FOR YOUNG Hawk Jarryd Morton, breaking into the senior side came at the end of a well-formulated plan to develop a "trick" to his game that made him stand out.

The 19-year-old from Western Australia took time to slow down and think about the type of player he needed to become in order to get a game with his new club after being drafted in 2006.

After playing the majority of his junior football as a key forward, the 190cm Morton decided, with the firepower the Hawks already possess, he wasn't going to be used primarily as a marking goal-kicker.

At the start of this year's pre-season, Morton set his sights on claiming a role in the middle, and developing an element to his game that would make it hard for selectors to go past him each week.

"When I got drafted, I spent a lot of time observing, and then I realised that if I worked a lot on my running, my aerobic capacity and my speed, I could be one of the better runners at Hawthorn," Morton told afl.com.au, after claiming the round 13 NAB AFL Rising Star nomination.

"That's what I did. I think at this level, you have to have a trick and I thought; 'hang on, maybe I can have that as my trick, being able to run like an elite midfielder but have a few centimetres on me'.

"I worked hard on that and things have happened from there."

Morton said he still considers himself a forward, but is more than happy to take his place in the side as a tall wingman, given his improved running abilities.

He's also happy to concede that playing solely in attack is not how the side will best benefit from his talents.

"I played my junior football as a key forward but, at this level, 190cm is probably neither here nor there – it's the middle height," he said.

"You spend a lot of time thinking about where you're playing and (where) your opportunity will be, and I had a look at the forward line and thought; 'I'm at the bottom of the pecking order'.

"The midfield - I thought I'd give it a go because I know I have the engine, or I could have the engine, to be able to play there and have an impact."

Morton is the second oldest of three brothers, all currently listed AFL players. Older brother Mitch (21) plays for Richmond, and younger sibling Cale (18) for Melbourne.

With just three years separating the trio, Morton said the bond between the siblings runs very deep. He credits their dual arrival in Melbourne at the start of 2008 as the cure to his homesickness, and also believes his older sibling is the reason he has an AFL career at all.

"Mitch was always the jet footballer as a youngster, and I was just an average under-age footballer making up the numbers," he said.

"When Mitch got father-son to West Coast and made his debut in his first season, I thought; 'I'm going to give that a crack'.

"From there, I pulled my finger out a bit and had that as my goal."

Playing for opposing teams has done little to weaken the bond between the three. If anything, it has brought them closer, according to Morton.

Rather than entertain the idea of the three eventually playing for the one club, Morton believes things are just fine the way they are.

"I think at this stage of our lives, as far as where we are as footballers, we're still finding our own feet," he said.

"It's not like any one of us is a senior player at any one club. We're all still young, but I think we're all happy with where we're at club-wise. I can't see any of that changing in the near future."