Hawthorn has an aging list, sits two games outside of the eight and is struggling to hit the scoreboard, but David King is confident they’re not far away from returning to being a dominant side.
The two-time North Melbourne premiership player remains confident Alastair Clarkson can take the Hawks back to the top, saying a combination of the talent on their list and their ability to lure big names could turn them around fast.
“I think Alastair Clarkson has a great handle of where his team is at. He has taken a clear decision to go for known products and make that first round pick tradable in an era where the draft was compromised, he was ahead of the game and they won three flags,” King told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“He’s not looking back anymore, he hasn’t got any rear-view mirrors at home or in the car. He’s basically saying where to now.
“If you put Chad Wingard and Tom Mitchell in this team – you’ve Jaeger O’Meara, James Sicily, Jarman Impey, James Worpel, who is going to be a very good footballer, and then those couple around the edges, it can come together quickly.
“Now I know they have half a dozen players north of 30 last night. I don’t necessarily think that’s a negative. There may be two or three of those that go at the end of the year, there may be a couple up for trade, I don’t think the gaps are that big.
“Hawthorn smashed the Giants at the MCG about a month ago. If they get Stephen Coniglio or Jon Patton at the end of the year and they solve some problems in one area of the ground, I don’t see how in three or four years why they couldn’t be back to where they were.”
The Hawks take on West Coast and Collingwood in the next fortnight in what will be a big test for the club.
