While it’s always hard missing a year of football, particularly when you’re close to draft age, Kyron Hayden turned it into a positive.

“Having the year off in 2016 with osteitis pubis was pretty rough, but I took it as an opportunity to get into the gym and work on my body,” Hayden told NMFC.com.au.

“I had to learn to activate the right muscles, and I did a lot of TA (Transversus Abdominis) and pelvic floor exercises."

“The year off definitely allowed me to put on a lot of muscle and strength, which has probably given me an advantage over other blokes my age.”

Building his body to be able to play as an inside-midfielder was key for Hayden, his training also bringing amazing results in other areas; the youngster breaking Nic Naitanui’s long-standing running jump record at the AFL Draft Combine.

Hayden’s physique and power have drawn similarities to one of the rising stars of the AFL in 2017.

“I model my game around Sam Powell-Pepper. I see a lot of resemblance in our size and physical ability,” he said.

“My strengths are around my inside game, finding the loose ball, hands to the open man and using my size and strength in the contest.”

While these traits could have had had him earmarked for an early selection on Draft night, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Hayden and his family while watching from home in Perth.

“A couple of clubs had told me that they were going to take me early on. That didn’t happen, so the nerves started to creep in and I went and sat outside for a bit,” he confessed.

“I heard the roar from inside and the family all came out, so that was pretty exciting. I didn’t even know that it was the Roos that had picked me until about 20 minutes later.”

The whirlwind weekend was only just beginning for Hayden.

“It was all pretty crazy. Friday night I got drafted, Saturday I packed my bags. I flew out of Perth at about lunch-time Sunday and arrived in Melbourne about 7pm Sunday night.”