AFL news: Hawthorn’s defensive group the key area to fast-tracking club’s path to next premiership

Hawthorn still needs plenty of elite talent to push for its next premiership, but an assistant coach says one group already has the right blend to go all the way.

Hawthorn backline coach Chris Newman has urged his elite young defence not to become complacent after breakout seasons as he drives improvement in the Hawks back six.

The Hawthorn list still needs to bring in plenty of elite talent to push for its next premiership but the defensive group already has a brilliant blend of star power and youth.

Will Day, Denver Grainger-Barras, Changkuouth Jiath, Jack Scrimshaw, Jarman Impey and Blake Hardwick will team with the returning veteran James Sicily and full back Sam Frost.

Newman is thrilled with the growing leadership from Sicily, who spent a season as a quasi-assistant while he recovered from an ACL tear.

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Changkuoth Jiath brings explosive speed to the defensive line for Hawthorn.

Newman is a big admirer of the talent and application of the defensive group, telling the Herald Sun: “I just love this group”.

But he is aware of the need to max out the improvement of what shapes as Hawthorn’s most exciting line as the club continues to bring in young talent under Sam Mitchell.

“I would say there is some talent back there and I will challenge the backs this pre-season and going forward,” he said.

“We feel like we have got a lot of growth left in us, whether our oldest players in (Kyle) Hartigan or Frost to help take control of that group and have their voice heard, or someone like Hardwick. I will challenge these guys to see how big a pre-season they can have so hopefully we get everyone fit to Christmas and then post-Christmas, we can see what the mix looks like.”

Jiath looks a future All Australian and has ironed out the defensive brain-fades that Mitchell said over the 2020 summer “cost us quite regularly”, and now Newman wants even more.

“He had a season last year that he would be proud of but he can push himself this pre-season,” he said.

First round pick Denver Grainger-Barras is a great addition.

Jarman Impey is part of a very powerful defensive group.

“I think just it’s consistency, it’s one thing we are pretty keen on in the back half with both phases of play. We know he’s going to run and create, we know he’s going to be pretty brave and tough in the air, so trying to get the balance as a young player who hasn’t played a lot of footy, he’s got a lot of growth left.”

For all of Sicily’s brilliant moments he has never been All Australian, but has the talent to be the best defender in the game.

Newman says he will have realistic expectations of Sicily but says he can only benefit from a season looking in from a coaching perspective.

“I expect a bit of rust early with ‘Sic’. Like anyone with a long term injury the speed of the game takes you a while to adjust.. You can run time trials as quick as you want, but the speed of the game will surprise you.

James Sicily is expected to take on a more significant leadership role in defence next season.

“So I expect a bit of rust. I haven’t seen the rust yet, but it will take him some time to find his feet but when he does use his voice and read the game,” Newman said.

“We spent a lot of time together throughout the year so I am hoping that only strengthens our relationship but also he got quite involved in the meetings we took and it helped him stay connected.

“I am sure he learnt some things along the way and now he can do what he does best and play footy. I am excited to have him in the mix.”

Asked if he had captaincy potential, Newman said he was slowly growing into his leadership.

“He is working on that. It’s a work in progress with him. The more exposure he had last year, little bits of those experiences are only going to help him. That is something which will come with time but I think as every year passes he gets a little bit more confidence to show those qualities.”

Is Sicily about to swoop in as Hawks captain?

Hawthorn expects James Sicily to be a better leader, on-field coach and player after a season spent under the wing of defensive coach Chris Newman while rehabbing a torn ACL.

Sicily returned to the first day of training at Waverley Park on Monday ready to take on a full pre-season alongside All Australian Jack Gunston, who took part in some ball work.

Sicily could have played late in the 2021 season while Gunston’s season was decimated by a recurring back injury but both will be available for Round 1.

New coach Sam Mitchell watched on while No.7 draft pick Josh Ward won some of the 1km time trials he took part in, with Mitchell saying the Vic Metro midfielder looked physically ready for AFL football.

He said only time would tell whether Ward and fellow draftees Sam Butler, Connor MacDonald, Jai Serong and rookie Ned Long would play early games but all had the bodies to compete early.

Slotting Sicily and Gunston into the Hawks side will make a huge difference given they played only a single combined game last year.

Sicily might not quite be ready to throw his name into the ring for the club’s captaincy, set to be sorted out in the new year, but a formerly impetuous and volatile player is now showing real leadership.

James Sicily after going down with an ACL injury. Picture: Getty Images

“He has a great presence on the track and he would be available to play if we were playing now,” Mitchell said of Sicily, yet to earn an All Australian nod at the age of 26.

“We are not in too much of a rush to get him to do everything but he’s ready to go. Even at the end of training everyone is tired and fatigued and he kept missing a type of kick and he was asking, “Why am I missing that, how can I improve that?”

“And it’s that mentality he has to get the best out of himself, it’s a real step forward. In the last 12 months, he spent an enormous amount of time with our defensive coach Chris Newman and it’s one step back in missing a season to take three steps forward, that’s hopefully what we are going to get out of ‘Sic’ this year.”

Mitchell was thrilled Gunston was able to progress his running program into some skills on Monday but will carefully ease him into full training next year.

This is Sam Mitchell’s first season as senior coach. Picture: Getty Images

He spoke of making “cultural changes” at Hawthorn as the club works on its captaincy process after a solid year with ruckman Ben McEvoy at the helm.

McEvoy would be favoured to retain the captaincy, with vice-captain Jaeger O’Meara admitting last year he had been hopeful he might be voted as captain for 2020.

“It’s on the to do list for early in the new year. We want to get all the boys in and get them settled and get the whole group back on deck,” Mitchell said.

“We will spend the next few weeks getting reconnected and setting some new standards and making some cultural changes around the place.

“We will see how that evolves and use Ray McLean and Leading Teams pretty heavily in that space and that will be a conversation for later on.”

Originally published as AFL news: Hawthorn’s defensive group the key area to fast-tracking club’s path to next premiership