While Hawthorn appear odds on to offer an extension to head coach Sam Mitchell at some stage next season, Hawks president Andy Gowers has claimed the club is in no hurry to head to the negotiating table.
Mitchell, a former premiership captain at Waverley, is set to come out of contract at the cessation of the 2025 season, however, is unlikely to spend any time coaching under pressure within his contract year.
Yet, while the five-time Peter Crimmins medallist has earned widespread plaudits for his nous and style after hanging up the boots and jumping into the coaching hot seat, Gowers stated that negotiations on a new deal would take place internally and arise in their own time.
“He is doing a great job,” Gowers said of Mitchell, quoted by News Corp.
“We will have our normal assessment of Sam's position and we will work our way through that internally.”
Since taking the head coaching reigns at Bunjil Bagora ahead of the 2022 season, Mitchell has steered a youthful, yet vibrant, Hawks unit on 45 occasions for 15 wins, including the scalps of grand finalists Brisbane and Collingwood throughout the course of 2023.