The Roar
The Roar

AFL
Advertisement

Opinion

AFL 2022 Radar: 'It's not difficult to see a wooden spoon in their near future'

7th February, 2022
Advertisement
Autoplay in... 6 (Cancel)
Up Next No more videos! Playlist is empty -
Replay
Cancel
Next
Expert
7th February, 2022
123
4387 Reads

After only missing the finals once between 2007-2018, Hawthorn has now missed out on September action three years in a row, finishing in the bottom five for the last two of them.

Based on available evidence, they’ll be standing on the outside looking in for a good while yet, too.

After 17 years in charge that delivered four premierships and a reputation as the best coach in the land, Alastair Clarkson was moved on in unceremonious circumstances. Coaching changes are rarely smooth, and this one was anything but.

Still, Clarkson’s legacy was untarnished, and one of his premiership captains, Sam Mitchell, gets a clean slate to make his own mark.

Click here to see Cam Rose’s other 2022 AFL previews.

Mitchell has already promised that the Hawks will be more attacking under his watch than they were during the final years of Clarkson’s reign. Some footy fans will remember Matthew Knights saying the same when replacing Kevin Sheedy at Essendon after 27 years, and that didn’t end well.

The Hawks were already the fourth worst defence last season, and a more attacking style isn’t going to improve that record. We know new coaches can often take half a season to bed in a new game styles, so it may well be that ugly scenes await.

What’s new?
Well, as already explored above, the coach. And it’s a big one, following in giant metaphorical footsteps.

Advertisement

History in all codes is littered with examples of those that have failed to find success when following on from coaching greatness.

There is a lot of early Nathan Buckley about Sam Mitchell, and he took near enough to a decade to find his feet as a coach, and ultimately never really succeeded. The exacting no-nonsense standards as a player, expecting everyone to be the consummate professional like them, and giving short shrift to those that weren’t.

Call it what you like, confidence, self-belief, arrogance, but Sam Mitchell has it in spades, and does not appear to be a man given to self-doubt. Coaching and man management is a lot more nuanced than that, and becomes moreso every year. It’s a testing cauldron that Mitchell has entered, and he will be as fascinating a watch as a new coach as there’s been this century.

Star on the rise
Changkuoth Jiath caught the eye last season, causing a great deal of havoc for opposition teams with his athletic run from half-back.

The rangy backman can win his own ball in the air or mopping up at ground level, and repeatedly puts in breathtaking runs using his acceleration and agility to frankly look unstoppable. The more he’s able to get his hands on the football, the better it will be for the Hawks.

Jiath has now played 23 games after debuting in 2019, turns 23 halfway through this season, and he’s ready to go to another level after gaining the confidence of knowing he can shape matches.

Advertisement

Will Day is another that will excite Hawks fans, looking to make his mark after injury restricted him to only five games last year and 16 since being taken in the first round of the 2019 draft. He looks a natural footballer, and will no doubt be joining Jiath in rebounding from defence.

Changkuoth Jiath

Changkuoth Jiath is a key part of the Hawks’ defence. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Who’s under the pump?
Tom Mitchell, 28, and Jaegar O’Meara, 28 the next time he kicks a footy, are the engine room of the Hawks, and are at a tricky point of their careers.

O’Meara has played in one final after 10 years on AFL lists, and has been a fine player after being cursed with injury for long stages of his career. He is out of contract at the end of next year, and will then have a decision to make about where Hawthorn is at in the pursuit of meaningful success and whether he’ll be there to be a part of it.

Mitchell has played in two finals at the Hawks, both of them losing affairs, after leaving Sydney when they were a grand finalist. He’s won a Brownlow since then, so will go down in history as an acclaimed individual. For him, where does team success sit on his pecking order?

This time last year, Mitchell and O’Meara should have been vying with each other to be captain after the retirement of Ben Stratton, both experienced top end footballers in the prime of their careers. Yet, Ben McEvoy was selected instead ahead of both, placing question marks over their sense of commitment to team ahead of individual at that stage of their careers.

Can either or both of these players lead Hawthorn into their next period of contention?

Advertisement
Jaeger O'Meara

Jaeger O’Meara of the Hawthorn Hawks runs with the ball during the AFL JLT Community Series match between the Western Bulldogs and the Hawthorn Hawks at Mars Stadium on March 3, 2018 in Ballarat, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Best-case scenario
Hawthorn hits the ground running with the older brigade fit and firing, and they embrace the Sam Mitchell game plan to such an extent that they are sitting 3-1 with wins over North, Carlton and St Kilda in the early rounds.

The young key forwards of Lewis and Koschitzke improve again, giving the Hawks forwardline potency enough to kicking a winning score against most sides. The playmaking backline excels as a unit, making Hawthorn the most dangerous rebounding team in the competition.

Sports opinion delivered daily 

   

Worst-case scenario
Sam Mitchell is a Mark Neeld-type that uses the stick of old rather than the modern-day carrot. The first half of the season is winless and the cloud of Alastair Clarkson casts a pall over the club.

Upheaval at board level would be sure to follow, and experienced players would start to be shopped around behind the scenes, making those loyal servants question their commitment and loyalty.

Advertisement

It’s not difficult to see a wooden spoon in their near future.

Best 22
B Jarman Impey Kyle Hartigan Will Day
HB Changkuoth Jiath James Sicily Blake Hardwick
C Liam Shiels Tom Mitchell Tom Phillips
HF Jack Gunston Mitch Lewis Chad Wingard
F Dylan Moore Jacob Koschitzke Luke Breust
Foll Ben McEvoy Jaegar O’Meara James Worpel
Int Daniel Howe Jack Scrimshaw Sam Frost Lachlan Bramble

close