AFTER four years in the shadows of one of the competition's best midfields, Mitch Hallahan is ready to become a bona fide AFL player.
The 22-year-old played just six games in his four seasons at Hawthorn, caught in a logjam of class midfielders behind the likes of Sam Mitchell, Luke Hodge, Jordan Lewis and Brad Sewell.
With the Hawks still in the middle of a golden era, and despite his outstanding VFL form not enough to regularly force his way into the best 22, Hallahan knew it was time to move.
Gold Coast eyed him off from midway through the 2014 season and pounced during the trade period.
Now three months into his time with the Suns, Hallahan is starting to feel right at home and itching to prove he belongs at the top level.
He came to his new club in a moon boot following off-season ankle surgery but after a frustrating rehabilitation program, now has four weeks of good training under his belt.
"We're three months into the pre-season but for me it's like one month with the later start, but I don't feel like I'm too far behind the boys," Hallahan told AFL.com.au.
"The ankle feels good, the body feels good … it's really exciting."
Never having lived outside Melbourne, Hallahan said he'd overcome the initial difficulties of living away from friends and family, and could not wait to make an on-field impact.
With class dripping from its young midfield, Gold Coast hopes Hallahan can be the in-and-under, contested ball complement to the outside speed of Jaeger O'Meara, Harley Bennell and Jack Martin.
For most of their four years, the Suns have started with skipper Gary Ablett, David Swallow and Dion Prestia in their centre square, but then struggled for rotations.
That's where Hallahan comes in. He can join O'Meara, Michael Rischitelli and Jarrod Harbrow to ensure there is no respite for opposition midfields.
"That's something I pride myself on, the contested ball, in-close stuff, doing the grunt work, getting my hands dirty so we can get our good users on the outside like Swallow, O'Meara and even Ablett to a certain extent," Hallahan said.
He said the learning curve had been steep.
"You spend four years at one club and you learn how that club plays, how certain players play, how far they can kick it, dominant hand, dominant foot. It's a lot of that early, trying to adjust to how far Nick Malceski can kick or Jesse Lonergan can kick,” he said.
"As much as you want to get the work in and feel good about yourself in match practise, you also need to get to know your teammates and how they play.”
And Hallahan believes Gold Coast’s midfield could soon step up to the level set by his former team.
"Our midfield is bloody good to play with. They're young, they're quick and they play with a lot of flair,” he said.
"I liken them to a Hawthorn midfield. Obviously Hawthorn has got some out-and-out superstars of the game, but I think give our guys a couple more years and hopefully we can take away that mantle from Hawthorn of being arguably the best midfield in the game."
