STRENGTHS:

+ Aerial ability
+ Aggression
+ Athleticism
+ Ruck craft
+ Skills
+ Upside

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Consistency
- Endurance

A freakish talent with rare athleticism and skill for a player his size, everything about Van Hattum's profile screams upside. He can do things other 200cm-plus players can't, but also fulfils his primary duties well. The competitive tall leaps strongly in the ruck, showcasing healthy aggression and a spring-healed vertical jump. What's more, he prides himself on his ability to crash packs and provide a contest around the ground.

The physical, contested side of the game is where Van Hattum has imposed himself at junior level. At a hulking 205cm, he isn't afraid to bite back at the opposition and get in the middle of a scrap, showing the kind of mongrel required of AFL-level talls. That's the point of difference he holds as a ruck - being able to gain access to the ball either through sheer athleticism, or an authoritative test of strength.

Van Hattum's ruck craft has helped him influence games when his usual production levels were down. Coming into the National Championships post-injury, he wasn't nearly as influential around the ground but dominated at the centre ball-ups to help drive a healthy clearance advantage for Vic Metro. His seven disposals and 26 hitouts against South Australia were a prime example of that. He's hard to contain.

On top of his aerial ability, Van Hattum shows plenty of promise in other aspects of the game. He moves so well and has clean fundamental skills, which translates to becoming a fourth midfielder around stoppages. There, Van Hattum can either take the ball out of the air or follow up hard, laying big tackles when unable to extract and dish off the footy. He runs in waves too, able to keep up with midfielders on the spread.

Van Hattum has played with somewhat of a chip on his shoulder this year, hoping to dispel the typical ruckmen tropes - slow, languid, unskilled. In particular, he takes pride in his foot skills and ability to contribute in open play. Even as a goalkicker, his technique is quite sound, albeit patchy throughout the year as he backed himself to execute kicks players much smaller than him do so regularly.

Current day AFL sides love to have rucks who can go forward, and vice-versa. Van Hattum has thrived with Northern Knights coach Anthony Rocca in his corner to teach each trick of the forward trade. Given he covers ground so well, is strong and likes to launch into packs, Van Hattum projects as a ruck who can drag his opponent inside 50 to outmark them and hit the scoreboard.

Van Hattum has worked on his running tank and showed improvement in his ability to get into position both in front of and behind the ball. Developing that aspect has leant into the main improvement area for his year, being consistency and continuity. Van Hattum has relatively low exposure in terms of bulk pathway games and had to work through injury this year, so imagine how quickly he can improve with a clean run at it.

On the physical side of the game, recruiters are split on his ability to apply it to his role at times. While certainly aggressive once he crosses the white line, Van Hattum shows room for growth in his contested marking. He is certainly capable of standing tall in packs and extending overhead to pluck the pill, but can perhaps more consistently show his ability to physically dominate talls around his size and build. That will be the big test at AFL level, given he's nearly always the biggest junior afield.