Collingwood great Nathan Buckley has heaped praise on Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell and the club at large following their upset win over Brisbane on Sunday.
The Hawks won a 117-112 shootout over the Lions, with second-year mid-season draftee Jai Newcombe the story, picking up 27 disposals, nine clearances and 664 metres gained.
The Hawks raised eyebrows across the league when they forced four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson out in the latter half of 2021, moving from a one-year succession plan to simply putting Mitchell at the helm.
Buckley believes the club’s bravery to transition from Clarkson to Mitchell, while having the latter coaching Box Hill, and therefore all of the list’s younger players, is paying off.
“(Newcombe) played as a high forward, he’s played as a wing and now he’s just a legitimate inside mid,” Buckley told SEN Breakfast.
“That’s exactly where he cut his teeth through the VFL with Box Hill and with Sam Mitchell coaching.
“It’s pretty clear that Sam Mitchell has got a handle on his group, hasn’t he? He’s got those connections.
“That’s the advantage of having coached his own team and a lot of these young blokes coming through.
“It’s really smart from Hawthorn to be able to put that in practice, to execute it, and all of the angst of the Alastair Clarkson departure, which is inevitable when such a successful figure departs.
“Newcombe is just one in this group of young Hawthorn players that are coming up under a new coach.”
Hawthorn will travel north to TIO Stadium to face Gold Coast next weekend in a battle between two teams fighting to stay in the finals hunt.
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