Hawthorn captain James Sicily backs Hawks’ attempt to poach Zach Merrett attempt as spicy round 1 clash beckons
Hawthorn has officially opened it’s game-changing, multimillion dollar new training base at Dingley, with even Hawks fan Anthony Albanese in attendance. See the pictures and watch the video here.
Hawthorn skipper James Sicily is bracing for a spicy Round 1 encounter with Essendon – or more notably, its fans – after its failed off-season trade raid on Bombers skipper Zach Merrett. And while the club’s two most-publicised recruiting endeavours this year might not have come off, Sicily wants his club to keep having a crack at the very best in the competition.
The Bombers will host Hawthorn at the MCG under Friday night lights in Round 1 next season in what Sicily is anticipating will have an extra layer of heat given what has occurred over recent months.
SEE THE PICTURES OF THE HAWKS’ NEW TRAINING BASE AND THE WATCH THE VIDEO IN THE PLAYER ABOVE
“It’ll probably be like it has in the couple of other Round 1s against Essendon — obviously there’s a lot of history there and the games are usually big. There’s extra added theatre with what happened in the off-season, and that just creates a great spectacle,” Sicily said.
“There’ll be an awesome atmosphere and although it’s ages away, it’ll be exciting to play. With 80,000 and a bit of heightened atmosphere, we all love playing in big games and it’ll feel like one even though it’s Round 1.”
He said he had not had dialogue with Merrett, who met with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell in the finals series with his manager Tom Petroro trying until the dying moments of trade period to make his player a Hawk.
But Sicily welcomed the determination from the club — which also attempted to woo then-Eagle Oscar Allen mid-season — to continue to pursue the best.
“As a player, you want to win, so to do that you want to attract players to your footy club and we’re not the only club doing it,” he said.
“Every club is doing it, you just don’t find out about it usually. That’s just the new normal, really, in the landscape that is today and it’s just probably going to get a bit more public now. I think it’s exciting for the league and it’s god for the players and good for the comp.
“I admire the club’s efforts to bring in players to make us better, like every club does to try and make their teams better.
“It didn’t come to fruition, but getting Will Day healthy will probably feel like a new player to us and is obviously going to add to our team. It also still gives opportunity to Cam McKenzie and Henry Hustwaite to put in a good pre-season and show that they can play midfield for us.”
Teammate Josh Weddle was in the sights of the Bombers with a mammoth $10m offer reported last month — much to the ribbing of his fellow Hawks.
“We gave him a bit of grief for that, because he still didn’t shout any of the boys on the Euro trip when it got announced that he got an offer from the Bombers,” Sicily laughed.
“That’s going to happen. We’ve hot a lot of young players that have really high ceilings that have a lot of potential an d have done really well at a young age.
“That’s where you need to make sure that your environment here is amazing, your culture is amazing, your facility is amazing so that when people get offered contracts that are maybe 20 or 30 per cent more than what they would get offered here, it’s not good enough to leave. That’s what we’ll keep trying to do.
“We’ve got everything here to make us better and hopefully lucrative offers don’t get accepted and we continue to have good young players.”
Sicily, 30, was at the club’s newly-unveiled Kennedy Community Centre at Dingley, which on Monday was officially opened by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan.
The centre boasts two ovals and identical state-of-the-art facilities for both men’s and women’s players including indoor pools, a pilates centre and indoor training field.
Sicily said it would enhance the club’s recruiting abilities and give the team an added edge after consecutive finals exits in both competitions.
“I think we’ll get some organic growth by (the facility),” he said.
“Exciting that we’ve got five new coaches on board as well — new ideas, a lot of energy and younger coaches as well. I think the place is going to be a really fun environment and obviously it’s pretty grand.”
HAWKS HOPING TO PLAY W GAMES AT DINGLEY
Hawthorn wants to play AFL Women’s games at its glittering new Dingley base as soon as next season.
The Hawks — who suffered their second consecutive straight-sets finals exit on Saturday night — officially opened their new Kennedy Community Centre on Monday morning, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese opening the facility that includes two training ovals and dedicated facilities for both men’s and women’s teams.
The women’s ground at Dingley includes permanent seating, function space and broadcast facilities, meaning hosting games at the ground could be a reality sooner rather than later for the team that has in recent years played home games at Frankston.
“It would be so incredible,” Hawthorn AFLW captain Emily Bates said.
“While we’ve been loving playing at Frankston, to have a home where we train here, we have that real advantage. We know what it’s like kicking goals from each pocket … it would be huge for the team.
“Really excited about the prospect of playing here in years to come.”
Bates made her return from shoulder surgery for Saturday night’s semi-final loss to Carlton.
“We’ll sit in this feeling for a while and sort of think about what’s next,” she said.
“We’ve had quite an interesting year — a lot of outs, a lot of injuries, a lot of adversity along the way. Despite that, to still finish top four, and still give ourselves the chance ton have a double chance in finals is still huge.
But just that mental strength, that toughness, that uncompromising nature that finals presents is probably a lesson for us. While we’ve learned a lot this year, it’s getting that toughness within our younger players to match it with the best come finals.”
Originally published as Hawthorn captain James Sicily backs Hawks’ attempt to poach Zach Merrett attempt as spicy round 1 clash beckons
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