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Opinion
Once upon a time, the Hawks were based in Hawthorn – or at least in Glenferrie, the suburb next door. Everyone knew where Hawthorn came from and what and who they represent.
Now the club is based at Mulgrave, about 45 minutes away from the old Glenferrie Oval. They have ambitions to move to a new centre of excellence facility at Dingley, which is about 50 minutes’ drive from Hawthorn and closer to St Kilda’s home at Moorabbin than to the Hawthorn area.
What and who will Hawthorn represent then?
There is also the small matter of playing several home games in Launceston, Tasmania, for the last decade or so.
While the community page on the Hawthorn website focuses on the east and south-east suburbs of Melbourne (as well as Tasmania, Gippsland and some communities in the Northern Territory), I struggle to understand how the name Hawthorn FC relates to the club’s future any longer, other than as a nod to its heritage.
In short, is the name becoming just a brand that may in fact not represent the club’s future or should the club rebrand itself to recognise the regions to which it aspires to represent?
Or don’t football clubs in Melbourne represent regions and are they in fact just brands that can relocate anywhere?
The issue of club names and who, what and where they represent is emphasised by the new NRL club in the Dolphins.
Although born in Redcliffe, they seem to be rejecting their heritage in a bid to be a club for everyone in Queensland, with no regional connection. The danger is that they represent no-one and nothing while trying to represent everyone and everything.
We’ve seen football clubs in both the AFL and NRL try this before and ultimately fail, reverting to their heritage, where their strength and history lays.
For example, North Melbourne for some time were known simply as the Kangaroos, while Canterbury-Bankstown played as the Bulldogs and Cronulla-Sutherland were known as the Sharks, all eschewing their regional names in favour of a brand, only to revert to regional names when they realised it didn’t work.
My concern is that as football clubs become more and more focused on growth for growth’s sake, rather than servicing a defined community they represent, including a club name the community identifies with and supports from childhood onwards, they will lose their grassroots connection and become nothing much of anything.
Perhaps I’m just old and too traditional but I’d be interested in the views of others.
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