How mindset reset sparked Hawk to new deal

Hawks young gun Josh Ward has credited working on his mindset with a former AFL player as the basis behind career best form. Hear from the midfielder after he signed a new deal.

Hawthorn’s Josh Ward handballs during the round 13 win over the Bulldogs. Picture: Michael Klein

Hawthorn young gun Josh Ward has credited working on his mindset with Hawks sports psychologist Ed Barlow as the spark behind a form surge which has led to signing a long term deal.

Ward, taken at pick seven in the 2021 draft, told this masthead after round three he wanted to justify that faith, and “it’s hard not to think I should be doing better than I have so far.”

After breaking into the side in round two for an injured James Worpel, Ward has been a constant ever since, and has produced the best sustained form of his 55-game career before Saturday’s clash with North Melbourne in Launceston.

That was rewarded this week with a four year deal until the end of 2029, and Ward said his work with former Swan and Bulldogs player Barlow has been a major factor.

“My mindset’s been a lot better,” Ward said.

“We’ve got a great sports psychologist at the club, Ed Barlow, who I’ve put in a lot of work with.

“He’s helped me stay present in games and not get too fixated on mistakes, or if I haven’t touched the ball for ten minutes. I feel like I’ve been a lot better in staying present, and continuing to back myself in even if the game hasn’t gone my way.

“I’ve had a few games this year where I’ve had a quiet start or made mistakes early on. But I’ve been pretty good at resetting and realigning with how I want to play, being able to finish games strongly if I haven’t started well.

“It’s a big improvement in my game.”

Josh Ward in action against the Bulldogs. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Ward has no doubt this season has been the best form of his career, which includes career highs of 3.5 clearances and 4.9 score involvements per game.

“It’s definitely the most games I’ve played in a row, so it’s been pleasing to get some consistency and it’s helped me play better,” he said.

“But at the same time I feel like there’s so much more I can do.

“I feel like I can play a lot better than I am, but that will come with time and experience and I want to keep playing my role and doing what we need.

“It (clearances) hasn’t been a massive strength of mine, but as mids we all need to be able to compete inside and it’s something I’ve worked on heavily.

“But the main thing for me is focusing on my strengths like my running and ball use. They’re the things I can really hang my hat on and if I bring those I feel like I can contribute to the team.”

There’s no doubt Ward is a thinking man’s footballer. He is studying a double degree in Law and Politics, Philosophy and Economics which he estimates will take him ten years to finish.

“It’s a bit of a mouthful. Often when someone asks me what I’m doing I leave out the ‘politics, philosophy and economics’ part, because it takes too long to say,” he said.

“It’ll take me a while, I’m ten units down and trying to do two per semester, but early on (in my career) I went a bit slower.

Josh Ward gets tackled during Hawthorn’s round 14 win over Adelaide (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)

“It’s about 40 units overall, and so far it’s taking me four years, I’ll try and pick it up and hopefully be done in ten years.

“Early on footy was taking on so much head room and brain power, and I was so tired coming home from training. I feel like now I’m able to manage both, but early on it was a struggle.”

Ward’s great grandfather, Alex Lee, played 31 games for Hawthorn and his entire family are Hawks tragics.

“The whole family are massive Hawks fans so it’s pretty cool (to play for them),” he said.

“I was very happy to get it (new deal) done. It was a no brainer for me really to sign on, I love the club, the teammates and the coaches.

“I feel like we’re heading in a really good direction and I’m excited to be a part of it.”