From being taken with Pick 56 in the 2013 National Draft to now becoming Hawthorn's captain, James Sicily says he has the club to thank for making him the player he now is.

The 28-year-old turned his back on free agency to ink a five-year deal last season, locking himself away as a Hawk for life.

While the Hawks are now entering a new era with currently the youngest list of any AFL team, the defender says he would have signed that deal no matter the circumstances and changes at the club.

Speaking to SEN Breakfast on Monday, Sicily said he was forever grateful for the guidance and investment he has received during his career so far at Hawthorn. 

“I feel like I’m very indebted to Hawthorn and I’ve said this a couple of times, I feel genuinely about that if I was at any other club, I don’t think I would have really made it," Sicily said.

“They showed incredible patience and I wasn’t thrown in the deep end, I had so much to learn."

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Hawthorn recently took on Collingwood in a thrilling pre-season practice game last week, with the team's collective performance impressing the newly-appointed captain.

“We were really happy with the way we were able to fight back – I think we ended up being in front at some point in the first quarter after a pretty poor start," Sicily said.

"For a young side like ours to rally together and not get to bothered by the situation and fight back is something we were really pleased with.

"It is important that with the amount of inexperience we have is that guys like myself and Frosty (Sam Frost) down back sort of stay relatively composed and not get too carried away with what's happening because that can become really unsettling for the young guys in the team.

"I think it’s about putting on a brave face and saying 'it's going to be ok - this is what we need to do, let's just grind it back and focus on some immediate short term things to get it back on our terms.'"

With it now less than a fortnight away until Round 1, Sicily has revealed his expectations heading into season 2023, believing the Hawks can at least match last year’s win-loss total of 8-14 which saw them finish 13th.

“No doubt there is going to be ups and downs – there are going to be some games where it's potentially not going to be that good of viewing," he said.

"But then there will be games were we exceed expectations – for example the Easter Monday against Geelong last year – where it was completely unexpected and we got a great result and a great win.

“We lost two games in one quarter last year were we conceded like 50 points in one quarter. All of a sudden we’re looking at 10 wins and only one or two wins off playing finals.

“I’d like to replicate last year’s season, we’ve seen some genuine progress with how we want to play and the identity as a side that we want to become.

"There’s so many new young guys that are ready to step up and play from the last two drafts and really break-out – that’s something that's really exciting.

With Sicily’s deal taking him to the end of the 2027 season, he was asked whether he could see the Hawks winning a premiership between now and then.

“In terms of a premiership, that’s what we’re all striving for and I think we can,” Sicily replied.

“Clubs are showing how fast they can turn it around, (look at) Sydney and Collingwood. They had reasonably low expectations last year Collingwood and some in the footy realm had them for the wooden spoon.

“Sydney not too long ago in 2019 were down in the bottom four but in 2022 they were in a Grand Final.

“I think if we do it right, we’ve got the right people in the footy club to support us as a playing group, we’re going to give ourselves every chance to challenge once we get games into these young guys and become really predictable to each other.”

One reason why Sicily is confident in his side’s ability to rebound is their young midfield, with the defender liking the look of the on-ball mix as several young players gel.

“It's good to see Worps (James Worpel) back confident in himself again and Jai (Newcombe) obviously broke onto the scene last year,” Sicily said.

“They’re two really hard working guys and they’re really physical and we love that.

“Two other guys that are playing pretty well are Cam Mackenzie and Josh Ward.

"Having two bulls in there (in Worpel and Newcombe) will really complement those other two guys who are really good users of the ball, along with Will Day.

“I think we’re putting together quite a good midfield there.”

Currently sidelined with a knee injury, key forward Mitch Lewis is another player that Sicily sees as a key part of Hawthorn's pursuit for success.

"Mitch has become an incredibly important player for us - he is another one of those guys who really broke out of nowhere - along with Dylan Moore," he said.

"I think he's due to be back around Round 4 or 5. We do need him in the side, he's someone who is really important, but on the other hand we don't really want to rush it."

Sicily gets his first chance to lead out Hawthorn officially as captain when they face Essendon at the MCG on Sunday March 19.

Listen to the full chat on SEN Breakfast with Sicily below.