Hawthorn celebrate three-peat premiership with fans around Australia

HAWTHORN’S stars held aloft the 2015 premiership cup 58 days ago, but for many the party is just winding down.

Premiership cup in Katherine, at Katherine Gorge. Image supplied by the Hawthorn Football Club

HAWTHORN’S stars held aloft the 2015 premiership cup 58 days ago, but for many the party is just winding down.

The club’s three premiership cups from its 2013-15 three-peat on Sunday finished a magical six-week tour of all parts of Australia.

The tour ended at the club’s Waverley Park headquarters, with 7500 Hawthorn supporters having their photo taken with the cups in that time.

From Canberra’s Parliament House, to Katherine Gorge, to the bottom of Tasmania, the premiership cup tour has attempted to spread the premiership love.

In the process it has created indelible images of joy but also thousands of dollars for charity.

The gold coin donation has resulted in $6500 raised for the Starlight Children’s Foundation with money from the Tasmanian and Melbourne legs still to flow in.

In all they have visited Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Hobart, Launceston, Devonport, Burnie, Darwin and Katherine before returning to Melbourne.

Hawthorn chief executive Stuart Fox said it was exciting to be able to share the joy of the premierships with so many fans.

“We are thrilled to be able to share our premiership win with Hawks members and fans across the country,’’ he said.

“We know of several passionate fans who travelled from remote country towns for hours to have their photo taken with the cups, which is an incredible example of the dedication and loyalty of our supporters.

“It has been a pleasure to know how much joy the cups bring our members and supporters, and we’re very proud to recognise that all funds we raised through the tour will be donated to our Community Partner Starlight Children’s Foundation.”

Hawthorn’s premiership cups in Katherine. Picture: Supplied by Hawthorn Football Club

On Saturday December 19 Hawthorn premiership hero Brian Lake will take the three cups to Mildura for the ninth leg of the tour.

The Victorian city won the ‘Cups to Country’ competition giving Hawks fans in rural communities the chance to see the cups in person.

Hawthorn’s stars have just returned to training, with Billy Hartung taking out the club’s time trial on Saturday.

He will be one of a number of youngsters desperate to break into the side, the youngster dropped for this year’s grand final.

“There’s obviously been a bit of banter about me, Issie (Isaac Smith) and Hilly (Brad Hill) when it comes to the time trial, and it was finally good to get one over them this time,” he said.

“He ran pretty hard, but I got over the top today so I was pretty happy with that.”

Originally published as Hawthorn celebrate three-peat premiership with fans around Australia