STRENGTHS:

+ Athleticism
+ Clean hands
+ Evasiveness
+ Impact per possession
+ Stoppage Craft

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Contested Game
- Forward Craft

Despite starting the season as a high half-forward, Hotton started drawing eyes in the second half of the season as a midfielder. A starring performance for Vic Metro against South Australia, and his form since, has rightfully earned him the title of 'bolter'. Hotton returned from APS duties with Haileybury to Sandringham, improving on his 10.3 disposal average in his first three games to average 21.6 in his final five, all while maintaining his scoreboard impact. His Round 16 effort of 26 disposals and two goals against Oakleigh proved standout NAB League performance.

Hotton’s ability to step up to the level come the Championships games was impressive, maintaining his composure despite the increased pressure and damaging with each possession. He took his opportunities in the midfield when presented with them, displaying his sound stoppage craft and evasiveness both through traffic and in open play, creating exciting forward forays.

The standout attribute of Hotton’s is his cleanliness at ground level and in the air, being one who consistently picks the ball up off the deck with one hand, regardless of wet conditions, at full speed. It allowed Hotton to be dangerous regardless of where he was or how close an opponent trailed him, as long as the ball was in his path he had a good chance of continuing the play at speed. The same speed he attacks ground balls with, he uses when the ball is in the air, able to burn opponents on the lead with ease from just two or three steps, capped off with his fantastic leap.

Hotton mixes this stoppage craft and athleticism with keen decision making and ball use, able to assess his options well at speed and deliver to the advantage of teammates, with his distribution by hand in congestion a key feature of his game.

Whilst Hotton has impressed most through the midfield, his contested game does remain an area of improvement heading into the next level, quite capable one-on-one when he’s able to use his speed, it’s when he’s caught in tight or when trying to extract from a pack that he’ll be working on. Despite spending some time as a forward, there’s still some development left for Hotton inside attacking 50 to help him fully utilise the weapons he has, especially given he’s likely to start his AFL career as a small forward.