AFL 2024: Pressure mounts on James Sicily in Hawthorn defence

There’s one thing Hawthorn captain James Sicily would like done differently amid the backline injury crisis, but he accepts it won’t happen.

Hawthorn captain James Sicily says he would have loved to continue playing alongside Blake Hardwick in defence but acknowledges his experienced teammate has an important new role up forward. Picture: Michael Klein

Hawthorn captain James Sicily would love to have kept his seasoned defensive partner Blake Hardwick but says the Hawks’ added forward firepower will change their game style for the better in 2024.

Sicily said a lack of confidence in Hawthorn’s forward personnel last season had been affecting midfielders’ decision-making and was behind the targeted recruiting of Mabior Chol, Jack Ginnivan, Nick Watson and a returning Jack Gunston over the off-season.

The dramatic forward-half overhaul has also led to Hardwick returning to the attacking role he was originally drafted to play, but the move has come amid a raft of injuries to the Hawks’ remaining defensive stocks.

Key defenders James Blanck, Denver Grainger-Barras and Will McCabe are out with long-term injuries, while small defender Seamus Mitchell is yet to resume contact training after he recovers from a broken jaw.

Hawthorn captain James Sicily joked that Blake Hardwick’s pre-season performance against the Western Bulldogs ruined his campaign to return him to the backline. Picture: Michael Willson / Getty Images

Losing Blanck for the season to an ACL injury is set to shift a significant defensive burden back onto Sicily, but the captain said he backed a mix of polarising veteran Sam Frost, SSP recruit Ethan Phillips and the lightly framed Jack Scrimshaw to provide assistance in the air.

He said he would ideally have Hardwick alongside him to help organise the Hawks’ defence but backed others to fill the leadership void, including a fully fit Jarman Impey.

“I’ve been trying to campaign to get (Hardwick) back, but then he kicks two goals in a minute in the Doggies game,” Sicily said.

“But Jars (Impey) is really good in that space as well, playing as a high defender, and he’s in our leadership group, he’s someone that plays a similar role to ‘Dimma’, so he’s filled some of that void.

“It would be nice if we had two ‘Dimmas’ who can play at both ends, but those other guys can really fill the hole.”

Sicily says the Hawks have more faith in their new-look forward line after a lack of confidence affected their forward entries at times in 2023. Picture: Michael Klein

Sicily said he felt the forward line had jelled together nicely despite the sweeping personnel changes, and the new-found confidence in the Hawks’ attacking personnel would transform the way they played.

The Hawks finished 2023 strongly but were put on the back foot from the season’s start with two heavy losses to Essendon and Sydney in which they had more than their fair share of forward entries early but failed to hit the scoreboard.

“I think they’ve done an amazing job over the pre-season … it’s felt completely different, that forward line,” Sicily said.

“There’s much more talent there, and you’ve got multiple guys who are capable of putting together 40-goal seasons.

“So that’s something that we haven’t had for the last three years and we’ve had to really make changes or lacked confidence with the way we’ve moved the ball because of deficiencies in the front half.”

Originally published as AFL 2024: Pressure mounts on James Sicily in Hawthorn defence