In the room for Hawthorn best-and-fairest: Luke Breust in tears, Sam Mitchell’s parting words for James Worpel
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has sent a strong message to his players as emotions spilt over during a champion’s farewell. Here’s what went down at the Peter Crimmins Medal.
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell urged his players not to be satisfied with a preliminary finals appearance, retiring champion Luke Breust endured an emotional send-off and the Peter Crimmins Medal went to the unlikeliest of second-time winners.
Take a look at what happened during Hawthorn’s best-and-fairest night at Crown Palladium.
‘If it ain’t broke, smash it’
Sam Mitchell channelled his inner David Parkin as he made his address to the room on Saturday night, but the Hawks coach was the first to concede he was missing an important part of his mentor’s magic.
“I don’t quite have the vein going in the neck, but (Parkin would say): ‘If it ain’t broke, smash it’,” Mitchell said.
“So the attitude we will have across this next six months is we need to continue to evolve and improve, because the Hawthorn Football Club is not one that’s built for preliminary finals.
“We are built to win premierships, and I see Punky’s (Luke Breust’s) cups up there, and that is what we need to add to.
“I have enormous faith that this group, we have bigger things ahead.”
Mitchell said he “hated” watching the grand final after sensing during the finals that his side would have been ready for the heat of the decider.
“Last year, I watched the grand final and I thought we could’ve been there … like maybe? It was hope,’ he said.
“This year, it was stronger than that. We would’ve looked suitable there; we would’ve been OK; we would’ve been comfortable in that environment.
“Hawthorn is an organisation that is built on premierships, and we need to build this club, all of us together … we need to build this into an organisation that should win that (preliminary final).”
Worpel departs on best of terms
There was no mention of Zach Merretts, Bailey Humphreys or Daniel Giansiracusas in Mitchell’s speech, but he took time to thank 2019 best-and-fairest James Worpel and key defender Sam Frost on their final night at the club.
Both players were in the room as Worpel prepares to move to Geelong and Frost considers whether to find a fourth club as a delisted free agent.
Worpel fell out of favour in Mitchell’s first full season as coach in 2022, but fought to win his spot back and became an integral part of the Hawks midfield again over the past three years.
“Some people said, ‘is Worps coming? Is Worps coming?’ Of course he is,” Mitchell said.
“He left every single thing out there for this football club over eight years … this was his night in 2019.
“On a personal note, the journey that we’ve had together … I’m enormously proud of what he’s achieved as a player, which is obviously great. He’s a great person. He’s going to bring an enormous amount to another football club, who (I) hope doesn’t go that well.”
Not in the room was much-loved three-time premiership Hawk and head of development Andy Collins, who has joined Port Adelaide’s coaching staff.
“I really did ask Collo to come along, because I wanted to personally thank him for the lessons that he’s taught me on my coaching journey,” Mitchell said.
“He said: ‘I can’t. The old past players, they’re sledging me too much, I just can’t deal with you all’.
“To all of you old past players who are getting into Collo: keep doing it, just keep getting into him.”
Tears of a champion
Nat Edwards and Daniel Harford hosted the event, and the 153-game Hawk put Luke Breust on the back foot straight away by bringing forward his standing ovation to the start of his moment on stage rather than the end.
Breust, who attended with his leg in a brace after his season ended with a horrific knee injury in the VFL finals, was in tears after a minute of thunderous applause from the room.
“Thank you, everyone. Did you have to start it like that?” he asked Harford.
Oh great now Punky’s crying ðŸ˜â¤ï¸ pic.twitter.com/PBR47E3s40
— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) October 4, 2025
The four-time premiership forward did not play a senior game until his third season, and he said there had been many times as a rookie during the 2009-10 campaigns when he had wanted to throw in the towel and return to the NSW Riverina.
“I remember spending the week down here, and I was like, ‘Geez, I’m not sure I’m cut out for this’.
“Trying to do hook turns in the city, I nearly ran someone over trying to drive past a tram on Waverley Rd, trying to get to Waverley Park … there’s a lot of adjusting to do, a lot of homesickness.
“Mum and Dad gave me ten grand after my second year because I was down on rent and bills.”
The turning point? Breust said it was the confidence he got from being able to embarrass Mitchell in a series of special tackling sessions in 2010.
“I started to feel at home at the level and belong at the level in terms of attributes, physicality and strength when we used to do these tackling sessions at Chadstone,” he said.
“I had so much respect for Sam (Mitchell) as a player – to see him play every single week, and what he produced, and then I’d train against him and could make him look silly – it was nearly like, OK, well there’s something here to work with.”
Breust paid tribute to Jack Gunston as both a “rival” and a “great mate”, saying he feared for his spot in the team when Gunston arrived from Adelaide for the 2012 season.
“You need a rival in your career, but someone who is also such a great mate, and that’s exactly what we were,” Breust said.
“As soon as he arrived, we’d just compete in everything. We just did that, whether it was golf, goalkicking, in the gym with bench press – we just went at each other for the whole time.
“We pushed each other to be better, and it’s worked out pretty well.”
More people make Breust cry
It was 33-year-old Gunston, an emergency in opening round and the sub the following week, who surged home to win his second Peter Crimmins Medal after booting a career-high 73 goals.
He had last claimed a best-and-fairest during a turbulent 2020 season for the Hawks, but this time almost kicked them to a flag in his 16th season.
How lucky we are 🤎💛 pic.twitter.com/lMLzkdpOb5
— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) October 4, 2025
“Hopefully it’s a different medal around my neck this time next year,” he told the room.
Gunston quickly turned his attention to Breust, ditching his notes in an emotional address to his forward partner in crime.
“I can be pretty moody … I think a lot of you know that. I can be a bit stand-offish and have a real ‘get away from me’ kind of face,” he said.
“A lot of the guys, when I walk in with that face, they stay away from me at the footy club, but one guy that walks straight through it is Luke.
“He’s always one to ask how you’re going. He’s always one who cares about you and your family.
“I’m going to miss having him at the footy club, he’s been there since I’ve been at Hawthorn. He’s all I’ve ever known in the No. 22 locker.
“You set a really high standard for me, mate. Yes, we were rivals, but it was always me trying to catch you, and that’s why I continue to chase, because you set such a high standard.”
Breust was well and truly broken by this point.
“Look at you crying – can you get the camera on him? One stat I saw during the week about you was 200-something assists, and that’s because you’re always making people around you better. And you made me a lot better as a person and as a footballer, so thank you mate. All the best.”
Hawks ‘weeks’ from move to new HQ
As Worpel makes his way up the highway, his former teammates and coaches will head for Warrigal Rd and the Dingley Bypass.
Hawthorn president Andy Gowers said the Hawks were close to completing their move to their new base in the southeast, and it will happen before the year’s end.
“I can reveal to you now that we will be in our new home at the KCC within weeks,” Gowers said.
“Given how much work has been done by so many different people over many years to make this dream a reality … this is a monumental moment for our football club.
“Importantly, this will also be a home for the entire Hawthorn family, so consider yourself invited and we look forward to seeing many of you out there very soon.”
2025 PETER CRIMMINS MEDAL VOTES
1. Jack Gunston – 157 votes
2. Karl Amon – 140 votes
3. Dylan Moore – 136 votes
4. Jai Newcombe – 126 votes
5. Blake Hardwick, Jack Ginnivan – 120 votes
7. Josh Battle – 119 votes
8. Jarman Impey – 108 votes
9. Nick Watson – 102 votes
10. Lloyd Meek, Mabior Chol – 99 votes
Other award winners
Most Improved – Josh Ward
Most Courageous – Josh Battle
Best Clubman – Will Day
Community Leadership Award – Luke Breust
Lethal Award – Jack Gunston
Most Promising – Calsher Dear
Best Finals Player – Jai Newcombe
Originally published as In the room for Hawthorn best-and-fairest: Luke Breust in tears, Sam Mitchell’s parting words for James Worpel
