Hawthorn working magic once again in hope risky Tom Scully move becomes trade steal

ANOTHER trade period, another Hawthorn miracle. No other club has been as bold and ruthless during footy’s ‘silly season’ but could the risky move for injured Giant running machine Tom Scully become their biggest steal yet?

The Hawks are working their magic again in a bid to get wantaway Giant Tom Scully.

TO defy history, Hawthorn had to work a miracle.

When you have been up for as long as the Hawks and missed out on all those early draft picks there has to be something extra, something special, to keep them in the premiership frame for more than a decade.

And over the past three days, we’ve perhaps seen some of that magic in play.

Hawthorn has not only made the most bold move of the trade period looking to offload one of its brightest young talents, Ryan Burton, for Port Adelaide ace Chad Wingard.

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The Hawks want Power star Chad Wingard... Picture: Sarah Reed

...And they’re prepared to give up young gun Ryan Burton to get the deal done. Picture: Getty Images

It’s the second leg of this trade double act that is looking like, on the surface at least, an outrageous bargain.

Hawthorn fans, clearly, are still getting their heads around the Burton component because he shone like Christmas lights last year when he finished second in the Rising Star before dropping away this season.

But as word swept the football industry that Hawthorn could gain Tom Scully for pick No. 53 over the weekend, the common reaction that it was some sort of joke.

One of those things you hear in the ‘silly season’.

A late third-round pick for Scully, 27, would be one of the biggest steals of the past few years, surely, when you consider the Bulldogs yesterday picked up Tigers’ VFL forward Sam Lloyd for not much less.

But there is a serious truth to why Scully’s trade worth has suddenly fallen through the floor.

Scully’s ankle is a big, big problem, we are told.

Tom Scully suffered a serious ankle injury in March this year. Picture: Getty Images

Talk to people around the situation it and they all say Scully broke his ankle so badly in Round 2 this year that there is little certainty about when, or even if, he will make a full recovery after missing almost all of last season with it.

He had surgery in April but the rehabilitation has been slow.

Certainly, his chances of playing Round 1, or in fact anytime early next season are slim.

It’s a sad reality because Scully’s footy in 2017 was outstanding.

He was an All-Australian contender who rarely rested in games because we know his gut-running is up around Olympic levels.

For a wingman, he rated elite for average contested possessions (nine) a game, kick rating (+4.3 per cent) and score involvements (6.2) in his career-best 2017 campaign, according to Champion Data.

It was the kind of footy Demons recruiters envisaged when they took him with the No. 1 pick way back in 2009.

But after missing almost all of last year, it’s now unclear if Scully can recapture that sparkling form, which is, in part, why the Giants are handballing him off.

The Hawks are working their magic again in a bid to get wantaway Giant Tom Scully.

GWS Giants are also in the process of clearing about $2 million of salary cap room.

Their priorities heading into this next phase is helping keep Josh Kelly, Lachie Whitfield, Nick Haynes and Stephen Coniglio, among others, from accepting huge offers from cashed-up rivals over the next year or two.

For Hawthorn, Alastair Clarkson and Graham Wright see a gold-plated opportunity to pick-up one of the game’s most damaging outside midfielders — replacing Bradley Hill from two years ago — for the cost of a potato cake and a couple of dimmies.

And we know the Hawthorn medical department has probably the best record in the game of fixing star players’ injury problems, including most notably Shaun Burgoyne and Jaeger O’Meara.

So, while they missed out on Dylan Shiel, the Wingard-Scully combination is an elite two-for-one back-up option, albeit with a considerable asterisk.

But Hawthorn can afford to take a risk like this with Clarkson’s record and reputation counting for plenty in the annual arms race to recruit players.

Some clubs take the gamble on teenage draftees, hoping they mature into the senior footballers they all dream to be.

The Hawks are risk-takers, too, they just do it differently.

Jaeger O’Meara and Shaun Burgoyne both overcame serious injuries when they landed at Hawthorn. Picture: Getty Images

Originally published as Hawthorn working magic once again in hope risky Tom Scully move becomes trade steal