Hawthorn director Tim Shearer has accepted that his club’s list is among the worst in the league.
Shearer was speaking to Kane Cornes on SEN’s The Captains Run and saw eye-to-eye with the former Port Adelaide star’s assessment that avoiding the draft has finally caught up with the Hawks after a period of sustained success.
The club has experienced no shortage of negative press over the past year, with their on-field struggles leading to a succession plan with former coach Alastair Clarkson and current mentor Sam Mitchell.
However, the idea was unpopular with the players and Hawks ultimately folded to pay out Clarkson with a year to go on his contract and appoint Mitchell as head coach.
Furthermore, the club was the source of constant speculation during the AFL Trade Period, having been rumoured to be interested in trading out numerous ageing veterans to accrue draft picks.
That plan too fell apart when Chad Wingard and Luke Breust, among others, reportedly refused to leave.
Shearer says the club is currently committed to rebuilding through the draft, but they are “under no illusions” about the current situation.
Read the full transcript of the exchange below, after Shearer asked Cornes for his thoughts on the Hawks’ list.
Cornes:
“I think your list is in a mess.
“It would be one of the lists I’d least like to have in the game.
“I preface that by saying I’m so jealous of the success. At some point it comes to an end.
“But when you neglect the draft as long as Hawthorn have, and you try and ship out some players for bargain basement prices that have been important, I do worry about the emotional impact that will have on the list.
“I may be wrong on that, but I don’t think you can cheat your way around the AFL system. By cheat I mean neglect the draft, and that will catch up with every club, and I think that’s catching up with Hawthorn right now.
“But I’d be willing to wear that if you address it and you’re aware of it and you’ve had the success that you’ve had, which buys you so many years brown points.”
Shearer:
“What I’d say to that is I 100 per cent agree with you.”
“I think why we got to the position we did regarding the coaching situation because there was a dealignment over a period of time.
“With each year that went past, I think a number of people have been keen to see us head back to the draft, rebuild and bring in some elite talent. That’s what we’re committed to doing now.
“Richie Vandenberg, we are so fortunate to be in his hands, he’s done an outstanding job, and we are turning down that path.
“What I think is also important to note when having that conversation, is that what you’ve said about our list is what Sam is inheriting.
“So Sam needs to be given really strong support to actually rebuild this young group of players. Really importantly we need to keep some senior players. You must through this transition period keep some of the senior players around.
“They need to be the role models for these young players, they need to take them under their wing and show them the way.
“If they do that well, there’s every chance that they will still be part of the next round of success.
“I’m under no illusions that our success is some time away and we all need to give Sam the time, the space and the support to bring this new group of players through with the leadership of the more senior players as we look to build towards future success.”