Tall midfielder Henry Hustwaite is one of the Stingrays’ best draft hopes

Ahead of the Dandenong Stingrays’ best and fairest, club talent manager Toby Jedwab put together a highlights package of Henry Hustwaite.

It was part of the recognition for the left-footer finishing third in the count.

What Jedwab had seen so often in games he saw in replays as he compiled the presentation-night clip.

“When you watch them multiple times, the thing that keeps standing out is how poised he is with ball in hand, really composed, never rushed, finds space when others don’t,’’ Jedwab says.

“Some of his hands in close, the ability to release others from congestion with a 20m handball, is pretty impressive.’’

AFL clubs agree.

A few weeks out from the national draft, the 195cm midfielder from Rosebud is regarded as one of the Stingrays’ best hopes to go to a league club.

Hustwaite started the year in the backline and moved into the midfield when other players went off to play school football.

He stayed there for the rest of the season, his reputation growing by the game.

He averaged 22.7 disposals in 12 outings for the Stingrays, was elevated to the AFL Academy in May and played for Vic Country in the national championships.

Standout games? There were a few: 29 touches against Eastern in Round 13, 27 against Bendigo in Round 15 and 27 against Gippsland in Round 16, as well as 29 possessions for Country against the Allies in Brisbane.

One of those disposals against Eastern caught Jedwab’s eye: Hustwaite took the ball in the middle and, under pressure, shot out a 15m handball to teammate Jack Wilson, who gratefully accepted it without breaking stride.

“His midfield craft is as good as anyone’s,’’ Stingrays assistant coach Josh Moore says of Hustwaite.

“Some of the stuff he can do in traffic, I haven’t really seen many players do at any level. It’s pretty special, the way he can navigate his way through a contest with his hands and with his decision-making and his agility and his ability to find people … he puts other players in better positions.

“And the game sort of slows down around him, which sets him apart from most of the other midfielders in the competition.’’

Hustwaite made great ground as an onballer in the NAB League in 2022, but he isn’t new to the middle of the ground.

As he explains, he played there all through his juniors at Rosebud and “it’s where I’m most comfortable’’.

“Through the preseason, I wanted to be in that midfield group,’’ he says. “That’s where I wanted to end up and speaking to ‘Coxy’ (coach Nick Cox) and ‘Moorey’ (midfield coach Moore), they said that would happen. It was just a matter of time.’’

His father, Mark, coached him in the juniors at Rosebud and says: “He was one of the two or three elite players in his team and we basically counted on him week in, week out to get the ball 40 times just to give us a chance.

“He’s always been able to get it but the big improvement I’ve noticed is his efficiency in and around a contest. He’s got a footy IQ that’s hard to teach or coach.’’

As Moore points out, Hustwaite’s time in the backline last season and in the early exchanges of this year underscores his versatility.

As a defender he can negate.

As a midfielder he can create, not only with those hands that the Stingrays talk up, but his neat kicking.

Hustwaite was measured at 187cm at the start of the 2021 season.

Another growth spurt has taken him past his older brothers Fletcher and Campbell, and made him one of the tallest onballers in this year’s draft group.

At the draft combine he stretched the tape to 194.8cm. The AFL is listing him at 195cm.

“When he was 13 or 14 he was of very average height,’’ Mark Hustwaite says.

“Since he was 14 he’s had two spurts that have put on big numbers in a short amount of time. He’s starting to fill out too. He’s put on about 10kg in the past 12 months.’’

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The Stingrays are perky about Hustwaite’s prospects for the draft, but the player himself is taking nothing for granted.

Some of that goes back to 2018, when Campbell was overlooked by AFL clubs despite bolting away with the Dandenong club’s best and fairest and captaining it to its first premiership.

Campbell is now co-captain of Collingwood VFL’s team and, in the words of Mark, “trying to keep the dream alive’’.

“We’re really cautious … we were really flat at the time when Campbell missed out … we’re just hopeful, with fingers crossed, see how it plays out this time,’’ Hustwaite senior says.

The Hustwaites are royalty at Rosebud Football Netball Club.

“When you think of Rosebud, you think of the Hustwaites,’’ says Moore, who coached neighbouring Rye.

Mark played in two senior premierships at Frankston Pines before moving to the southern peninsula and becoming senior coach of the Buds.

There were two premierships across three stints and he also coached junior teams as his three sons came through.

He’s a life member of Pines, Rosebud and the Mornington Peninsula Nepean league.

Fletcher is now vice-captain of the senior side and 100 games into his career.

Few Rosebud players have been drafted in the past 20 years and Mark Hustwaite says the club is excited for Henry.

The family is appreciative of the support, of course, but trying to play things down.

“Everybody wants to talk about it but we just continue to keep saying it’s just speculation until his name gets read out, if it does get read out,’’ Mark Hustwaite says.

“We’ve got a good balance of having a certain level of expectation but also understanding it may not work out.

“A lot of people don’t understand how it works. In the middle of the year Kevin Sheehan (AFL talent ambassador) put out something in the Herald Sun about the Victorian players. Henry was at No. 7 or something. And we had people saying, ‘Oh Henry is going to get drafted at No. 7’. And we’re like, well, no, that’s not how it works’.’’

It has also been a great talking point at Rosebud Secondary College, where Henry has just completed a school-based carpentry program.

He says discussions about the draft are “just people guessing really’’.

“I’ll be happy if it happens, but it’s quite a nervous wait until then. It is exciting. I just try not to think about it too much.’’

But Henry Hustwaite has certainly given AFL clubs something to think about.

AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan on Henry Hustwaite

“A left-footed tall defender or midfielder who is extremely composed with the ball and an efficient user by hand and foot. Has good vision and footy nous and had a remarkably consistent season at club and representative level,” Sheehan said.

“Averaged 23 disposals across 12 matches for the Dandenong Stingrays to finish third in club’s best and fairest award. Also averaged 21 disposals (72 per cent efficiency) for Victoria Country across four matches. Did not complete physical testing at the Draft Combine after being hampered by an ankle injury late in season.’’