Hawthorn appears to be “reprising” the late 2000s and early 2010s version of itself with its recent recruiting, and it’s propelling the club’s historic flag tilt.
Boasting elite rebounders and dangerous utilities at both ends of the ground, Sam Mitchell’s brigade is a dangerous counterattacking proposition for Geelong to ponder ahead of Friday night’s blockbuster preliminary final.
This September, Hawthorn became just the second side ever to progress to a preliminary final from eighth position on the ladder, following in the footsteps of 2015 North Melbourne, while no club has ever claimed the silverware from eighth.
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The Hawks bottomed out after a ninth-placed 2019 campaign, finishing 15th, 14th, 13th, and 16th in the subsequent seasons, before a remarkable uptick halfway through last year that few saw coming.
But in comparison to other, more convoluted rebuild situations around the competition, it didn’t take long for not-so-success-starved Hawthorn to catapult back into finals contention, buoyed by shrewd recruiting that had game-style preference at the forefront.
And after the likes of elite lefties Luke Hodge, Jordan Lewis, Grant Birchall and Isaac Smith kickstarted the Hawks’ offensive chains during their premiership era of last decade, the club has built something similar — this time with Mitchell as coach instead of player.
Smooth-moving, precise-kicking left-footers Karl Amon and Massimo D’Ambrosio weren’t high-profile additions when they arrived in 2022 and 2023 respectively, but they’ve become foundation best-22 players under Mitchell and are proponents of the way he wants his team to play.
“I think they just drilled the basics of the game really well. (Mitchell) has obviously been really clear; it’s nearly reprising the late 2000s Hawthorn team that developed and became the juggernaut through the middle of the teens,” former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley told Foxfooty.com.au.
“They were really skilled users of the footy, especially by foot, and there are quite a few talented left-footers that are using the ball for Hawthorn now — they had a few of them back in the day.
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“And I just think that what Sam’s been able to do is … and apply those to his modern-day charges. They play a really balanced game in offence and defence and maximising each other’s strengths.
“They do the basics well, they use the ball well, and they expect to win, which has been drilled in from him, no doubt, and the culture of the club.”
The quality that back-half stanchions Josh Battle and Tom Barrass have added in their first campaigns at the club has been clear.
The Hawks have this year ranked third for points against, third for points against from turnover, and second for defending opposition ball movement.
The pair have been the cherry on top of previous — and less heralded — recruiting boons that produced the arrivals of rebounding ball users such as Amon and D’Ambrosio, Jack Scrimshaw (in 2018) and Jarman Impey (2017), who help create the initial intercept but also have the capability to counterpunch on offence.
Add in composed users James Sicily and Blake Hardwick, and it’s no surprise they always seem to get out of trouble deep in defence.
This year, the Hawks have ranked second in the competition for intercept possessions, and third for kick threat rating, which measures how often a player’s kicks result in a shot at goal later in the chain compared to expectation.
“I think you can talk about the big signings and the big trades where you pay a little bit, but Scrimshaw has been as important as anyone, and he’s an undersized (key defender),” Buckley said.
“To identify that (he’s) undersized as a key but has played as a key for a lot of his footy, but then at the same time, the targets that he sees and hits — and has been given the licence to hit — he’s as damaging as anyone when he gets the ball in his hand at creating scoring opportunities from intercepts.
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“Those low-key trade targets — Amon, D’Ambrosio, Impey — (they) obviously speak not just to their identification of those players, but also the environment and the program that’s allowed those players to improve and become better versions of themselves in Hawthorn’s system.
“That’s validation for what they do on and off the training track and on their system, and on how they can get the best out of their assets.”
The 2022 and 2023 off-seasons of recruitment will likely be looked back upon as landmark ones for Hawthorn, with seasoned boss Mark McKenzie playing a lead role in those operations since stepping up into the position in 2018.
In addition to luring Amon from Port Adelaide, the Hawks in 2022 landed gun ruck Lloyd Meek and a second-round pick in exchange for Jaeger O’Meara and a fourth-rounder in a deal now looked upon very favourably in hindsight, with Meek since developing into a premier ruck of the competition.
And that November, they traded up from no.27 to no.18 in the draft order to snatch scintillating hybrid Josh Weddle, who can strike fear into the opposition while playing just about any position on the ground.
Then 2023 saw the trade struck with Essendon for D’Ambrosio, as well as respective deals with Collingwood and Brisbane for livewire Jack Ginnivan and triple premiership champion Jack Gunston’s return.
Fellow key forward Mabior Chol was also lured from Gold Coast, while Nick Watson was nabbed with the no.5 pick at that year’s draft. That’s some haul, in retrospect.
The importance of Gunston circling back in ‘23 to again join forces with premiership teammate Luke Breust and provide guidance to the less experienced and eccentric characters in that forward line can’t be understated.
“Breust was always there and keeping him on (was key), but Gunston coming back … he’s a deeper player, so maybe his whole brief was to come in and teach Calsher Dear how to go about his craft, or maybe Josh Weddle as a forward, maybe Chol,” Buckley said.
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“Think it’s really important. Jamie Elliott plays that role a little bit (at Collingwood), where you’re the deepest forward and can see everything, so his ability to connect and communicate and lead and direct is pretty important.
“And Gunston, I don’t think Sam Mitchell or anyone would have expected to get out of him the elite level performances consistently (culminating in an All-Australian blazer) that he’s been able to put on the park.
“That becomes a bit of a bonus, along with what they would’ve been recruiting for, which is his experience and game knowledge for forward craft in front of the ball. So, (they’re) pretty savvy selections.
“And trust, given that it’s demonstrated, you know exactly what you’re getting. Locker room confidence is really important, and clearly that’s part of it as well.”
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Gunston, Chol, Dear and Mitch Lewis have managed to co-exist in Mitchell’s front half, and while Dear won’t be out there on Friday night, the Hawthorn coach is “debunking” the notion that there isn’t scope for all four tall attackers to play in the same side.
“Outside of Lewis, and maybe Dear, Chol can still mix it on the ground; see him chase out and pressure, he’s quite athletic for his size,” Buckley said.
“Gunston, he’s probably the one that gives you the least defensively, although his work rate has been through the roof comparative to at any other stage of his career, probably.
“I think Hawthorn are probably debunking the idea of talls and smalls … behind the ball as well — a lot of 6’3 (players) that can impact in the air but also are pretty proficient on the ground.
“Battle or Scrimshaw, last week, might have been on (Darcy) Fogarty one minute and on (Ben) Keays or (Alex) Neal-Bullen the next.
“It’s not the way it used to be — there’s a whole heap of utilities that are there in front and behind — and they’re doing it really effectively.”