Hawthorn enter their early-season bye sitting atop the AFL ladder with four wins from four attempts and look a serious premiership contender for the flag in 2025.
They currently have Carlton's first round pick, which at present is Pick 3, and are in the race for the signatures of free agent Oscar Allen, and have been linked to star midfielders Zak Butters and Harley Reid.
The Hawks' list depth has gone from lacking to overflowing, with their 2025 squad currently the envy of many opposition supporters, with players in the position of Henry Hustwaite banging down the door for a chance in the AFL team.
The club is also facing the difficult prospect of omitting two players from last week's winning team against the Giants to fit in 23 players as Connor MacDonald and James Worpel eye returns for the Gather Round clash against Port Adelaide.
Many see Hawks head coach Sam Mitchell as one of the best brains in the AFL, due to him guiding a Hawks side from a team toward the bottom of the competition when he took the helm in 2022, to a serious contender three years later.
While Mitchell receives massive praise from all within the AFL, it is the personnel and system that have been employed at Hawthorn under his watch that are allowing the majority of players to develop at an impressive rate and turning them from easy beats in his early days of coaching to a feared proposition this season.
The Hawks have recruited some of the best minds in the business in their assistant coaching group with David Hale, Kade Simpson and Adrian Hickmott all highly lauded, while they have incorporated a host of staff with an education background into the football department, headed by head of football and former principal Rob McCartney, with the notion that development is the key to making the club formidable again.
Mitchell is no stranger to development, having spent time at Hawthorn's VFL affiliate Box Hill, before getting his chance at AFL level, where he would end up going on to be a four-time premiership player, as well as a premiership captain and a Brownlow Medal winner.
When one asks how a team can go from having what was regarded as arguably the worst list in the AFL to being considered one of the fancies for the flag in such a short period, a clear answer is development, an area that the Hawks have not only put time and effort into, but are also currently excelling at.
A deep dive into Hawthorn's 2025 list will tell you that there are currently four top 10 draft picks at the club in Josh Ward (Pick 6), Cam Mackenzie (Pick 7), Nick Watson (Pick 5) and Jack Scrimshaw (Drafted at Pick 7 by Gold Coast).
While some of those early draft picks taken by the Hawks like Watson and Mackenzie look likely to excel at the level, not all those drafted early by the Hawks have gone on to make the grade, as was seen by former No.6 pick Denver Grainger-Barras, who was delisted by the Hawks at the end of the 2024 season.
What the Hawks have done well during Mitchell's tenure as head coach is to trade in players from rival clubs and turn them into players who are able to perform to a high standard week in and week out, as well as improving the performance of players who the Hawks have drafted too.
The Hawks have turned Mid-Season Draft recruit Jai Newcombe into a star midfielder who has still not yet reached his ceiling, while taking Massimo D'Ambrosio, who was an Essendon mid-season recruit in 2022, and turning him into an All-Australian squad member in his first year at Bunjil Bagora.
Lloyd Meek was languishing in the WAFL playing for Peel Thunder and struggling for opportunities behind Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy before being traded to the Hawks, where he is now seen as one of the top rucks in the competition.
Jack Scrimshaw, a highly touted junior, was home sick and not being able to showcase his talent while on the Gold Coast Suns' list.
With some tough love from Mitchell, Scrimshaw went from a player who was struggling to live up to expectations and spent many weeks at VFL level in 2023, to a key piece of the Hawks' finals charge in 2024, where he was able to perform consistently for the team throughout the season, finishing eighth in the club's Peter Crimmins Medal count.
Mabior Chol was traded to the team at the end of 2023, where most scoffed at the deal to bring him to Waverley Park, after Chol had spent the majority of that season playing in the VFL for Gold Coast and had been unfairly criticised for his work rate.
Since arriving at the Hawks, Chol has become not only a cult hero at the club, but also a vital part of the club's forward line set up, where his defensive exploits have him ranked among the best tacklers for forwards in the game.
Conor Nash, Finn Maginness and Harry Morrison were all on the Hawks list when Mitchell took over as head coach, but their development has had a massive impact on the turnaround in the team's fortunes.
Nash, a former junior rugby player in Ireland, was transformed from a player who was in the VFL to a crucial component of the midfield, where his strength and size complement the likes of Will Day, James Worpel and Jai Newcombe.
Maginness and Morrison have seen a vast improvement in their consistency and ability to make moments matter at AFL level, with both crediting unheralded opposition analysis coach and mentor David Mackay for their development.
Last season, no player at Hawthorn's performance throughout the season said more about the club's development program than Calsher Dear.
A raw young key forward with a slight frame, Dear spent time working extensively with Andy Collins and Zane Littlejohn at VFL level for Box Hill over the first part of the season, before receiving a call-up to the Hawthorn lineup, where he became a mainstay.
As well as working with the Hawks' development team, he also worked with premiership veteran and now forward development coach Jack Gunston, where the two formed a strong bond that would see Dear excel in the latter part of the season.
Dear's elimination final performance against the Western Bulldogs, where he kicked three goals in a starring role, showed how much the coaching and development at the Hawks had fast tracked his ability to impact games and help the team achieve success.
Every player has their own unique style of learning, be it kinaesthetic, auditory or visual, and the staff at the club understand the importance of the journey of development, as it is not linear and there will be ebbs and flows along the way.
Regardless of if they were considered a talented junior, like Cam Mackenzie or Will Day, a player from a less traditional background, like category B rookie Nash, or a player traded in from the another club who hadn't been given the opportunities needed to flourish like Lloyd Meek, the development of players under the Hawthorn system in Mitchell's time as head coach is what sets the Hawks list apart.
When you compare the improvement and development of the Hawks' list at present to other teams that have had a bevy of first-round draft picks, it is clear to see that the system the Hawks are currently implementing under their head coach is allowing the players to thrive.
