THE DEVIL is always in the detail when it comes to Hawthorn's Next Generation Academy* prospect Tony Olango.

The numbers generally won't blow you away, unless you're referring to Olango's height (201cm) or his 20-metre sprint (2.94sec) and running vertical jump (91cm), which ranked top 10 at last year's NAB AFL Draft Combine.

Olango, who was born in a Kenyan refugee camp to Sudanese parents, is off Broadway in a sense, given that he lives, trains and plays in Darwin for Northern Territory Thunder.

The 18-year-old converted from soccer, where he was good enough to at one stage trial for the Glasgow Rangers, to Australian football three years ago and remains a project ruckman.

Olango's rawness – plus his injury history, including osteitis pubis, shin stress fractures and knee issues – scared off AFL recruiters in last year's drafts.

"It's something (not getting drafted) that will be hard to get over for anyone and you still get thoughts about it, but it does help me with motivation," he told AFL.com.au.

The Hawks successfully applied to have Olango as part of their NGA this year, once a rule change included Darwin in the catchment area to make the teenager eligible. The sports science student has since made three one-week trips to Melbourne to train with Hawthorn.

The most recent was three weeks ago, when Olango stayed with defender Kaiden Brand, played for Box Hill's development side and worked with ex-AFL big men Damian Monkhorst and Max Bailey.

"I live with the player for the week, living like an AFL player and seeing what it's like to be in the system – just training with the boys and being around elite players," he said.

"Box Hill was a really good experience, playing with the boys there. I enjoyed it and it's a different kind of footy as well. It's a hectic, crazy lifestyle, but a really good lifestyle, too."

What must have pleased the Hawks, including their NGA coach Nathan Foley, was Olango's impact in his next NEAFL match for Thunder on arriving in the NT.

He jumped all over his rival Redland ruckmen and added two nimble second-half goals – the first a checkside finish from a ruck spillage and the second a left-foot snap after crumbing. Olango's Thunder teammates spent the next week referring to him as Rioli rather than Olango.

"He started the season a bit later (because of a left knee injury) and his form has gradually got better as the year's gone on," Foley told AFL.com.au.

"His strength is his athleticism and the area of his game he still needs to improve is his game sense, because he picked up playing footy only as a 15-year-old. He's got to find ways to impose his assets on the game, but he does bring some good traits."

*The same draft process applies to NGA players as northern academies and father-son selections, with the applicable club able to pick them with a 20 per cent discount if there is a rival bid. Clubs could select NGA players as category B rookies last year if they were overlooked in the national and rookie drafts.