AFL 2023: Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell opens up on tough rebuild, confidence in youngest list

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says he is excited about the path the Hawks are on with their young list, but has acknowledged it won’t all be smooth sailing.

OF all the numerous attributes Sam Mitchell has displayed – and mastered – across his more than two decades in the AFL system, patience hasn’t necessarily been one of them.

He was always seen as a young man in a hurry, and that recipe for success played a massive part in what turned out to be one of the most decorated careers of the modern era.

His sense of ambition, drive and determination to make things happen as fast as he possibly could – coupled with an innate football intelligence – were a part of his evolution from draft hopeful to an elite player who won a Brownlow Medal, five club best and fairests and four premierships, including one of them as captain.

Now 40, and about to embark on his second season as senior coach of Hawthorn, Mitchell is still endlessly driven to help get the best out of himself and those around him.

But he is equally mindful he is now in charge of the youngest and least experienced team in the AFL.

The Hawks lost around 1000 games of AFL experience at the end of 2022, including Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara being traded to new clubs, Jack Gunston choosing to take up a free agency offer from Brisbane and Ben McEvoy calling time on his celebrated career.

Hawks coach Sam Mitchell was always a player in a hurry. Picture: Getty Images

Some of those decisions were made with the future in mind; others were outside of Hawthorn’s control.

But the unmistakeable, unapologetic ambition is that once mighty Hawks have resolved to invest in youth – and the draft system – in an effort to build a list capable of winning the club’s 14th premiership.

“I am not naturally a very patient sort of person, but I understand the path we are on, and what we are trying to achieve,” Mitchell said about the Hawks’ expectations in 2023.

“I am certainly focused now that the season has started about the day in front of us, and the game in front of us.

“As players and as coaches, you try not to look too far ahead, but as the head coach sometimes you have to keep a look on the horizon. I am very much looking forward to Sunday (the round 1 clash against Essendon).”

The expectations of that delicate balance between the present and the future will have to be managed this season – not just from the coach, but also from the club’s army of fans so accustomed to AFL success.

Mitchell is excited by the challenges ahead, but mindful it won’t all linear in terms of improvements.

“There are going to be some really good days this year and there are going to be some days that aren’t so great,” the Hawks coach said. “The road in front of us is going to have some fantastic parts but there will also be some bumps in it as well.”

“As players and as a coaching staff and a football department, and as a large organisation, we get to work and try to improve as quickly as we can. We don’t know how far or how fast that will get us.

“We have 80,000 members and for the most part, I think they are on-board with where we are doing and what we are trying to achieve. They are going to be as impatient as our players in trying to make sure we are getting better as quickly as we can.”

Mitchell is hopeful the majority of Hawthorn’s 80,000 members are on board with his rebuild plans. Picture: Getty Images

Mitchell said Hawthorn “always measured its success on its premierships” and that’s why they must stay the course, regardless of what happens this year.

“When I took over as coach of a great club like Hawthorn, you are thinking ‘how can we win our next premiership and how can we have our next premiership era?’

“When you do that, you have to look at what you have on your list at that point in time, the talent pool, and then look at your future and decide the best way forward.

“We did a lot of work on our strategic thinking and how to chase Hawthorn’s next premiership. And every single decision we have made from then to now has been with that goal in mind.”

Part of that was looking at previous premiership models, where the common theme was getting top end draft picks and get those decisions right.

“I think if you look at the best players in the competition, the vast majority are top-end draft picks,” he said. “If you go and look at premiership teams and the teams finishing in the top four, they have a good spread of top-end draft picks.

“There are always the Tom Stewarts of the world (Geelong took a mature-aged Stewart as pick 40 in the 2016 national draft). But for every one of those players, there are four or five picks who are top end draft picks.

“So we had to make sure we were getting hold of those (picks), but we also needed to get those picks right. To really invest in the draft has been really important for us in the last two years.

Sam Mitchell is all in on investing in draft picks to set up Hawthorn’s future. Picture: Getty Images

In Mitchell’s first two drafts as senior coach, the Hawks have had five top 30 draft picks, including 2021 selections Josh Ward (pick 7), Sam Butler (23) and Connor Macdonald (26) and last year’s picks Cam Mackenzie (pick 7) and Josh Weddle (18).

That’s a big contrast to the Hawks’ three successive drafts in 2016-18 when the club did not have a top 30 pick.

“What we do know is that getting that quality group of young players in together and bringing them through seems to be what is the basis of exciting eras (in the AFL),” he said.

It’s not a foolproof recipe, but as a student of the game, Mitchell knows that will give Hawthorn its best chance of attaining more silverware.

In part, he sold that message – and that philosophy – to the new Hawks who came into the club this year from other AFL clubs, including former Dockers ruckman Lloyd Meek, ex-Port Adelaide wingman Karl Amon, former Cat Cooper Stephens and ex-Bulldog and Box Hill Hawks forward Fergus Greene.

“We were very upfront,” Mitchell said of his late 2022 discussions. “We had a lot of meetings with them.”

“We flew over to Perth and met with Lloyd. We were very transparent with them on the opportunity that is likely to present and how they need to hold up their end of the bargain. But it was also about where we are headed as a club … ‘this is the type of coach I am, this is the type of list we have, and this is the type of environment we are creating. Would you like to be a part of it?’”

The Hawks took ex-Port wingman Karl Amon through free agency. Picture: Mark Stewart

He said all of those players understood the journey ahead, knowing it could provide the best path to success.

“The thing about all of those four guys is that they are all high quality individuals,” he said.

“What they can produce on the field is vitally important, but they have also added to the culture and values of the team. I’m really excited to bring some high level talent through the draft, as well as talent and culture from the free agency and trade period.”

Mitchell can’t wait to see what his young charges have in store against the Bombers at the MCG on Sunday. And it won’t hurt that those red and black colours stir up his competitive juices all the more.

Former Dockers ruckman Lloyd Meek joined the Hawks in the off-season. Picture: David Crosling

The backdrop to the round 1 clash has doubled as 40-year reunion of Hawthorn’s 1983 premiership side – a team that destroyed Essendon in the grand final by 83 points. The Bombers beat the Hawks in the two following grand finals, fuelling a rivalry that led to the infamous ‘Line in the Sand’ game back in 2004 and countless other moments this century.

Asked if he still hates the Bombers, Mitchell said with a laugh this week: “I think it would be un-Hawthorn-like to have a soft spot for Essendon.”

He hasn’t yet decided if he will raise the bad blood between the two clubs in his pre-match address to his young charges before the game.

“It will come around to game time and if it feels like there is a bit of anxiety in the air and everyone is a bit nervy, then I probably won’t (raise it),” he said.

“(But I might) if it feels like they are needing a little more oomph in it or any extra motivation – even if I can’t imagine that being the case.

“The level of understanding and knowledge of what the history looks like might be needed for some and not needed for others. My job as coach is to give them what they need to perform well on the day.”

Part of that excitement comes from the growth of individuals into leaders of the club, with James Sicily set to lead the club into its new era as captain.

“When you have a player like ‘Sis’, he was a late draft pick (pick 56 in 2013) and was a fair way off it in so far as his understanding of what was required to be at your best at AFL level,” he said. “His growth as a person and as a player has been significant.”

“When he hurt his knee (in 2021), there were two ways to go about it. You can spend the time off going away from footy, or you can double down and commit to it.

“He learnt a lot about the game and spent time with the coaches and really did a great job of committing to his footy and to his career. As a result, he came back and had a fantastic season last year.

“It is a different challenge now that he is captain of the club. He knows he is a highly-talented and high performing player, so there is a different level of pressure on him.

New Hawks skipper, James Sicily. Picture: Getty Images

“He is well equipped to handle those things. It doesn’t mean he will get it right every game, but he knows that underneath it, he has done the work and will give himself the best chance of having another great season.”

Mitchell is also eager for Chad Wingard to finally have some luck with his body and produce the sort of season the club needs from him.

“Chad has been so frustrated over the last couple of years, not being able to get it (his body) right,” he said. “He has produced his best pre-season (for a few years).

“If he can produce the footy he has produced at training (this pre-season), you are going to see the Chad Wingard we all love. He is so exciting and vibrant; he is so team orientated The amount of times he is passing off when he should be having shots … we are encouraging to hit the scoreboard more himself.”

Mitchell remained cool all throughout the off-season, even though it was a tumultuous off-field period for Hawthorn in the light of the report and subsequent AFL investigation into past treatment of First Nations players and also a bitter board election.

Sam Mitchell is confident Chad Wingard will return to his best in 2023. Picture: Getty Images

As he said this week, he just had to keep his focus – and his players’ focus – on the task at hand. “It is always important to remember what your role us, and that’s to coach the football team.”

Having now bedded down a pathway forward which includes clarity around the football department roles and honing a game plan that suits the list, Mitchell feels as if he is ready to do more one-on-one coaching this year.

“I think the ability to let people – whether it is the players, coaches or staff – do their best work has allowed me to do a little bit more coaching this year, so that’s good,” he said.

“I am really pleased with where we are at this point, but time will tell whether we can handle the pressures.”

Originally published as AFL 2023: Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell opens up on tough rebuild, confidence in youngest list