The 24-year-old debuted in Launceston when the Hawks played Essendon in the Bombers' first game here last year and will return to face Brisbane at UTAS Stadium on Sunday.

The Bombers match sparked unprecedented interest, producing the state's biggest crowd of 14,834 since the pandemic began.

"It was an amazing experience, it was the first time [in a while] that the boys might have had a crowd, obviously due to the COVID stuff in Melbourne," Bramble said.

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"It was definitely the biggest crowd I've played in front of [at the time] and the fans are great down in Tassie, we love getting down there and I'm really looking forward to getting down there this week.

"I think we play some really good footy down there, so it's a bit of a fortress at times and we'll look to build on our form there last year to this year."

Bramble's path to the AFL wasn't exactly conventional, picked up by the Hawks during the supplementary selection period in the 2021 pre-season, edging out North Launceston's Jackson Callow for the spot.

Overlooked for the draft as an 18-year-old, the defender went into the VFL system before seemingly giving up on the dream, stepping back to play for the Sunbury Lions in the Ballarat Football League.

"It probably wasn't going as well as I thought and then I decided to have a year off VFL footy to clear the head and get some confidence back at local footy and play with some mates," he said.

"I decided that I was missing the professionalism and that side of things so I came back, was originally going back to Williamstown where I was at but I got in contact with Sam Mitchell and Andrew Collins and started doing the pre-season at Box Hill."

That move saw him catch the eye of the right people and the spot on the Hawks' list followed, with Bramble praising former Box Hill and now-Hawthorn coach Mitchell.

"He's always been in my corner since I got to the club," he said.

"He really backs me in and really gives me that positive side to using my strengths and just keep doing what I'm best at.

"He's really good with all the boys in terms of using their weapons, which we talk about a fair bit at the club. He's been great for not only me but the full list."

Sunday's Lions clash marks the 12^th time the two sides have met in Launceston, with the Hawks boasting an 8-3 win-loss record.

They won the most recent contest in round 20 of last season, which was one of Bramble's 13 Hawthorn games so far.

"They are a quality team, are obviously going pretty well again this year and I'm looking forward to getting them down in Tassie.

"They've got a young list, a lot of energy, they play with a bit of flair and a bit of speed.

"I think we've got similar game styles, which will be interesting to see how that goes but I think they just bring a lot of flair and are fast-paced, which is hard to defend as well."

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Despite the Hawks sitting in 13^th with three wins and six losses so far this season, the club's 947^th player has still seen some positives as they head into this weekend's Sir Doug Nicholls round, where all teams will wear a specially-designed guernsey.

"We've been really close in a lot of games, I think most games have been winnable bar one, which was the St Kilda game," he said.

"We've kept in every game so far and we are just slowly making progress, which is amazing for us.

"Sam backs us in, we've got a young list and a young team pretty much each week so it's just good to get games into younger guys and build for the future."

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