A Chirnside Parkian is the newest Hawthorn Football Club rookie recruit, seeing him switch codes to potentially play at the professional level.
Jaime Uhr-Henry, 21, is known for his skill on the basketball court playing for both the Bulleen Boomers and the Dandenong Rangers in NBL One.
But the 209cm tall Uhr-Henry has been scouted by the Hawks as a potential ruck in a category B rookie pick up for the 2025 season.
“Standing at 209cm, Jaime clearly has some exciting physical traits, along with his professional basketball background we believe his progression will be one to watch,” Hawthorn national recruiting and list manager Mark McKenzie said.
“They don’t grow on trees, those types of guys.”
Heading back to his roots, the former East Ringwood junior footballer reportedly hasn’t played a game of football since under-17 level but still attracted the attention of the Hawks.
Uhr-Henry has spent some time training with Sam Mitchell’s squad at Waverley Park over the last couple of months, bringing him up to speed on the football conditioning.
“Jamie’s a super character. We were able to get permission for him to train with us over the last couple of months,” McKenzie said.
“He’s showing his work ethic to get better, [to] learn the footy craft, learn the ruck craft especially and just getting his body into football condition.”
The category B rookie list allows football clubs to select players from outside the AFL code or international recruits.
Also selected alongside Uhr-Henry, Matt Hill, a 20-year-old from Katherine in the Northern Territory who had an AFL upbringing but switched to rugby with an opportunity to play with the Brisbane Broncos, is expected to bring speed and skill.
“While Jaime and Matt join the club as a relatively raw duo, they both possess enormous upside,” McKenzie said.
“Given time to develop, we’re confident both Jaime and Matt can make an impact in our program in the near future.”
