JONATHAN O'Rourke is wasting no time earning his stripes at Hawthorn, with the midfield recruit among the most impressive performers at the Hawks' pre-season training camp.
Injury partly restricted O'Rourke to just nine games in two seasons at Greater Western Sydney and the former No.2 draft pick knows he faces a challenge to break into the Hawks' best 22 next season.
But with the players in the midst of a gruelling eight-day camp on the Sunshine Coast, Hawthorn's head of fitness Andrew Russell said O'Rourke had grown in fitness and confidence by completing nearly every session since he crossed to Waverley.
"Some of the young guys have been really good and we've been really happy with what we've got out of them," Russell told the club's website.
"Jonathan O'Rourke, who came from GWS, has done almost everything since he's come to the club and he's building his confidence and getting into the group and we're really happy with how he's going."
The Hawks' squad is near full fitness heading into the Christmas break, allowing the coaching staff to get a heavy workload into the players at Mooloolaba.
Ruckman Marc Pittonet and small defender Teia Miles have adapted quickly to life in the AFL since they were picked up in last month's NAB AFL Draft, while second-year running machine Billy Hartung won acclaim from Sam Mitchell for his "absolutely outstanding" efforts on Monday.
However, the veteran onballer's training intensity hasn't gone unnoticed either.
"We've got some old boys in the group but they're not slowing down," Russell said.
"Sam Mitchell is training as well as I've ever seen him, Grant Birchall is in excellent shape and David Hale hasn't missed a beat at all – just to name a few – but there's a lot of guys that are really moving well."
The Hawks have interspersed brutal running sessions with boxing, circuit work on the beach, weights and skills sessions during the camp, which Russell said was a crucial part of Hawthorn's tilt at a premiership three-peat.
"Physically there's no doubt it really sets up our year," he said.
Track star Billy Hartung with a medicine ball. Picture: hawthornfc.com.au
"We want to challenge them physically, but with that then comes the mental challenge of being able to back up with high workloads, high stress on the body and fatigue because the AFL season is a tough, long, hard slog.
"It's like a marathon and they have to be able to mentally back up week after week after week, so this is just the start of that."
New recruit James Frawley working the ropes. Picture: hawthornfc.com.au
