The Hawks have 22 players on their list aged 24 or younger. This is what those 22 names look like if put on a team sheet:
22 under 24
FB: Harry Morrison (18y/o, 1 game) Kaiden Brand (23, 28) Blake Hardwick (20, 20)
CHB: James Sicily (22, 44) Kurt Heatherley (22,5) Ryan Burton (20, 24)
C: Conor Glass (19,6) Jaeger O’Meara (23, 50) Billy Hartung (22, 63)
HF: Ollie Hanrahan (19,0) Tim O’Brien (23, 34) James Cousins (19,3)
FF: Kade Stewart (20,7) Mitchell Lewis (18,0) Teia Miles (20,4)
R: Marc Pittonet (21,3) Tom Mitchell (24, 87) Daniel Howe (21, 33)
INT: Dallas Willsmore (22,2) Kieran Lovell (20,2) Conor Nash (19,0) Jonathan O’Rourke (23,18)
The back six of this line-up holds much promise for Hawks fans, with all players having appeared in 2017.
This includes two Rising Star nominees in Hardwick and Burton, the up-and-coming James Sicily and impressive debutant Harry Morrison.
The on-ball brigade is equally exciting for this youthful 22.
Led by the game’s leading ball magnet Tom Mitchell, the quartet is completed with the grunt of Jaeger O’Meara and Daniel Howe, and the bullocking ruckwork of the developing Marc Pittonet.
The forward line is built around two high-marking key forwards in Tim O’Brien and Mitchell Lewis.
While O’Brien enjoyed a breakout year at AFL level this season, Lewis also showed a comparable level of athleticism and marking ability at the state league level with Box Hill.
The two key-position options have a group of nippy small forwards at their feet, who have all had experience at senior level.
This list analysis highlights the strength of the Hawks’ current squad and the depth of opportunity that has been afforded to so many players.
Only three of Hawthorn’s 2017 45-man list finished the season having not yet had exposure at AFL level.
All of these three players, Mitchell Lewis, Ollie Hanrahan and Conor Nash, were in their first year at the Ricoh Centre this season.
Only Richmond and Gold Coast have less players on their current list who are yet to make their senior debut, with just one on each of the Tigers’ and Suns’ lists.
Interestingly, Richmond is very much an outlier when comparing the six clubs still in the hunt for the 2017 premiership in this category.
Adelaide and West Coast have ten players on their lists who are yet to feature at senior level, while following closely behind is Geelong, Sydney (eight each) and GWS (five).
Whichever way you want to look at it, the more players that have had exposure to football at the highest level, the better.
2017 may not have been a year of success in terms of finals action, but the Hawks have got themselves in a position where they are going to be able to launch into the future.
