Alastair Clarkson plans next move to keep Hawthorn rising up the ladder

YOU never hear much about Hawthorn in the lead up to the trade period... until they strike. Alastair Clarkson and his crew are the masters at the trade table. Who will be the next Hawk gun in 2019?

Could master coach Alastair Clarkson land one or both of Dylan Shiel and Steven May?

WHAT has Clarko got planned next?

It’s the question the rest of the competition has been asking for well over a decade, and it’s as relevant as ever as the Hawks look ahead to 2019.

In game-mode, the four-time premiership coach gave us a none-too-subtle reminder last week he is a systems-based leader more than a tactical-based one.

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In list-management mode, though, Alastair Clarkson is a game-changer in crafting strategies and thinking outside the square. Importantly, he is a free thinker who has helped to change the AFL landscape during the trade and free agency periods.

Listening to him as the Hawks bowed out of 2018 in straight sets on Friday night — meaning they are 0-4 in finals since the 2015 threepeat — makes you think he has another ace up his sleeve.

He is planning something.

Alastair Clarkson is always thinking two moves ahead.

In his press conference following the loss to the Demons, Clarkson spoke not only of growing from within, but of attacking the post-season window with vigour.

“We need to improve the quality of our list ... and some of that will be organic with the guys that are already there and some of it will be from trying to inject new players into our club,” Clarkson said.

“We need to do whatever we can either (at the) draft, trade or free agency to bring in players that will improve our list.”

Importantly, he closed one important issue down.

Less than an hour after Jarryd Roughead brought his team to within 12 points at the 11-minute-mark of the last term before the margin ultimately blew out, Clarkson guaranteed the skipper — 32 in January — will play a 15th season at Hawthorn next year.

Previously, he has left wriggle room, but if we take him at his word, Roughy is a lock for 2019, potentially ending speculation that a few clubs — Carlton included — thought he was gettable.

“We’ve had the discussions and he’s playing at Hawthorn next year,” Clarkson said.

Clarkson stressed the Hawks will be looking to add players across “all three lines”, as well as providing more internal opportunities.

That means a push for Giant mid Dylan Shiel will likely gain momentum; for without Jaeger O’Meara on Friday night, Tom Mitchell again had to do too much of the work.

And Gold Coast defender Steven May has met with two Melbourne-based clubs — one believed to be the Hawks — about a possible move next year.

Dylan Shiel is in the Hawks’ sights.

Steven May is another trade target.

The Hawks have shown a propensity to get deals done. If they can secure one or both players — or another left-field option — it will assist with 2019 and beyond.

Few predicted the Hawks would play finals this year, let alone secure a top-four finish, so the accelerated speed of this rapid rebuild will provide confidence.

But as the coach admitted, his team was “below the waterline” in its capacity to win a final this season.

The experience that players such as Harry Morrison, James Worpel, Blake Hardwick and Conor Nash, had in front of two 90,000-plus crowds in their first taste of September can only add to their development.

Getting more time into the likes of Mitch Lewis, and welcoming veteran Grant Birchall back next year after a horror injury stretch, will also be a priorities.

There is also the matter of a new contract for Clarkson to sort through, which will surely happen sooner rather than later.

Young Hawks like Harry Morrison will benefit from finals experience.

Clarkson admitted his team was far from its best form during the finals, and that will act as a motivating factor, along with the missed opportunities — particularly in front of goals — that gave the team little chance against Richmond and Melbourne.

That lack of quality and polish, even from experienced players, was uncharacteristic, and proved “energy sappers”, according to the coach.

At times, the Hawks were torched by the speed of Melbourne’s ball movement, and that’s something they need to address.

Fifteen wins was a superb return for a team that finished 12th in 2017.

But, as Clarko conceded, Roughy and Shaun Burgoyne — who will be 36 next year — know they haven’t got time to wait.

This is a “now” business, and for a club and a coach so used to success, the push to get better, and go deeper into the finals, will drive their off-field actions.

So when it comes to Hawthorn’s list management positioning, strap yourselves in, and expect the unexpected.

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