A one-time quiet achiever is eyeing a leadership role as Wangaratta Rovers look to snap the league's second-longest premiership drought.
Tyler Cornish is one of the Hawks' profile signings after playing for the Gold Coast Suns' reserves and shining at Wodonga Raiders in 2016.
"I used to be the innocent little kid, but now I'd like to think I bring a bit of leadership," he suggested.
"Coming down there, I really want to win, I'm not just coming down to make up the numbers, I really want to have a good crack and I want to play in a premiership there."
Rovers haven't won a flag in 27 years, which is easily the longest drought in the club's history.
The Hawks joined the O and M in 1950 and to highlight its long-time standing in the league, it claimed 15 flags in the first 45 seasons with a previous 'drought' of nine years.
The 25-year-old had his first taste of the Hawks when he attended the first training session of the year last weekend.
"Great club, really well run, really nice fellas, great facilities," Cornish enthused of his 'debut'.
Since departing the O and M, where he was pipped for Raiders' best and fairest by three-time winner Jydon Neagle, the rugged midfielder has maintained his consistent form at Palm Beach Currumbin on the Gold Coast.
He claimed successive premierships with the Lions and also made the Team of the Year on both occasions.
Cornish also racked up another three runner-up finishes in the club best and fairest.
He will again team up with his former mentor and Hawks' co-coach Daryn Cresswell.
"Look, I have a long relationship with Daryn, he was my coach back in 2011 at Palm Beach Currumbin, prior to Raiders," he said.
"We've developed a pretty good relationship over the years, he's one of the better coaches I've had, I enjoy the style that he's got and it's a bit of change in my footy, which helps me stay motivated."
He will also reunite with fellow Coast product Todd Grayson, who took last year off due to injury.
"He's still got it, he's a reader of the play and he's a general down back," Cornish said of the half-back, who claimed Raiders' best and fairest in 2015.
"When I've played footy with him, I'm playing through the middle of the ground and he's yacking behind me, telling me to get a move on (laughs)."
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Cornish heads into the season as one of the few players to have actually played last year, so it will be interesting to see if this hands him an advantage, particularly in the early rounds.
He played a shortened season with Palm Beach, falling to eventual premiers Morningside in the preliminary final.
