Hawthorn season 2025 preview: Matthew Forrest breaks down where the Hawks sit

Hawthorn took their fans on a memorable ride in season 2024. Will their new recruits take them deeper into September? MATT FORREST looks at their best side, burning question and more.

Where do the Hawks sit?

Hawthorn surged back to relevancy in 2024 in a captivating run to the semi finals.

The three-point defeat to the Power that ultimately ended their season will no doubt burn away at the club until the new campaign begins.

After adding some handy recruits in the off-season, can the Hawks pick up where they left off and go a few steps further in 2025?

Matthew Forrest analyses where Hawthorn are at, where they’re headed and everything in between.

Calsher Dear was superb in his debut year. Picture: Michael Klein

SURPRISE PACKET OF 2024

Not even the most passionate Hawthorn fans saw the rise of Calsher Dear after the Hawks recruited the father-son key forward prospect in the fourth round of last year’s draft. The 195cm high flyer was seen as a project with a skinny frame, but after Mitch Lewis went down with injury he was parachuted into the senior side after showing promosing signs in the VFL. Dear went on to play almost every game after his debut in round 8, kicking 25 goals from 17 games which included 3.4 against the Western Bulldogs in the elimination final. He had nine games with at least two goals and kicked a goal in each of the games he was not subbed out of.

INS AND OUTS

IN: Cody Anderson (No.64 draft pick, Academy), Josh Battle (free agent, St Kilda), Tom Barrass (trade, West Coast), Matt Hill (Category B rookie), Noah Mraz (No.35 draft pick), Jaime Uhr-Henry (Category B rookie)

OUT: Josh Bennetts (delisted), Denver Grainger-Barras (delisted), Cooper Stephens (delisted), Jack O’Sullivan (delisted), Ethan Phillips (delisted), Clay Tucker (delisted), Chad Wingard (retired)

James Worpel will be eyeing a lucrative new deal. Picture: Mark Stewart

WHO’S PLAYING FOR A CONTRACT?

Midfield bull James Worpel enters 2025 as the biggest Hawks name out of contract, with the ball winner a looming free agent. There have been no signs of Worpel wanting out of the Hawks, having claimed a Peter Crimmins Medal while being integral to one of the competition’s best stoppage groups.

Worpel gets the Hawks off to a flying start 🔥

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But Worpel is from Geelong and the Cats are desperate for inside midfielders to replace the ageing Pat Dangerfield and pair with new recruit Bailey Smith. Geelong is also known to go after local talent. Worpel is likely to stay, but external interest would drive his asking price up if he starts the season strongly. Lloyd Meek enjoyed a breakout 2024 campaign and became one of the competition’s top rucks. Another strong season — this time in a contract year — would make him one of the better-paid rucks in the AFL.

LAST YEAR IN CONTRACT

Bodie Ryan, Jack Gunston, Jai Serong, James Worpel, Jasper Scaife, Josh Ward, Lloyd Meek, Luke Breust, Sam Butler, Sam Frost, Seamus Mitchell

Josh Weddle can be shifted into many different positions for the Hawks. Picture: Hawthorn FC

POSITION THAT NEEDS TO BE FILLED AND WHO CAN FILL IT?

The biggest question mark over Hawthorn’s side is surrounding its key forward depth. The main man, Mitch Lewis, is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in round 17 and isn’t expected back until late in the season, while Calsher Dear is still just 19 years old and cannot be expected to shoulder the load. Mabior Chol was recruited as a ready-made option but was poor in the finals against the Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide. With Tom Barrass and Josh Battle solidifying up the defensive stocks, James Sicily could be swung forward more permanently, however he is an All-Australian half-back. Jack Gunston is likely a depth option only in 2025, Max Ramsden and Jasper Scaife have not set the world on fire in the VFL and Ned Reeves is purely ruck depth. With Josh Weddle spending time in the pre-season working on his ruck craft, there is a chance he is deployed forward of the ball in a four-man rotation including Meek, Sicily and Blake Hardwick, who can all pinch-hit out of the goal square for four very different attacking looks.

BURNING QUESTION

After bounding up the ladder in 2024 — winning 14 of its last 18 games to finish seventh and then winning an elimination final — the question is whether Hawthorn can maintain its surge. The Hawks’ schedule is more difficult in 2025 and they had a pretty clean run with no major injury issues plaguing them, so some regression could be expected. There will be question marks over how the new recruits fit into the side, how the backline gels around its two major signings, and where some of the club’s more versatile talents will play the majority of their footy.