STRENGTHS:

+ Aerial ability
+ Athleticism
+ Presence
+ Versatility
+ Upside

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Durability
- Fundamentals

PROFILE:

Hose will be a fascinating watch for clubs in the upcoming draft on a number of fronts. Though the Eastern Ranges tall will miss the majority of next off-season having torn her ACL in August, she fits the role of an athletic ruck in a draft that is severely lacking that type of player. There will be hesitation surrounding her unfortunate injuries, but the tall looms as a low-risk, high-reward option.

Ranges coach Ash Close backed in his talented ruck/forward, saying clubs would be "silly" not to pick her and just allow her to have a few years to develop. With talls taking longer to develop, it does provide the club that chooses her time to get her body 100 per cent right, especially having done both ACLs, one on either side.

In terms of her gamestyle, Hose is an ultra-athletic ruck with a nice leap, and most impressively can provided a physical presence in the air. Standing at 184cm, Hose spent a fair chuck of time forward in her bottom-age season, playing 10 games and booting five goals. In 2023, though she only played the one game with the Ranges and one with Vic Metro, it looked likely she would assume the number one ruck role, with teammate Jess Vukic predominantly forward.

Hose's ability to play both through the ruck and up forward will hold her in good stead for the future, and given her athletic traits, she has plenty of upside. Her vertical leap and general athleticism catches the eye for a player of her size, and though she has some areas to work on, is a high potential player.

It is a shame Hose was robbed of showing her development from 2022 to 2023, with last season being one where she had the raw tools, but needed to develop greater fundamentals in her game such as her footy IQ and decision making. In her limited outings in 2023, she looked to have had a greater focus on that over the off-season.

Interestingly, Eastern Ranges are tied to Hawthorn, with the Hawks having the ability to pre-list players outside the draft. Though there is no shortage of talent in the Ranges lineup, a genuine key position ruck/forward with high level athleticism is hard to come by and the club may well consider her.

Unfortunately for Hose, she will miss the Draft Combine testing elements, which would have been an area where she excelled at. Though few clubs would doubt her athletic potential anyway, with her durability and working on those fundamental areas the keys going forward.