Delisted Hawk Ollie Hanrahan admits he was “shocked” when the news broke that he wouldn’t be offered a contract for the 2022 AFL season.
Taken with pick No.14 in the 2017 rookie draft, Hanrahan struggled to solidify his spot in Hawthorn’s best 22 early on in his career, however, his 2021 season saw him play his best senior football to date, making his delisting even tougher to swallow.
Speaking on SEN Drive with Andy Maher and Josh Jenkins, Hanrahan felt the feedback he was getting from the club at the start of the year had him believing he was a key player for the future.
“I thought I had a pretty good year, was happy with how I went and at the end of the day, everything happens for a reason,” he said.
“It was pretty positive early on, and I felt that they saw me as a big part of their future, I felt I was getting some really good messages and I think with a really young team coming through, I thought we were heading in the right direction especially at the end of the year we played some really good footy."
But with list spots tight and a shift under new coach Sam Mitchell, Hanrahan felt the communication around his future became unclear under the new-look Hawthorn regime.
“Halfway through the year, we got the message that there was a bit of change around the coaching and the way we want to play our footy," he added.
“Like most guys out of contract you’re not sure what the next year is going to look like and you’re just trying to play the best football you can and towards the end of the year it got pretty unclear.”
As for what the future holds for Hanrahan, the former Hawk is looking for a clean slate at a new club, one that holds no ties to the Hawthorn Football Club.
“It’s been tough with not many list spots available but for me, I’m looking forward to playing VFL and state league footy wherever that is,” he concluded.
“I want to have another crack at it, I’m pretty keen and I think it actually made me hungrier to get back into the AFL and play good footy after what had happened.
“I’m definitely keen to get back into the AFL routine.
“I haven’t spoken to Box Hill yet but for me personally, I want a fresh start and a new challenge at a different club with a different environment.
“Hawthorn know what I can do, they’re aware of that and they’ve made their decision and I think Sam (Mitchell) had a vision of where the club wants to go and clearly I wasn’t a part of that.
“With me, I wasn’t in his plans for the future and I just have to accept that.
“The first couple of days when I found out the news, I was really shocked and disappointed but now I look back and I’m really grateful that I got drafted.”
For the immediate future, the 23-year-old is switching his focus to cricket having signed with Premier Cricket Club Kingston Hawthorn for the 2021/22 season.
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