UNFAZED by the stampede of AFL clubs looking to discover the next Jim Stynes or Tadhg Kennelly in Ireland, Hawthorn has instead put its energy into cultivating a new crop of talent in New Zealand.

After signing gifted teenager Kurt Heatherley to an international scholarship over a year ago, the club recently added key position prospect Rhys Panui-Leth and has yet another recruit waiting in the wings.

"We really looked closely at a lot of areas to determine where we were best suited to focus our resources and rather than just trailing down the Irish path, we felt that New Zealand really just suited us better," national recruiting manager Graham Wright says.

"Obviously it's a lot closer from a geographic perspective, so from that point of view it makes sense and culturally there are a lot of similarities between the two countries.

"We also looked at the Irish guys, and there have been some successes no doubt, but we found there was probably a lot more of a 'go-home' factor with them and that the investment seemed to be a lot more involved in terms of actually getting a result."

The Hawks aren't just casting a speculative line to see what they pull out either.

The club spent five days in the country for a pre-season training camp before Christmas and signed a three-year development deal with AFL New Zealand 12 months ago to promote the code as well as its own brand.

"It is a bit of a hard sell because the All Blacks do drive most sporting interests over there, but we've found that our game resonates well with families in New Zealand," Wright says.

"Obviously union is a rough sort of sport and if you're not that really big, stocky body type then you're going to battle to survive. We're giving guys who are a bit leaner and taller a viable alternative."

Wright is hopeful he's hit a bullseye in his first attempt with Heatherley, who stands at 195cm and captained the national under-16 basketball team as a 15-year-old.

"We know he's a really gifted athlete and we feel that he's got a real chance to push on," he says.

"Kurt's made amazing progress in the time he's been with us. When we signed him he'd never kicked an AFL ball, so the improvement in 14 months has been unbelievable.

"His kicking has come on enormously over the last six months in particular as our guys have gone over there to work with him.

"He's got an enormous upside but it comes down to whether, over this next two or three-year period, we can develop him to a level to come onto our AFL list. That's something we're obviously hopeful of, but there are no guarantees."

Heatherley's January birthdate means he won't be eligible to be primary-listed by the club until the 2013 season, but as a measure of its sincerity Hawthorn will relocate the youngster to Melbourne this year where he will attend Caulfield Grammar.

"The advantage that we feel we've got is that we have him at such a young age," Wright says.

"We're also quite happy for him to play other sports because we feel that helps his development.

"Basketball is where we found him and we don't want to take him straight out of that, but he will be immersed in a footy program and will come out to Waverley once a week.

"We've got some really high hopes for Kurt."

Whether Heatherley makes it to the elite level or not, the Hawks are confident they're onto a winner with their trans-Tasman experiment.

"I think the sky's the limit. We're really open to what the possibilities are in New Zealand," Wright says.

"Our feeling right from the start was that there are four or so million people in a sports-mad country and we're sure there are at least some of them who are good enough to play our game at the top level.

"It's just a matter of finding them. We've dipped our toe in the water at this stage and we're hoping to take it to another level.

"Where it goes we're not sure just yet, but we're certainly committed to going through the process over the next few years."