MITCHELL Lewis was a 198cm punchline when he arrived on the AFL scene in the weeks after Hawthorn offloaded premiership stars Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis.
The Hawks' recruiters either had a great sense of humour or Lewis was too tantalising a prospect not to take – despite the publicity his selection would attract – with the second-last pick of the 2016 draft.
We now know the latter is true.
Lewis' first season ended early when he required a shoulder reconstruction, but nine bags of three goals or more in the VFL in 2018 among his 38 in total established him as Jarryd Roughead's likely successor.
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His emergence, perhaps, even made missing out on ex-Suns star Tom Lynch easier to take, knowing there was at least a quality young key forward in the wings.
Lewis, who played two AFL games this year, took barely a week off after playing in Box Hill's VFL Grand Final triumph in late September before turning his attention to the 2019 season.
That diligence, on top of his new habit of dumping scoops of protein into his after-dinner yoghurt, is already evident in his bigger physique.
"I've put on probably 3kg since the VFL Grand Final, so I've been working pretty hard – probably a bit too hard," the 20-year-old told AFL.com.au.
"A few of the boys have been getting stuck into me because I didn't really go on a holiday, but probably a week after the Grand Final I was getting stuck back into it, with a pretty heavy diet and stuff like that.
"I'm just trying to get the best out of my body to prepare for this pre-season, and I feel like I've done that."
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Lewis is one of the young Hawks trekking the Kokoda Track this week, a gruelling experience he expected would bond an "already pretty tight-knit" group even more.
He credited finding common ground with his Hawthorn teammates on the golf course as a key plank in his breakout campaign.
"I think it was just becoming comfortable within the group," Lewis said.
"It takes a while when you first go into the club to find where your friendship group is, and I've found that with the boys who play golf and there are probably 10 or 15 of us.
"Getting out with those older guys, like Luke Breust, Jack Gunston and 'Sis' (James Sicily), helped me bond with them and feel more comfortable on the track and means I can be myself a bit more.
"That's come out in my footy, which is good."
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The composition of the Hawks' forward line will provide fascination ahead of round one since Chad Wingard's recruitment and the addition of another small forward in Darren Minchington.
Lewis will likely see himself battling it out with Ryan Schoenmakers and Jon Ceglar for one spot to partner Roughead alongside fellow forwards Breust, Gunston and Paul Puopolo.
"I see myself as a second ruck as well, so if they need me to play that role, I'm more than happy to split forward and ruck, so I just pretty much do whatever Clarko (Alastair Clarkson) tells me," he said.
"I'm genuinely excited about what's to come. I've really set myself for the 2019 season and hopefully it's everything I envisage it to be.
"All I've got to do now is work hard this off-season then hopefully play a few of the pre-season games and put my best foot forward."
