Harry Van Hattum: High ceiling, where's the floor?
Harry Van Hattum could be anything.
The athleticism, size and ability to influence a contest after the ruck work are obvious attractions. He can win the ball at ground level, carry it forward and use it well by foot.
There is a damn good footballer here, with considerable development still available.
But projecting him requires separating what he can do against junior opponents from what will remain effective when the opposition can match his size and strength.
He gets compared to Luke Jackson, and I can see the athletic attributes behind that comparison. In how he attacks a ruck contest and forces his way through a clearance, though, I see more of former Bomber Sam Draper.
Those are comparisons of particular traits. Van Hattum’s own game is still taking shape.
The standard caveat on all of this. My assessment comes from watching full games and full player involvement edits, rather than just the highlights. However, I haven’t seen Van Hattum live.
An attacking ruckman
Van Hattum wants to influence the play.
His involvement doesn’t finish when he gets a hand to the ball. He follows up at ground level and can become another ball-winner around the stoppage.
That is an important part of his appeal.
At 205cm, he can gather, move forward and carry the footy. He can also get his hands free through contact and release a running midfielder.
There are passages where his size and athleticism make him difficult for the opposition midfielders to contain. He can force his way through the contest and turn the initial ruck involvement into a clearance himself. Either through grabbing it clean from the ruck, sharking his own hitout, or winning a ground ball.
His Northern Knights averages give some context: 19.1 disposals, 5.9 clearances and 20.4 hitouts per game. That is significant involvement beyond simply contesting the ruck.
I would like to see him use his hands a little more, he's good by hand.
The ability to carry the ball himself is valuable. Recognising when to release a teammate with a clearer path would help him get more from the attention he attracts.
How does the ruck craft translate?
Van Hattum has been able to use his size to considerable advantage at Under 18 level.
Few of his opponents can match his reach, and he can hit the ball well beyond the immediate congestion into space.
It is a good weapon. A ruckman who can change where the next contest takes place gives his midfielders confidence to attack.
The question is how consistently he can reproduce it against AFL ruckmen who can compete with him physically and restrict his access to the ball. And I don't mean in 2027, I mean when he's fully developed and he's no longer a big fish in a small pond.
He won’t always have the same freedom to reach over an opponent or direct the hitout where he wants.
That brings his touch work into the assessment.
He does have touch. I don’t see a ruckman who can only belt the ball away. But I think his ability to vary the hitout and place it precisely for a midfielder is still developing.
I would like to see how effective he becomes when the contest requires a smaller adjustment: changing the angle, finding a teammate in traffic or directing the ball while his own movement is restricted.
A forward pathway
I can see Van Hattum spending time forward early in his AFL career.
His athleticism allows him to be effective on the lead, and his size gives him a way to compete one-on-one.
In marking contests, he uses his body to protect the drop of the ball and extends his long arms out in front. That can make it difficult for a defender to reach the footy without going through him.
There are similarities to Peter Wright in that part of his game: the reach, positioning and ability to present as a tall target. That comparison extends to what I don’t yet see a consistently in his game - I don't see a dominant, bash-and-crash contested marking forward.
He can take contested marks. My question is how regularly he imposes himself on a pack and uses his frame to control the aerial contest.
There is a difference between having the size to do that and knowing how to use it.
His forward work has produced results. He averaged a goal per game across seven Talent League appearances, alongside 3.6 marks.
That supports the possibility of a forward role, without settling how effective he will be there against senior defenders.
Learning to use the frame
Van Hattum strikes me as a player who recognises that he has a big body and should use it more physically, but hasn’t quite worked out how to do that consistently.
There are moments when he's trying to show physical authority, that he just looks clumsy.
Can he establish a better position before the ball arrives? Can he move an opponent away from the drop? Can he attack a marking contest in a way that makes his size an advantage throughout the action?
He's a damn good kick
His kicking is a strength.
Van Hattum has a sound technique, both from a set shot and on the run. He looks comfortable executing the kick rather than simply getting the ball away.
It adds value to both his ruck and forward projections. His decisions aren’t always as convincing as the mechanics.
There are occasions when the choice of kick doesn’t make the most of the situation. That is another reason I would like to see him consider the handball more often when a running teammate is available.
Marking and movement: questions to keep asking
Does he take enough marks? Does he cover the ground well enough?
Those remain questions for me.
His mobility in individual passages is obvious. I want to distinguish that from consistently getting to useful positions across a whole game.
Can he become a regular outlet down the line? Can he move into position behind the ball, then work forward and present again?
His marking average provides context, but it doesn’t answer whether he is arriving at enough contests or getting full value from the ones he reaches.
The upside is obvious
Van Hattum is more than a good athlete.
His follow-up work at stoppage, kicking and marking craft give substance to that. There are football skills here that make the athletic package especially interesting.
What is harder to assess is how consistently he will read and influence the game once opponents reduce his physical advantages.
For Essendon, that is central to weighing him up at the top of the draft. My views on taking a ruck at Pick 1 are well established but putting those aside, the attraction is a ruckman who can contribute at ground level, use the ball and offer a forward option.
There is huge upside here.
He won’t find the physical contest as easy at AFL level as he has in much of his junior football. How well he develops his ruck craft, uses his frame and stays involved around the ground will determine how much of that upside he reaches.
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