Hawk Hooper looks for fresh start

HAWTHORN recruit Rhan Hooper says he's happy to be back in Melbourne with the opportunity to move on from his troubled times at the Brisbane Lions.

Hooper was selected by the Hawks at No.58 in Thursday night's NAB AFL Draft even though he had trained with Richmond in recent weeks.

The 21-year-old played 48 games in four seasons with the Lions but only nine this year after frustrating the club with his off-field behaviour.

In January, the Lions fined Hooper $40,000 and suspended him for 28 days for breaching his contract. Last month he was offered up for trade.

Hooper played some of his junior football in Dandenong and felt that a return to Victoria would help him get his career back on track.

He added that he had no hard feelings towards his former club.

"Maybe that (being in Brisbane) was the issue, maybe it wasn't," he said from Waverley Park on Friday. "But I can leave that all behind me and start afresh.

"That's all in the past now. I just want to move forward and hopefully get into the finals this year."

Hooper will complement a potent Hawthorn forward line that includes Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and Cyril Rioli but lost Mark Williams to Essendon in trade week.

He said he thought about his new teammates as soon as the Hawks called his name out.

"It will be good. I won't have to chase all the time. I can give Cyril a couple of times while I have a rest," he laughed.

Hooper said he had butterflies in the stomach as he watched the draft unfold and while Hawthorn had shown some interest in him, he knew there was no certainty he would end up there.

"In the draft you never really know what is going to happen until the day before," he said. "Even right up until then you don’t know what is going to happen.

"You get other clubs talking to you and word gets around that this club will pick you or some other club will pick you.

"Right up to the end I wasn't quite sure who I was going to go to, but Hawthorn is a strong club and I look forward to playing a couple of senior games this year if I can force my way through.

"It is going to be good to get a fresh start here."