Essendon steals Irving Mosquito from Hawthorn after bid wasn’t matched
Essendon has sprung one of the biggest surprises of the draft, buzzing in to steal Irving Mosquito after a dejected Hawthorn baulked at matching the bid.
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Essendon has sprung one of the biggest surprises of the draft, buzzing in to steal Irving Mosquito from Hawthorn.
Mosquito, who had been a member of the Hawks’ Next Generation Academy since 2016, trained at Waverley earlier this month before being nominated by the club.
But when the Bombers bid for the indigenous small forward from Halls Creek, 700km inland from Broome, at pick 38, Hawthorn baulked at matching the bid.
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While the Hawks table appeared dejected, cameras captured a smiling Dons list manager Adrian Dodoro celebrating with a fist pump.
“We got him?” he asked club officials.
The move comes after Dodoro launched a similarly cheeky, but unsuccessful, move for Carlton father-son Jack Silvagni in 2015.
Mosquito, 18, already had one foot in the door at Hawthorn, having trained at the club before being nominated by the Hawks earlier this month.
He named Hawthorn legend Cyril Rioli as his idol.
Speaking after the draft, Hawks recruiting manager Mark McKenzie was matter-of-fact.
“We were not surprised We thought there’d be a few clubs interested,” McKenzie said.
“Overall it’s a great story for ‘Irv’ to be on an AFL list. Obviously we’ve been working with him for a couple of years.”
Asked if there was regret Irving didn’t land at Hawthorn, McKenzie said: “Whether it’s regret, overall we know what sort of kid he is and that this is his dream.
“We’re very happy for him. If he was at Hawthorn it would have been great, but that’s the way the industry works.
“It was just the decision we made with the players we had in our talent order.”
Mosquito, who grew up barracking for the Bombers, joined his family on a tour of the Essendon facilities on Friday morning before the draft.
“He’s a young man we targeted and the cards fell our way,” Dodoro said.
“I’m not sure what they (Hawthorn) were thinking, but for us it was the way we valued the draft and how we saw the boy.
“He’s got a fair way to go with his footy development. We understand that.
“But we’ve had a lot of success at Gippsland (Power) and with Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti there’s a lot of similarities there.
“He’s got a lot of talent and a lot of ability.
A goalsneak with an electrifying change of pace and an impressive leap, Mosquito moved to Victoria when he was 11 with guardians Mick and Shane Roberts to further his education.
He developed his skills at the Power in the TAC Cup, but missed this year’s under-18 championships through injury.