Hazelnut has shown so much promise in both attack and defence it's hard to believe he was meant to be our 2nd string backup forward at the beginning of the year. Big fella has the body of an impact forward with the motor/mindset of a workhorse he's been such a boon for us this season.
A really underrated part of his attack is his ability to isolate smaller guys especially on the oppositions goal line. A perfect example of this was his try against Bulldogs.
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As Hazelton is running onto the ball he identifies that Mahoney and Okunbor are both turning inwards expecting to make initial contact with Waddell (on Mahoney's left) looking to wrap Hazelton's legs after initial contact is made
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Hazelton runs into the defensive line but much to the Bulldogs surprise he actually throws a left foot step, isolating Mahoney in a 1 on 1 situation. Due to him bracing for first contact, Okunbor is now in a position where he can't immediately rush over to aid Mahoney make the tackle
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Due to the massive size difference Hazelton comfortably muscles through the contact with Mahoney. Waddell now realises his job is no longer to wrap the legs but to make the initial tackle which he wasn't prepared for.
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Since there's no longer anyone directly in front of him and no one could wrap his legs, he uses the fact he's built like a gazelle and carries both Mahoney and Waddell over the line with him.
This wasn't a one off thing either. In the very next game against the Dragons he put a step on and got Sloan in a 1 on 1 situation for another try. Even on Thursday against Cows he got his try due to some Brailey excellence which got Hazelton in another 1 on 1 situation with Dearden. His ability to identify the little guy in the defensive line and use footwork a big fella like him simply shouldn't have is surprisingly consistent. He has 5 line breaks this season (to put it into perspective AFB has the most line breaks of any prop at 8) and all of them have come off isolating guys significantly smaller than him and just putting the foot on the gas or throwing a step.
As for his defence can't really say anything that hasn't been said. He does all the little things perfectly and for a guy averaging only 23 minutes he has a lot of try savers/forced errors. I wish he was more willing to make the initial tackle and use his size cause he's a lot stronger than he seems to think. Pretty sure he also makes the most tackles of any player in the comp per minute as well (0.777 per minute was the exact number from memory) so at the very least statistically, he is the most involved defender in the entire comp in comparison to the minutes he plays.
His game isn't perfect and there's a lot of room for improvement but for a guy who spent the preseason training to play at the intensity of NSW Cup he's smashed everyones expectations. He's only gonna get better and hopefully he'll be a big part of this Sharkies outfit for years to come.
