It’s amazing just how much things can change in the space of only a few years.
Entering Sam Mitchell’s debut season as Hawthorn’s senior coach in 2022, major question marks surrounded the whole playing list. In particular its lack of a reliable scoring punch.
Despite breakout years from both Mitch Lewis and Dylan Moore, consistent campaigns from aging stars Jack Gunston and Luke Bruest, and the occasional cameo from the uber-talented but injury-riddled Chad Wingard, doubts around the Hawks’ ability to kick a winning score remained.
Compounding this scepticism was the extreme lack of forward depth and subsequent over-reliance on inconsistent, albeit promising players, like Tyler Brockman, Jacob Koschitzke, Emerson Jeka and Max Lynch (none of which remain on the list today) that led fans to dread the consequences of an injury to one of the attacking mainstays.
Fast-forward just three years and things have turned in a sharp 180. Mitchell’s problem now lies with how he can fit at least ten deserving forwards in an attacking-50 that only has room for six.
Throughout the second half of 2024, Hokball, which became synonymous with free-flowing matches in which the Hawks would utilise precise kicking and gut-running to stretch teams across the length of the ground, propelled them to rank first for total goals and seventh for scores per inside-50; ultimately turning them into the can’t-miss team of the AFL.
Defined by youth, talent, unpredictability and a child-like joy embodied in their celebrations, last year’s forward line, led by youngsters Calsher Dear, Nick Watson, Jack Ginnivan, Connor MacDonald and supported by the experienced Jack Gunston, Luke Bruest, Dylan Moore and Mabior Chol was a far-cry from the at-times stale nature of the forward line post dynasty.
Though this offensive brigade possessed a “strength in numbers” mentality that ultimately made it too overwhelming for almost every team in the back end of last year, the pressure, speed and flair provided by Watson and Ginnivan, aerial presence and thirst to compete offered by Dear, and creativity and class that both Moore and MacDonald’s every possession oozed had Hawthorn fans dreaming big.
But entering season 2025, the depth, potency and unpredictability of the forward brigade – that already includes eight players who kicked 20+ goals in 2024 – threatens to reach new heights off the back of a slew of potential additions.
Firstly, the inclusion of the courageous and uber-reliable Blake Hardwick, who has been impressing exclusively as a forward throughout the preseason, provides a consistent and assuring presence that is sure to be as key in the forward line as has proven to be in defense.
However, the 27 year-old’s addition in attack is sure to offer much more than reliability, as his offensive IQ and dead-eye kicking that was sharpened throughout his junior career and displayed in his lethal cameos forward (in which he kicked 4+ goals on multiple occasions) throughout 2024 could prove a point of difference.
In a similar vein to Hardwick, both James Sicily and the recently acquired Josh Battle offer Sam Mitchell the option of extra attacking flexibility.
Though all signs point towards both players playing predominately behind the ball, their similar strengths which include dominance in the contest, an uncanny ability to read the ball in-flight and a lethal right boot provides Mitchell with two “break glass in case of emergency” options that Sicily has already provided in the past (cast your mind back to last year’s games against both Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs).
Though perhaps slightly off broadway for the less tapped-in fan, 22 year-old key forward/ruckman Max Ramsden may prove hard to overlook by the match committee if his preseason is anything to go by.
Likely to be offered an early season opportunity due to injuries to both Dear and the perennially talented (and injured) Mitch Lewis, Ramsden, who has reportedly stacked on 15kg of muscle whilst maintaining his strong aerobic base that contradicts his height, looms as one to watch.
If he can use his impressive athletic traits to build upon his form at Box Hill that resulted in him signing on with the Hawks till the end of 2026, a forward/ruck impact in a similar mould to David Hale may not be out of the question.
Exciting youngsters Cody Anderson, Matt Hill and Jasper Scaife are also names worth mentioning in this conversation, despite the fact they will likely at least begin the year at the lower level.
Anderson, who’s intense pressure and equally as intense dreadlocks already have him approaching cult status amongst fans, looms as perhaps the most likely of the three to debut early, assumedly as a pressure forward who’s ability to impact the contest through sheer physicality may remind fans of their introduction to Jai Newcombe.
Hill, who’s preseason has been slightly modified to assist his transition from NRL – a game that involves less frequent but more intense bursts of energy – to the aerobic-based nature of AFL seems to be deemed a longer-term project, but one that may prove to be very fruitful somewhere down the line.
Already displaying flashes of unteachable brilliance, teamed with breakneck speed and a sleek kicking technique that dares onlookers to fantasise of a new-age Rioli, Hill’s potential impact as an excitement machine offers to uphold the reputation of those who share his famous last name.
And then there is Scaife, a 196cm key-forward who’s contested marking provides an ideal foundation for a lengthy professional career is also one to consider when discussing Hawthorn’s impressive forward depth.
Recruited with Pick 5 in the 2024 mid-season draft, the West Australian, whose biceps are larger than most heads, was able to make an immediate impact for Box Hill, kicking twelve goals (from 22 scoring shots) in just seven games; numbers that point to a player both physically and mentally ready to impact at AFL level.
Additionally, potential bit-part appearances in the forward line from prime movers like Josh Weddle (who looks set to become the ultimate utility), Jai Newcombe and Will Day, who has, at times, been training as a deep forward that could prove to be Bontempelli-like, offer even more flexibility and unpredictability.
It would also be irresponsible to not mention the potential return of Mitch Lewis from a devastating ACL tear, as a player that averaged 2.5 goals per game in 2022 and was looked at as the next great Hawks forward could ultimately prove to be the ingredient that makes this forward line simply too much for any opposition throughout 2025.
