarryd Roughead, Broc McCauley, Paul Johnson.
There was even a game where Luke Hodge rucked in lieu of any other options.
But after an impressive finish to last year in the VFL with premiers Box Hill, and a solid start to this season, Lowden was close.
With McEvoy (hamstring) and Hale (quad) out injured, Lowden will take the duties against Eagles pair Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox.
"Maybe that's all Luke needs, an opportunity," Rowlings said. "He's got a lot harder, a lot stronger since those school days. His apprenticeship has been a long one, but I hope he grabs his chance."
