Premiership Hawthorn defender Campbell Brown agrees with David King’s assessment that his old side will be a bottom four team in 2021.
King made the bold prediction on Thursday that the Hawks would win the wooden spoon this season.
“The Hawks have lost (Jack) Gunston for the bulk of the pre-season period. (James) Sicily is out for a fair chunk of the season,” King told SEN’s Whateley.
“Have they got significantly better with their recruits?
“I’m not seeing them spike as much as some of the others around them. In the end you’ve got to write a name down and I wrote down the Hawks.
“I think it’s going to be a challenging season for them. We’ve said that Alastair Clarkson is unconventional in the way he’s rebuilding this Hawthorn team.
“I need to see it first before I believe it.”
While Brown wouldn’t go as far as King, he expects it to be a tough year for Alastair Clarkson’s men.
“I’ve got them in the bottom four. I think they’re going to have a different year to usual, there’s obviously been a lot of high expectations for a long time around that club playing finals,” Brown told SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
“They’ve just lost so much experience over the last few years. Paul Puopolo, Ben Stratton, Jack Gunston, Tom Scully, more experience walks out the door.
“I think North Melbourne will struggle a little bit, I think the Hawks will be another one of the teams down the bottom somewhere.
“The fans will have to bide their time, they’ve had so much success over the last decade that it’s probably going to be someone else’s turn now.”
Hawthorn takes on Essendon at Marvel Stadium in Round 1 before facing Richmond at the MCG in Round 2.