Hawthorn will treat Dayle Garlett the same as its other recruits

HAWTHORN will set parameters and protocols for Dayle Garlett - but no more than any other recruit, Alastair Clarkson says.

Dayle Garlett is now a Hawk. Picture by Colleen Petch.

HAWTHORN will set parameters and protocols for new recruit wild child Dayle Garlett - but no more than any other recruit, Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson says.

After being rated in the top 10 talent-wise prior to the 2012 draft, Garlett was overlooked by all 18 clubs, including Hawthorn, due to off field issues.

But after a year of senior WAFL football with Swan Districts, the Hawks swooped on the small forward with pick 38 in Thursday night's national draft, as well as picking up Victorian duo Billy Hartung and James Sicily.

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"Whether it is Dayle or James or whether it is Billy, the three boys we drafted last night, the parameters will be and the challenges will be the same for all three of them,'' Clarkson said in Hobart yesterday for the Property Council of Australia Christmas lunch.

"It is a little bit different in terms of their environments and where they've come from but basically these are 18-year-old boys that need some protocols put around them to become professional footballers.''

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Garlett, 19, has had a troubled upbringing and will no relocate from Perth to Melbourne but Clarkson said his selection was not a punt on talent over character.

"We don't believe so, we've been tracking him since he was a young player,'' Clarkson said.

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"Everyone deserves an opportunity at AFL footy and I think he's one.

"The whole competition decided last year he just wasn't in the space at that point in time to give himself the best opportunity to play AFL footy and we were one of those clubs, we held that view too.

"But we are satisfied enough with the things he was able to put in place over the course of 2013 that he deserves an opportunity.

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"He's still got a lot of work to do and he acknowledges that and we acknowledge that.

"We reckon he deserves a chance.''

Some rival clubs again put a line through Garlett's name this week, believing the speedster would require a full-time minder to help keep him out of trouble.

But AFL talent manager Kevin Sheehan said few teens were able to match Garlett's line-breaking brilliance and was convinced he could flourish and on and off field within Hawthorn's strong club culture.

"It's the perfect club to go to, because there are strong values on what's acceptable and they've got some terrific role models such as Shaun Burgoyne," Sheehan said.

"The kid has shown dramatic improvement over the last 12 months and he can do special things on the field.

"He has that magic radar around goals and he has that speed of movement and speed of decision making to just step around people.

"He needs to back it up with his professionalism sand preparation but it might be a great choice in the 30s.''

Dual premiership coach Clarkson said the premiers of the past two seasons, Sydney and Hawthorn, had both demonstrated the value in the recruiting of mature age players.

"The competition is showing you don't have to draft these boys at 18-years of age,'' Clarkson said.

"A lot of instances clubs are searching for players who have been through the schools of hard knocks a little bit, a bit more mature.

"We've done that ourselves with (premiership players) Ben Stratton, (Paul) Puopolo and Isaac Smith _ these guys have come into our club as mature-agers and just done it in a different way.

"A lot of clubs are recognising that now and getting some benefit.

"The Sydney Swans have done it really well in a different sort of manner in trading for players from different clubs, we've done that a little bit ourselves in the last three or four years.

"There are different ways to try and create some success for your club.''