2017 season review: Hawthorn Hawks

The wagon fell apart very quickly for Hawthorn in 2017, although a very strong second half of the season has many penciling them in for a return to the top eight next season.

Have the Hawks successfully rebuilt on the go? Or is the real pain, in actual fact, just around the corner?

What I predicted
“Cancelling some victory laps will see them avoid a September holiday, but given [Hawthorn] performed at their peak last year and fell well short, it’s hard to see them seriously contending for the flag.”

Prediction: 8th

What actually happened
Four-goal losses to a resurgent Essendon and high-flying Adelaide in the first fortnight didn’t set off alarm bells in the Hawthorn camp, but an 86-point loss to the winless Suns a week later brought the sky down.

The Hawks lurched to a seemingly unthinkable 1-5 start, with three of those losses by more than 70 points, to sit in 17th spot at the end of April.

Alastair Clarkson, as always, was able to get his wreck of a team back on the rails and, for the most part, they were a competitive team from that point onward.

The club subsequently went 9-6-1, proving to be an almost unavoidable banana peel for those above them, and eventually finish 12th.

They missed the finals for the first time since 2009, but it could have been a lot worse.

Tom Mitchell was always going to be a super recruit, and his truly absurd disposal numbers were a sight to behold.

Tyrone Vickery, however, was a disaster and, while the ceiling is very high for Jaeger O’Meara, the price the Hawks paid for him looks steep one year in.

Ryan Burton was an absolute standout as far as the next generation goes, with his 2017 campaign duly rewarded with the runner-up in the rising star award.

Hawthorn, however, did only field three debutants this season, with Dallas Willsmore, Harry Morrison and Teia Miles only combining for seven games.

As impressive as Tom Mitchell was in 2017, he had very little help at the coalface.

Hawthorn continued to struggle in clearances and contested possessions, although this year the loss of class around the outside saw that result in a big drop in inside 50s too.

Best win
Round 14: Adelaide Crows 12.10 (82) def. by Hawthorn 14.12 (96)

In a match that, at the time, pitted second against second-last, few gave the Hawks even a slight chance to take down the premiership favourites in Adelaide.

But the young Hawks were switched on from the very opening bounce, pushing their highly-fancied rivals to the very limit across the first three quarters.

Then, at a venue they’d been obliterated at just three weeks prior, Hawthorn put a five-goal-to-two final quarter to steal an unbelievable 14-point victory.

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Worst loss
Round 11: Port Adelaide 13.20 (98) def. Hawthorn 7.5 (47)

Three points.

That wasn’t the margin, that wasn’t the deficit at any break and, no, it wasn’t even Hawthorn’s score at quarter time.

It was their score at half time.

The 69-3 score at half time was an emphatic rubber stamp on the Hawks’ status as rebuilders in 2017, with only Port Adelaide’s wayward second half score of 4.12 helping the club peg the margin back to a non-catastrophic 51 points.

What needs to happen next year?
The leadership vacuum Luke Hodge’s retirement creates will be almost impossible to fill.

While Jarryd Roughead is officially the captain now, and was for all of 2017, he too is on the wrong side of 30.

As the club reloads for another serious crack at premiership glory, they need to start establishing a solid second tier through the middle of the ground.

Beyond Mitchell and Liam Shiels, there’s very little to get excited about in the Hawthorn midfield, with mature-aged players such as Ricky Henderson and Will Langford proving endless sources of frustration for Hawks fans.

Early prediction
Alastair Clarkson is playing a different game to us, but while he is certainly capable of getting the most immediate success possible from this list, he still has his sights set on the ultimate goal.

There are dashes of young promise, but this this cast still has a few too many extras in it to be a hit next year.

Prediction: 11th-14th