Former New Zealand Hawk Craig Morgan will be entered into the AFL New Zealand National Draft for the 2017 AFL New Zealand Premiership.
The 22 year old was a member of the victorious U16 NZ Hawks side who won the Oceania tournament in 2011 held in Fiji. His first involvement with AFL commenced through the Secondary Schools Hawks Cup competition in Wellington earlier that year and lead to representation in the New Zealand Hawks U18 and U20 level teams.
A knee injury has kept Craig on the sidelines over the past two AFL seasons but he is enjoying being back on the footy field after completing a comprehensive rehabilitation programme on his injured knee and now back to 100%. “After having 2 years off due to a knee injury I wanted to put all my focus on making it back on to the field for the 2016 season.”
Craig currently resides in Wellington and plays at fullback for the Hutt Valley Eagles in the local Wellington AFL competition, who are lead by current Northern Suns Captain James Kusel. Whenever he gets the chance, Morgan likes to move up the field to his preferred position at Centre Half Back where he can run with the ball and transition into his teams attacking half.
Putting other sports aside, Craig is excited about which team he will be selected for come draft night “I am looking forward to playing in the AFL premiership. Playing great footy against great players is always exciting and will be a big challenge. I can’t wait to see what team I end up being drafted to and giving it everything to help my team win the title.”
A personal trainer by trade, his tall frame and athletic ability along with his fitness will be a big factor in selection during the early draft rounds. Another player of 0ver 190cm, Morgan could fit in well with the Northern Suns backline pairing up with fellow Wellington team mate James Kusel. A strong early season showing could see Morgan bolster his chances of International Cup selection for the NZ Hawks in August 2017.
