New Hawk Jonathon Patton has penned the following article, sharing the unique details of his last 12 months in the AFL system.

End of an Era

It’s hard to explain the emotions of leaving a club that you had literally been a part of from its beginnings. 

We lost the first six games of my career by an average of nearly 100 points. I won just seven of my first 32 games at the Giants across my first four years.

That’s not exactly ideal if you’re a key forward.

But, by the time I was leaving the club last year, it had turned into a powerhouse, having just competed in a Grand Final and playing in the past four finals series.

I’m definitely proud of what I was able to help GWS achieve over the past eight years, but, at the same time, I knew throughout last year that it was time for me to start a new chapter in my football career.

Looking back on the whole process of last year’s trade period, I just remember buzzing with excitement. There were obviously some sad moments; I was leaving a lot of lifelong friends and a city that I had grown to love, but it was a big thing for me to be able to put on new colours and experience everything that meant – a fresh start in so many ways.

The brown and gold chapter 

I’ve now been a Hawk for six months and have genuinely loved every minute of it so far.

To be honest though, moving back to Melbourne has been a much bigger shift than I was anticipating.

Given that I grew up here, I guess I thought I would slide back into the lifestyle slightly more easily than I have.

This whole Hawthorn chapter started when I first met with Clarko and Wrighty last year. They made it really clear what they wanted from me; they wanted someone with a key forward presence and someone to kick to. They didn’t mention anything about kicking 60 or 70 goals a year (although it would certainly be nice) but they were crystal clear on what they wanted from me and I think that has set me up well.

The changing clubs part of the move has definitely been the easy bit; it’s such a fun atmosphere at the Hawks. You feel comfortable in it and it’s easy to fall in love with the place, quickly. 

That’s not to say that training is laidback though - when the boys know it’s time to work, we definitely work hard.

I think Clarko really leads the way in creating this environment. His meetings have been some of the funniest, most entertaining experiences ever. The things he comes up with to get the playing group engaged is just awesome.

Speaking to a lot of the boys, they say Clarko has put a big emphasis on himself becoming more and more connected with the players and making it a really fun atmosphere.

This is evident in things like the work experience program last year – I don’t think there would be many coaches around the league who would be as willing to let his boys go off for a week in the middle of pre-season.

The group heading to Buchan and Corryong after the bushfires to help those communities on the road to recovery was another example of this. He was at the forefront of it all, and he was loving it more than anyone.

He’s a pretty quirky guy, Clarko.

But you can just see how much he genuinely cares. As a player and as a person, that’s basically the number one thing you want from a mentor.

When I arrived at the club, I was aware that there were some hovering question marks regarding my injury history, but that just made me even more determined to put in a strong summer with the Hawks.

By the time I got to Hawthorn, my confidence and belief in my body was as strong as ever. For me, my emphasis was no longer about getting over my injuries, or the psychological demons associated with them. My emphasis was on getting fitter.

But I won’t lie; it takes a long, long time to get that confidence back.

I remember after returning from my second knee reconstruction, it took me about 15 games to feel like I was me again, so you have to be pretty patient with it all and with yourself.

A bizarre start to the 2020 season 

I was really happy with my pre-season and, coming into Round 1, I was super confident in my body which probably makes this season postponement even more difficult to swallow. I work so hard over the summer to get fit, so for things to come to a halt after just one game was a tough scenario to come to terms with.

On-field, the best thing about being with the Hawks is just that I fully understand my role for the team. I know I’m not expected to go out and kick bags every week – that would obviously be great – but that’s a bonus. I’m just so focused on being a big, key forward presence up there.

It helps too that we have so many star small forwards and creative players around me. I know that if I can get the ball to ground for them, we’ll be a strong, functioning forwardline.

Our forwards group is really close; we genuinely don’t care who kicks the goals – as long as we’re working well together.

Round 1 was a bizarre experience if I’m honest.

I remember going through Hawthorn’s fixture when it came out; Round 1 at the MCG, along with big games against Collingwood and Geelong all in the first month. Those massive crowds and the idea of that energy was something that really excited me.

Though I’ll have to wait a bit longer to experience the kind of adrenaline a big crowd brings, nothing could have taken away my excitement to be playing again.

While it was weird running out to an empty stadium, as soon as the ball first bounce we were solely focused on the task at hand.

We put in a strong performance, and were ecstatic to kick off the season with a win.

But as we were walking off the ground, word of the suspended season started to spread.

It was a surreal experience.

We wanted to celebrate our win, but it was somewhat overshadowed by the unknown currently facing us, the competition and, to a greater extent, the rest of the world.

But what can you do? There were people dealing with issues much, much worse than ours. At the end of the day, you just have to roll with the punches, don’t you?

What now?

It’s been two and a half weeks since that day.

Two and a half weeks of isolation, of trying to remain upbeat, active, fit and strong despite the circumstances.

I’ve been doing a lot of cooking in isolation. I now have so much time on my hands that I almost look forward to going to the supermarket and planning what cooking I might do that day.

I’ve been watching a bit of Gordon Ramsay’s work on YouTube and, although I don’t think he ever cooks much on these shows, he is good for a laugh and at least gives you a few ideas, here and there.

So, that’s been taking up most of my days!

It took me nearly two hours to cook up these baked potatoes the other day that were epic. These are the things that I probably wouldn’t be doing if we were playing, but I actually really enjoy it. It’s almost therapeutic 

As for what’s next in my kitchen; those baked potatoes were incredible and will definitely get another run, but I’m going to try a lasagne sometime soon.

Stephen and the Coniglio family taught me this recipe, it’s a really authentic Italian one - they will be judging me harshly on how it looks so I better make sure I’m on my A-game!

That’s all from me, Hawks fans.

Thanks for welcoming me into your club with open arms – I hope I can return the favour through strong on-field performances very soon!

It is understandable that some people are experiencing feelings of anxiety, uncertainty and concern associated with the current COVID-19 situation. For mental health and wellbeing information, visit Beyond Blue.