Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says the club will spend one more year focusing on the draft before looking up and across at the free agency pool.
The Hawks are rebuilding under Mitchell and have done so by shedding some veterans while prioritising the last two drafts.
Through the National Draft they’ve added Josh Ward, Sam Butler, Connor Macdonald, Cameron Mackenzie, Josh Weddle and Bailey Macdonald, among others, while providing opportunities to the likes of Jai Newcombe, Seamus Mitchell and James Blanck through rookie and mid-season drafts.
As it stands, the Hawks have one first-round selection in the 2023 draft and one in each of the second and third rounds as well as a later pick. They’ll also look around in the free agency market where they’ve already been linked with GWS forward Jake Riccardi.
After that, however, Mitchell insists they will pursue established players from other clubs to help consolidate their playing list.
“Our list strategy has been quite transparent, probably unorthodox in the way that we’ve sort of told the world ‘this is what we’re trying to do here’,” Mitchell said on SEN Breakfast.
“This year is the last year where we’ll be mostly with a draft focus, with a bit of free agency. Certainly this time next year we’ll be much more heavily involved in the free agency market.
“We’re really pleased with the squad that we’ve got and the building blocks that we’re putting together with our current group. How they’re coming along is making us always adjust our strategic thinking and how you want the list to be built and what the trends of the game are likely to be in a year or two.
“So, for the most part we’re quite pleased with the list, but there are some holes that need to be filled either in the short term or medium term. That will continue to happen with a bit of a focus on free agency increasing over the next two to three years.”
One recent draftee who hasn’t quite forced his way into Mitchell’s lineup of late is Denver Grainger-Barras.
He has been forced to bide his time in the VFL in 2023, playing just two senior games as he strives to work his way up the defensive pecking order.
Grainger-Barras has been included in the extended squad for this weekend’s clash with Gold Coast as the Hawks look to navigate the next three weeks without captain and star backman James Sicily, but a start is not yet guaranteed.
“He’s just in the larger squad at this stage,” Mitchell said of the 21-year-old.
“He has done what is required and now it’s about opportunity. With Sicily out we’d expect him to be in sooner rather than later.
“The last month he’s taken that next step with his progress, he’s been able to defend well and now he’s starting to take a few more intercepts and play with a little bit more of that natural freedom that he was drafted for.
“We put a few building blocks in, scaffolded a few of his other skills and now it’s about time for him to start really stepping into that role. We’ve given him a bit more freedom so hopefully it all comes together for him over the next week or three.”
Grainger-Barass, the no.6 selection from the 2020 draft, has played 23 senior games in brown and gold with his most recent coming in Round 6 this year.
The 4-9 Hawks, who sit 16th on the ladder, will be looking for their fourth win in five matches when they tackle the 12th-placed Suns at Heritage Bank Stadium on Sunday.