Hawks winners in "goodwill" games

Tim O'Brien was picked up by Hawthorn in the draft. Picture: Peter Argent Source: The Advertiser

FATE is a fickle thing when it comes to determining one's football future, particularly when confronted with the uncertainty of the draft.

And so it was last week when, as late as Wednesday, South Australian Tim O'Brien thought his first career move would keep him in Adelaide with the Crows.

That is until the Crows, embroiled in a Kurt Tippett-related salary cap scandal, handed in their first two draft picks in a "goodwill gesture'' it hoped would reduce the penalty it will inevitably suffer in the coming weeks.

O'Brien, who was likely destined to be selected with the Crows' pick No.20, was instead taken by Hawthorn's pick No.28 and as a result the 193cm forward was packing his bags for Melbourne.

"I did have a lot of contact with Adelaide,'' O'Brien said after completing his first training session at Waverley Park.

"But I was the same as everybody else, I didn't really know what was going on with them. It was a big thing when they lost their pick, I suppose.''

Draft Track: Complete profiles of every pick

Rather than dwell on what might have been, O'Brien said he could not have asked for a better result than landing at Hawthorn.

"I'd been talking to Hawthorn during the year and it was probably the club I wanted to go to the most,'' he said.

"It's just a great feeling around here. It's one of the older, more established clubs. There's a lot of great players to learn off, great leadership.''

If fellow Hawks recruit Kaiden Brand was nervous about where the football Gods would place him last week then he wasn't letting on.

Brand, also a key forward and also a South Australian, said he didn't get too caught up in the hype of draft day on Thursday.

"I had to work, so I was there most of the day,'' Brand, an apprentice electrician, said.

"Then I had Westies (West Adelaide) footy training, so I actually got a phone call when I was on my way home. I didn't get to watch (the draft).''

Asked what it was like to be able to hand in his resignation on Friday, Brand said: "It was a pretty good feeling''.
 

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