Wreck It Ralph: 16 reasons behind the Hawks’ rapid rise out of a rebuild
57 games after Alastair Clarkson walked out the door, Hawthorn has jumped the queue of teams rebuilding their way back to the premiership window – and one Hawk represents that growth more than any other.
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Jeff Kennett might be having the last laugh after all.
At the Hawthorn best-and-fairest in 2021 he strode to the podium and declared Sam Mitchell’s arrival meant the “good times will return again” for the Hawks.
The club had just paid out their four-time premiership coach, had a list of highly-paid midfielders it was desperate to move on and was wallowing in mediocrity.
And yet according to Kennett, Mitchell’s enthusiasm and talent reminded him of Alastair Clarkson walking in the door in 2004.
“If you stand still you will get overtaken. This club will not be overtaken, this club will be prepared to make the right decisions, take manageable risks in order to ensure that we continue as one of the senior clubs in the competition.”
57 games later the Hawks have jumped the queue of teams like North Melbourne, West Coast and Adelaide trying to rebuild on their way to a premiership window.
So here are 16 reasons why the Hawks have fast-tracked their plans for a 14th premiership under Sam Mitchell.
1. JACK SCRIMSHAW
Every team has exciting players.
Every team gets wins from tinkering with players in different positions.
But there is no better representation of the growth in this Hawthorn team than the improvement in Jack Scrimshaw.
The former No. 7 draft pick is becoming the defender the club thought it was getting when it picked key back Denver Grainger Barras with the No. 6 draft pick.
The Hawks secured him from Gold Coast by giving up a future third-rounder and getting a fourth-rounder back.
They will hope it eventually turns out like the Peter Wright deal for Essendon in terms of bang for buck.
He is playing on many of the best forwards, he is elite for intercepts and intercept marks (2.6), his kicking and one-on-one contests are above average.
And he is still averaging 17.3 touches.
In short, he’s the perfect profile for a key defender.
As Mitchell said last week, he’s bought into the team’s ethos.
“I think the thing about ‘Scrim’ is he was one of those players who could have been a wasted talent. He was so talented and had done things reasonably comfortably for the majority of his career,” he said.
“He has played 100 games and was still playing in the twos last year. The fact he has made some changes to his game and put in the work and become the consistent performer we see now, when you look at Jack from a couple of years ago he would play well and his stats would be good but now he’s a well rounded player. He helps the team defensively and offensively but also verbally with setup and structure and he values the things that help you win. The things that make wins don’t all go on a stats sheet.”
2. THE RISE AND RETURN OF WILL DAY
Conor Nash said this week Will Day could be the best player in the competition one day.
Does it matter if he doesn’t actually get there?
No, because he is Hawthorn’s best player and he perfectly complements the rest of Hawthorn’s midfield.
The hardness and tackle strength of Nash, the grunt of James Worpel and Jai Newcombe.
Since he has returned from injury Hawthorn are 4-2.
Enough said.
3. MABIOR’S EFFORT
When you see Mabior Chol you think of Leigh Matthews’ mantra that he wanted the punter in the back row of the Gabba to know that his players were desperately trying.
No longer in cruise control, he looks like he is trying at least most of the time.
Chol has 16.9 for the season and a heap of big moments, including his huge hanger against Leek Aleer.
But more importantly he also has 3.5 tackles a game.
No player in the AFL last year was more frustrating or had a bigger gap between their best and worst efforts.
That tackle stat is double last year’s average and nearly three times the 1.3 of his best year in 2022, when he kicked 44 goals.
4. A-GRADE WEDDLE
You have got to be an A grade talent to justify the kind of trade that sees your club give up pick 27 and future second and third-rounders for the No. 18 draft pick.
That’s exactly what Josh Weddle is for Hawthorn
His ruck exploits against Kieren Briggs after Ned Reeves went down have been well-lauded this weekend.
The most exciting part is that it’s not even apparent what kind of player he is going to end up as. But a player who used Olympian Tamsyn Lewis as his pre-draft running coach can do it all.
A bit of ruck, a bit of wing, a bit of third defender.
Could he eventually have the Kouta-esque influence in the midfield?
He only turned 20 a couple of weeks ago. The world is not enough.
5. THE MASTERSTOKE GINNIVAN TRADE
If the Hawks gave up plenty for Josh Weddle, their trade for Jack Ginnivan gets better by the week.
Leading into the King’s Birthday game for Collingwood, Hawthorn is 12th on the ladder and the Pies are ninth.
Hawthorn gave up pick 33 and a future second and third-rounder.
Collingwood gave up pick 39 and a future second and fourth-rounder.
So if both teams finish roughly equal on ladder position the Hawks will get Ginnivan for a slide of six picks and sliding from a second-rounder to a third-rounder.
Ginnivan’s kicking is actually rated by Champion Data as poor but everything else is officially above average – disposals, F50 marks, F50 ground ball gets, F50 pressure, goals.
He is averaging 18.3 possessions and 5.2 score assists but kicking at 48 per cent kicking efficiency.
He has 20 or more touches in three of the past five games, and he only had 20 touches once in his career at Collingwood.
6. YOUNG GUNS EMERGE
To win a flag you also need to nail your mid-range picks.
Pick 26 Connor Macdonald is so much better than a depth player.
His big goal as he burnt off a Giants pursuer against the Giants meant some stood up and took notice for the first time.
But he’s been doing it since he debuted as a classy high half forward who racks up the footy.
He has already racked up 54 games in his two and a half seasons, he only turned 21 this January.
He has had fractionally fewer touches with more mouths to feed this year – 15.9 to last year’s 17.3 but his goal power is up – 12 in 13 games, up from 0.6 a game last year.
7. RUCK N’ ROLL
Hawthorn now believes it has two genuine No. 1 ruckmen.
The emergency of Lloyd Meek as a quality round-the-ground ruckman forced Ned Reeves to get better after he was pushed out of the side when the new ruck rule meant pure jumpers were disadvantaged.
He was strong against Hawthorn before a back injury forced him off against GWS, but Sam Mitchell likes what he sees from his ruck combo.
Meek is only 26 years of age – when most rucks mature – while Reeves is 25.
They have room to improve even more.
“When you are playing at Box Hill, opportunity will knock at some point and you need to be ready to take it. Ned had been playing OK but he really took his chance today. You need depth in position,” Mitchell said after the Brisbane victory.
“To have two rucks who can stand up at AFL is vital. Having Ned and we see what happens with Meeky, the fact we have got two ruckmen vying for the No. 1 position and we know they can both get the job done on their day, it builds confidence in the squad.”
8. CALSHER DEAR
He just flies at the footy. He times his leads well. He gets separation. And he’s only a baby in footy terms. As Jack Gunston said, wasn’t too long ago when he wasn’t sure he wanted to play footy. Give him 60 games and who knows where he might be.
But from a draft where the Hawks secured Nick Watson (four goals in the VFL on Sunday) as a top 10 pick, to get so many games into pick 56 Dear so early is a massive boost.
9. DOING IT WITHOUT MITCH
Speaking of late pick key forward, the Hawks have done it without Mitch Lewis.
When he was out last year with his ACL issue they were impotent.
He has only played three games this year and yet the Hawks have racked up 100 points four times as well as 98 against the Dogs in the past eight encounters.
Last year they hit 100 points only twice (although they hit the high 90s four times).
Sam Mitchell’s sides don’t have a problem scoring.
10. DYLAN MOORE IS A FREAK
And he’s only 24. The fact he was a delisted free agent who saved his game with one final game is a superb story. But he also has eight years left of his career at a minimum.
He has a remarkable 21.5 this year – his 0.2 against the Giants spoiled his accuracy that included a poster and a 40m checkside shot that missed by a metre.
Very few have his skillset – high possessions, high goals, 3.9 tackles a game, high score involvements (82 in total so far). His goal tally was down last year but has now done it three seasons in a row averaging at least 18 touches, at least 3.9 tackles, at least 5.9 score involvements a game.
11. THE HARD-NUT IRISHMAN
Who else has a 198cm beast of a midfielder who can tackle hard, play ruck, tag, and fill so many versatile roles as Conor Nash?
He’s a free agent who put talks off until the bye but as he told the Herald Sun in Gather Round he wants to stay at the club.
His stats don’t leap off the page – average for contested possessions, kicking, clearances.
But as Mitchell said last week after the Lions win, it doesn’t fully represent what a team player he is.
“Nashy leads our tackles most weeks and leads our selfless acts. There was a fantastic piece of vision with him chasing with three minutes to go, just sprinting to shut down one of their best players. He usually plays better than the stats sheet says. If you watch the game and recognise the role he plays, he’s in the ruck for quite a bit of the game and he’s a little less heralded outside our four walls but the players value playing with him pretty highly.”
12. AGE PROFILE
Luke Breust and Jack Gunston are the only players over 30.
Chad Wingard and Jack Frost are 30, James Sicily is 30 in August but should have four or five seasons left.
The players 25 and under – Nash, Scrimshaw, Lewis, Reeves, Worpel, Jiath, Moore.
Day is 23, Newcombe 22, Macdonald 21. If gives this team to build together and add parts – perhaps a high-priced free agent, perhaps just building through the draft.
13. BARGAIN BUYS
The Hawks aren’t giving up much for the players they bring into their system.
Karl Amon was a free agent last year who had an excellent season on the wing before slotting into half back this year averaging 22.3 possessions at 80 per cent efficiency with 559 metres gained on average.
Massimo D’Ambrosio was secured from Essendon for pick 61 and a future fourth-rounder tied to Collingwood, and he’s been excellent on the wing.
His last four games? 28, 27, 20 and 23 touches in a year where he has kicked a 73 per cent efficiency.
14. TIME TO LOAD UP?
The Hawks have cap space and are aggressive in the free agency market again.
St Kilda was very confident early in the year they could secure Josh Battle but his talks have drifted to the worrying stage. The Hawks are strong suitors.
Pushing the happy Hawks narrative is a masterstroke as the rascal pack laugh it up and generally have fun. Ross Lyon has had to defend the St Kilda environment given his hard-line standards, but would you forgive Battle for looking over at Hawthorn and thinking they look an attractive place to ply his trade alongside James Sicily and Scrimshaw?
15. THE CEILING OF CJ
Changkuoth Jiath hasn’t scratched the surface yet. Coming back from a litany of soft tissue injuries this year, he is only just warming up in four games averaging 8.5 possessions.
In six seasons he’s only just hitting 50 career games.
Watching Charlie Curnow in full flight on Sunday night it dawned on me what a loss to the game we would have had if his career was cut short by this prolonged knee issues.
Jiath is a very different player but at his best he’s just so watchable and explosive.
He’s never played more than 16 games in a year.
Will the Hawks finally crack the code with his body so he can get a full season playing top-level football? The football world hopes so.
16. NICK WATSON
The Hawks backed themselves in with the goalsneak and yet across two three-game stints he has only 4.11 to show for it.
So he’s getting the ball in hand and he still wants the moment.
Mitchell highlighted his spoil and chase-down tackle on Liam Jones after his shocking miss against the Western Bulldogs as an example of his win-at-all-costs mindset.
“In my mind he cost us an opportunity and he created an opportunity,” he said.
“The resilience he had as a very young player who hasn’t played for a long period, comes on as a sub, and the mental anguish that causes in a 19-year-old athlete, the fact he was able to get back off the canvas after an embarrassing error for a kid and do something the team absolutely values and gave us another opportunity to score, without his resilience I don’t think we win the game so I was enormously proud of his follow up.”
Watson will want to work even harder on his goalkicking – across eight Coates League games last year he kicked 11.15 although he kicked 14.6 in his four national championships games.
Who better to teach him than mentors like Luke Breust.
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