Hawthorn 2024 season review: The rise of Hokball, hard learnings, contract calls
The Hawks turned their year around with a thrilling style of play, but ultimately they couldn’t get it done in a semi final. MATTHEW FORREST reviews their season and looks ahead.
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There’s a famous expression that ‘what you don’t know can’t hurt you’, and that phrase was the true embodiment of Hawthorn’s 2024 season.
The Hawks suffered a heartbreaking semi-final loss against Port Adelaide on Friday, with skipper James Sicily’s poster late in the game just inches off being a matchwinning goal.
Hawthorn’s rise to flag contender in five months was the unexpected story of 2024, with many tipping them to be a bottom-four side.
The beauty of their season was the sheer ignorance and arrogance of how they played their football, reinventing their style on the run and enjoying their rise up the ladder.
After a poor start to the season, Hawthorn was one of the competition’s best sides across the park; ranked first overall for scoring and defending after round 16.
In the weeks after the round 10 loss to Port Adelaide, when they were 3-7, the Hawks went 11-2 and stormed home to a finals berth.
During that 13-game span they were rebranded the ‘Hollywood Hawks’, becoming the major entertainment for neutral fans who loved fast-paced action, exciting football and youthful exuberance.
But after the club’s first finals campaign since 2018, the Hawks will be active in the off-season and enter 2025 with a target on their backs.
OFF-SEASON MOVES
It's been no secret that coach Sam Mitchell is all in on adding to his core and building a premiership list.
In season he met with multiple high-profile players, both in and out of contract, in a bid to lure them to the club.
Saints defender Josh Battle has already nominated Hawthorn as his next club and will sign a long-term contract worth close to $900,000 per season when free agency opens.
Eagle Tom Barrass has also announced he wants to play at Hawthorn in 2025, but since he is contracted at West Coast until the end of 2027 the Hawks will need to trade for the defender.
West Coast will likely ask for multiple picks, including Hawthorn’s pick 13 in this year’s draft, for the soon-to-be 29 year old.
Hawthorn has also been linked to Western Bulldogs’ Bailey Smith and Giants defender Harry Perryman, however is seen to be outside chances to land either player.
The Hawks will likely take pick 30 to the draft, with list managers expected to target the best player available rather than fill a specific need or position.
A developing key forward prospect could be an option, with Vic Metro’s Tom Sims likely still available at the pick.
COACHING CALLS
Sam Mitchell will be in the conversation to be the coach of the year after guiding the Hawks to a finals win in his third year of a rebuild.
Club officials made a huge call to move on four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson, but there were visions of Mitchell being the next great coach in AFL circles, and they couldn’t afford to lose him.
While Hawthorn fell short of the unlikeliest grand final berth, season 2024 will give the Hawks enormous confidence they made the right call.
Mitchell is contracted until the end of 2025, but is negotiating a new deal to remain in the brown and gold long term.
He’s built an exciting game style in 2024, playing with dare and giving in to the youthful exuberance that the players show.
In return, his side quickly became one of the feel-good stories of the AFL and must-watch footy for neutral fans.
The new recruits will add a huge amount of variance in 2025, with Battle and Barrass to play in defence, freeing up James Sicily and Blake Hardwick to swing forward at times, while Josh Weddle is tipped for a midfield role.
The late move from Sicily forward in the semi-final almost won Hawthorn the game, while Hardwick booted five majors against Port Adelaide in round 10 and looks every bit a match up nightmare.
But while Hawthorn is answering the questions around its defensive depth, there are still concerns over the key forwards being high-calibre enough to win a flag.
Mabior Chol played arguably his best season of football in his career but still fell down at finals, Calsher Dear was exciting but is still just a teenager and will take a while to develop into a menacing target, and Mitch Lewis has endured a wretched run with injury.
If Sicily swings forward full time in 2025, or if Battle pinch hits in attack, that could be enough to not have to rely on Chol and Dear holding up the attack, but another star key forward would be a huge coup.
HARD LEARNINGS
The Hawks were willing to live and die by the sword in 2024, and ultimately the exciting ‘Hokball’ style of footy developed was their undoing.
The term penned by the fans and adopted by the media team was essentially chaos football; a ‘gain territory, get it forward at all costs’ mentality that typically stands up in finals.
While it cut the Western Bulldogs up in the elimination final, it was stopped in its tracks against Port Adelaide the week later.
There were plenty of examples where the young Hawks tried to implement the fast ball movement but were caught out, with Port Adelaide laying multiple run down tackles or forcing opponents to run too far.
Port Adelaide’s pressure was immense, causing Hawthorn to go at just 69.2 per cent disposal efficiency, more than five per cent down on its average this season.
The Hawks only had 42 inside 50s as well, almost 12 down on their average of 53.9.
Pressure around the contest made moving the ball difficult for the Hawks, and it took until the second half to really come alive, having gone goalless until midway through the second term.
All good coaches continue to evolve game plans in football while keeping the core of the team’s DNA intact, so expect a different variation of the ‘Hollywood Hawks’ in 2025.
2024 SEASON REVIEW: A+
No one expected such a successful season, and while the start of the season was poor the Hawks turned their year around and were a genuine premiership threat by the time finals started. Arguably the highest-achieving team this season, outside of the eventual premiers.
Way too early 2025 prediction: 6th (15-8)
Originally published as Hawthorn 2024 season review: The rise of Hokball, hard learnings, contract calls
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