The Hawthorn Football Club has announced that speedster Changkuoth Jiath will inherit the historically rich number nine guernsey for the 2022 season.

While the announcement will allow for the 22-year-old to move around the locker room to sit between Jaeger O'Meara and fellow defender Sam Frost, the shift will also see the Gippsland Power product continue the add to the guernsey's legacy.

Across the past 12-seasons, 400-gamer Shaun Burgoyne upheld the number's heritage that was formed by Team of the Century member Brendan Edwards and a trifecta of Brownlow Medals in Col Austen, Shane Crawford and Robert 'Dipper' DiPierdomenico.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 28: Former AFL player Shane Crawford holds the 2013 Premiership Cup during the 2013 Blackwoods North Melbourne Grand Final Breakfast at Etihad Stadium on September 28, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Prezioso/Getty Images)

Although league best and fairest honours are sure to be outside the realms of possibility for the defender affectionately known as 'CJ', the exhilarating talent had been earmarked for the number switch by the 1986 winner.

Given the past three names to wear the number nine strip combined for 795-games, two Brownlows, nine premierships, four All Australian blazers and a league MVP, the marker has more than been laid for Jiath.

But with this latest bestowment showing real faith in what the dreadlocked defender can offer Sam Mitchell's side, a contract extension that reaches beyond the cessation of the 2022 season is sure to be tabled in the near future.

Jiath has played 23 games for the Bunjil Bagora-based since being selected as a Catagory B rookie in 2017.