Chad Wingard expects to spend the majority of his time in the forward line at Hawthorn.
The dynamic Wingard made his debut for the Hawks in last Sunday’s 16-point win over North Melbourne, kicking three goals from 10 disposals.
Having stepped into the midfield over the past few seasons at Port Adelaide, it seems as though the two-time All-Australian will return to life as a forward under Alastair Clarkson.
“I’ll definitely play forward,” Wingard told SEN Breakfast.
“Clarko’s made that pretty clear with all his messaging and what he’s told me.
“I think they wanted someone up forward with a little bit more creativity and trying to put some pressure on.
“We’ve got some good players in that midfield and obviously with Tom Mitchell down, but you see the boys who have been stepping up and playing those roles.
“We’ve got guys (through the midfield) in the VFL who have been playing good footy.”
Regarding his trade period move to Hawthorn from the Power, Wingard explained why he can now simply put all his energies into what happens out on the ground.
“All the distractions off field at Port Adelaide with all the players and everything that was going on, just to get the space in my head free again and all I have to worry about here is football, which is nice,” he added.
“Training out at Waverley and not getting hassled by media all the time is really good.
“Clarko and Hawthorn have been really good like that and all we have to do is focus on footy.
“That’s all they want you to do, is play good football, and everything else will come into plan.”
He continued: “It’s a massive fishbowl (in Adelaide).
“There’s only two teams to worry about and there’s not much other sport going on in winter.
“When you come to Melbourne there’s so much going on here. 10 teams to watch over and plenty of news to go around.
“Sometimes in Adelaide, they’ve really got to make up the news because there’s just not enough for people to want to read.”
Wingard will step out for his second game in the brown and gold when the Hawks take on St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
Listen to the chat with Wingard on SEN Breakfast in the player below:
