Newly appointed Brett Ratten says he hopes to influence the Hawthorn coaches, but also help fast track the players in 2024.

The Hawks announced last month that Ratten would return to the brown and gold as Head of Coaching Performance & Development.

Ratten said his new role would entail several responsibilities, including working closely with Senior Coach Sam Mitchell and mentoring the broader coaching group, while helping to develop Hawthorn's young list.

"A big part of it will be working alongside Sam and helping to take a bit of the load off him, there are some high demands when it comes to senior coaching,'" Ratten said. 

"Sam has some great skills - that’s why he became the coach - so let's keep honing in on them.

“I’ll take a little bit of that off him, work with the coaches really closely to help support them, maybe even having a bit of a different look at the game plan and how we are going about it.

"There will be some big responsibilities around game day – whether I'm on the boundary or up in the coaches box.

“But then there's the aspect that I don’t want to lose, and that’s coaching the players – I still love coaching, and I have a lot to offer in that space.

“I don’t just want to be sitting back, I want to get my hands dirty, get out there and work with the players and see if we can develop and fast track some of them."

Ratten re-joins Hawthorn after a previous six-year stint where he played an important role as an assistant coach during the highly successful three-peat era of 2013 to 2015.

He said he was confident in the investment the club has made in developing its young list as it looks to build its way back to contend for premiership success again. 

"To have watched whats happened over the last couple of years, especially under Sam, and the growth of the players and where the club's heading is something that really attracted me to come back and be part of it," Ratten said.

“That’s the goal (premierships), but it’s about enjoying the journey along the way too.

"That was a key memory that I had throughout those three premierships, they were all different years and involved a different journey for the team and the players.

"Hopefully we can try and get the opportunity again – that’s what the club did through that era, just putting itself in the position for a chance to win it, and they did it over and over again."

Having worked alongside Mitchell as a player when he was an assistant, Ratten said he was keen to now join him in a coaching capacity.

"Sam has always had great knowledge of the game, it just shows with how many games he played and the way he went about it," Ratten added.

“He was always one that would challenge himself in the extras, he's always a thinker, you create a drill and he would wreck the drill because he was so good at manipulating and cutting a corner.

“That’s going to be the enjoyable part working with him and the other coaches about the ideas and trying to challenge each other and how we can get better, and then passing that knowledge onto the players."

Ratten said he was eager to hit the ground running next month when the group returns to begin their pre-season training for 2024.

“It will be interesting to see how well prepared the players are when they land back at the club, I think the players will dig in," Ratten said.

"That will be the opportunity for us to get a spike there and get some traction - most seasons are set-up from November to Round 1.

“That’s what I could see towards the end of the season, that connection piece.

"When they were winning games towards the backend of this year they were on a roll, they were beating good teams and playing some great footy.

"You could see the unity and connection there, and that's what you want to see through pre-season - that bond is where teams grow."

Hawthorn will welcome back its first to fourth-year players for the start of pre-season training from Monday 13 November, while the remainder of the list will return on Monday 27 November.