Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell is adamant that key defender Sam Frost won't be going anywhere despite the inclusion of Tom Barrass and Josh Battle in the mix.
Frost put together a career-best season in 2024 but was unfortunately sidelined for the semi-final loss against Port Adelaide with a stress fracture in his foot.
Given the pair of talls willing to join the Hawks in the off-season, the former Demon and Giant have received interest from St Kilda and Sydney ahead of next month's trade period.
Frost's position is understood to come under pressure given the first-choice of James Sicily, Blake Hardwick and Josh Weddle in Mitchell's line-up.
But the Hawthorn coach says there is plenty of room for the versatile tall to fit.
"I wouldn't have thought (Frost will depart the club)," Mitchell said on SEN.
โI love โFrosty', he is one of my favourites.โ
โThere are a lot of positions on the field.
โI would have loved to have played Sicily and Hardwick a little bit more in different positions this year, but we were just really restricted. A lot of our injuries meant that we had a limited amount of flexibility with the side.
โJosh Weddle has got the chance to move around the ground at different stages, whether that's next year or in years to come.
โWe've got some flexibility in the side that we haven't been able to play with just yet. You could look at Tom Stewart (at Geelong) and the way he's been used this year.
โWe haven't had that flexibility. We've done it at different stages, but we need to continue to evolve our list.โ
Mitchell has been big on player versatility and has targeted players with that notion.
At times throughout 2024, Sicily has been thrown forward to good effect, turning the game in Hawthorn's favour on multiple occasions and nearly dragging the club over the line in last week's semi-final.
Hardwick also has been deployed in the front half, kicking bags of four and five against Collingwood and the Power.
Even Battle at St Kilda has been used in different positions at either end of the ground.
