Backlines can often do the heavy lifting in footy, especially if they're part of a side looking to turn their list around at the foot of the ladder.
With A-grade defenders a commodity in the AFL, and half-backs often going unnoticed whilst offering their best efforts, those that ply their trade down back hold an accountable role that can go unrewarded.
As made evident in last year's premiership run, a well-gelled rearguard can be the cornerstone in conjuring the right list worthy of planting their flag at the summit come the end of the season.
With the season nearing and each side looking to improve on the results of yesteryear, we profile each side's list of defenders and rank them against their league counterparts.
In part one of three, we look at the six clubs ranked 18 down to 13.
4. 15th - Hawthorn
The foundation of Hawthorn's back third is solid, with Sam Mitchell inheriting an exciting rearguard that is sure to place plenty of headaches on opposition forwards for the years to come.
While they boast promising young prospects in Changkuoth Jiath, Jack Scrimshaw, Denver Grainger-Barras and Will Day, they currently lack ready-made assets to lead from the back this season.
Key defensive duo Kyle Hartigan and Sam Frost stand as an underwhelming pairing among their opposition counterparts, with their taller options an area needing to be addressed.
Should we see a continued rise from Jiath, a predicted breakout campaign for Day and larger steps taken by Grainger-Barras, the Hawks could ruffle a few feathers in 2022.
