Hawthorn Hawks season preview, list analysis, feature, Sam Mitchell, Jason Dunstall, Tom Mitchell, Luke Breust, Jaeger O’Meara, Chad Wingard, James Worpel, Jack Gunston

WHICH ARE THE REAL HAWKS?

On one side, the Hawks struggled throughout last season, occupying a bottom-three spot on the ladder for much of the campaign as the club unearthed eight debutants — the second most in the competition.

It was clear that exposing more young players and developing them was a key priority down at Waverley Park amid a regeneration of the list.

But this same Hawks team that laboured throughout the season finished it with a bang, losing just one of its last five games including wins over Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs.

Of course, Hawthorn’s turnaround came after the club announced its coaching succession plan as the team then played a much freer brand and were also perhaps motivated to send out Clarkson on a high.

So which is the real Hawthorn? Well, the club is in the midst of a full-scale rebuild, so expectations must be tempered.

The rebuild of its list has really only just begun, with the Hawks having just two top-25 draft picks on its list prior to last year’s draft.

Hawthorn then brought in three top 26 picks in Josh Ward (Pick 7), Sam Butler (Pick 23) and Connor MacDonald (Pick 26).

Beyond the club’s top-tier guns like Tom Mitchell, Luke Breust, Jaeger O’Meara and Chad Wingard, some of whom are in the twilight of their careers, there’s a big drop off in talent and questions over whether the current young core can take it forward.

The club also saw a ton of experience depart this off-season including Shaun Burgoyne, Jonathon Ceglar, Tim O’Brien and Tom Scully, with only four 2015 premiership players remaining on its list.

It means this is going to be the youngest and most inexperienced Hawks side in well over a decade, and all young sides take time to develop and grow together.

Speaking to foxfooty.com.au, Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall couldn’t set a pass mark for his former club in 2022, but he was excited about the new direction under Mitchell.

“For me, it’s not about a number of wins. They’re starting basically from scratch again under ‘Mitch’. It’ll be a new game style, I’m sure there’ll be some positional changes, he’ll probably want to do things a little bit differently,” he said.

“I just want to see them commit to a path and then hopefully start to improve a little bit as they travel along it.

“I’m just excited to see what Mitch wants to do with them and which direction they head in, I don’t have great expectations about how many games they’re going to win.”

A BIG ACT TO FOLLOW

One thing for sure is that Mitchell certainly has big shoes to fill in replacing Clarkson.

Appointed ahead of the 2005 season, Clarkson oversaw one of the most successful, golden eras in AFL history in leading the Hawks to four premierships including a three-peat from 2013 to 2015.

Of course, Mitchell spearheaded the star power on field alongside the likes of Luke Hodge, Buddy Franklin, Jarryd Roughead, Jordan Lewis, Cyril Rioli and Burgoyne.

The 2012 Brownlow medallist knows as much about winning as his old coach, just in a very different role to the one he’s in now.

Then there’s the element of how the handover situation played out, with Clarkson originally set (and contracted) to coach the club until the end of 2022 until the new plan chaotically played out publicly late last season.

The Hawks essentially jettisoned Clarkson early so they could keep Mitchell.

And the club finishing last year in such strong fashion in Clarkson’s final days shows that this list perhaps is more capable than it’s been given credit.

But Dunstall doesn’t believe there’s necessarily any added pressure on Mitchell despite beginning his coaching career under unique circumstances.

“People will talk about that, but that’s long done, that’s six months old. It’ll be water under the bridge for Mitch,” he said.

“At least he’s not taking over a team that’s just played finals or won a flag or something like that. It’s been a few years now since the club has been successful. I think he’ll handle it OK, he’ll be fine.”

AFTERMATH FROM THE TRADE PERIOD

The trade period was also something of a tumultuous time for Hawthorn as it tried to offload senior players including O’Meara, Wingard and Jack Gunston to bring more draft picks through the door, while some reports stated Mitchell personally rang clubs to spark interest.

It’s believed the Hawks were in talks with GWS over trades for Wingard and Breust but neither player wanted to move clubs.

In the end, Hawthorn didn’t make any significant deals, although Ceglar and O’Brien moved to Geelong and the Western Bulldogs respectively.

Dunstall held no concerns with the way the club handled the trade period, believing it’s simply the nature of the modern landscape.

“That’s not restricted to Hawthorn, every club throws players’ names up and you look to do deals,” he said.

“That’s just the way we are. It’s the changing nature of the game, we need to get used to not panicking if we hear players spoken about on the trade table. Because the game is becoming about trades, moreso than it has ever before. You’ve got to give something to get something, that’s the easiest way to put it.”

MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS

But even if the trade period has no effect on the culture, it did show that the club wasn’t fully satisfied with its draft hand and thus current young talent on the list.

This Hawks are keen to add to their young core of Mitch Lewis, James Worpel, Changkuoth Jiath, Will Day, Dylan Moore, Jack Scrimshaw, Denver Grainger-Barras and Josh Ward and bring them together under Mitchell.

There’s promising pieces to build around long-term with perhaps another draft or two’s worth of talent to add with early picks. But there still remains several elements of overall uncertainty.

Ben McEvoy was named captain for the second-consecutive season, but the rest of the leadership group wasn’t named and they mightn’t have one at all.

Interestingly, O’Meara, Worpel, Liam Shiels, Gunston and Tom Mitchell rounded out last year’s leadership group, some of whom were linked to trade talks and most won’t be part of the long-term future at the club. So who are the emerging leaders of this team?

There’s sure to be more list turnover to come at the end of the season and change and how Mitchell manages the side and players’ roles will be fascinating. Does he stick with the trusty Tom Mitchell and O’Meara as the main two midfielders or open up more on-ball opportunities for others? Are all the veterans locks to play in the senior team every week?

Their best 22 feels like one of the least settled in the competition where there’ll be plenty of spots up for grabs. While the eight debutants last year is a promising sign, it also shows there were constant changes to the team.

We don’t know exactly how they’ll line up in 2022, which is as exciting as it is unsettling, while Day and Jiath have had injury interrupted pre-seasons.

In terms of style, Mitchell has said he wants his team to play a tough, exciting brand (yes, we’ve heard that before) and that the pre-season focus has been less on the opposition and more on his side finding its identity.

Then of course there’s the matter of, whether Mitchell, despite how highly rated he is, can coach and how long it’ll take for him to mesh with the group and it to pick up his methods.

There’s ultimately more questions than answers at Hawthorn in 2022. And it’s hard to have too much faith in a side with so much unknown.

Clarkson didn’t turn the Hawks into a powerhouse overnight and Mitchell will be given a long leash to build his team and try and make it successful.

Hawthorn has put all its faith in one of its favourite sons to carve out a pathway to lead it back to the finals stage. For better or worse, that road begins now.

KEY INS

Max Lynch, Josh Ward, Sam Butler, Connor Maconald

KEY OUTS

Shaun Burgoyne, Jonathon Ceglar, James Cousins, Ollie Hanrahan, Tim O’Brien, Jon Patton, Tom Scully