James Worpel has returned to the form that made him a best and fairest winner.
That’s the word out of Hawthorn, with the club observing the 24-year-old put his best foot forward across the pre-season.
Worpel was one of the AFL stories of 2019 when winning the Hawks’ best and fairest in just his second season at the top level. But since that campaign, the midfielder has seemingly regressed in his three subsequent seasons and even found himself in the VFL at times last year.
But Worpel was rumoured to have found form over the pre-season, and despite a scratchy performance against Geelong he shone against Collingwood with 30 touches and a game-high 17 contested possessions.
In discussing the new look Hawthorn midfield on SEN’s The Run Home, GM of football Rob McCartney singled out Worpel as one who was ready to bring his best in 2023.
“What we also liked about the weekend was that Worpel re-announced to a few, ‘hey, don’t forget me either. I’ve just turned 24, I’ve played 79 games of footy but I’m looking forward to playing my best footy in the next 100 games’,” McCartney said.
Worpel made three VFL appearances last season in Sam Mitchell’s first year in charge of the Hawks. His AFL average of 15.4 disposals per game last year was the lowest in his career, but McCartney says hard work has Worpel ready to recapture the best form of his career.
“I think James would be the first to also say that last year was challenging. When you have a few weeks where you’re playing at Box Hill, you sort of start to really search inside and try and find what it was that made you a player,” he explained.
“He worked exceptionally hard, he’s probably one of our hardest trainers, our playing group acknowledge that when they talk about standards within the group, he’s a standard setter in terms of his work ethic.
“When form alludes you for a little while you do have some self-doubt, but he’s been able to work through that and find the form that made him a player for us in that season he won the (Peter) Crimmins Medal.”
Worpel is set to play a key role in a revamped and inexperienced Hawthorn midfield that will also feature the likes of Jai Newcombe, Cam Mackenzie, Josh Ward, Will Day and others.