Dear Hawthorn members and supporters,

Having recently passed the mid-way point of the season, I thought this was a good opportunity to take stock of the first half of the year, recognise some of our Club’s accomplishments and acknowledge the challenges that lie ahead.

While we find ourselves in a very good position I remind you of Alastair’s words in reference to our win-loss ratio after Sunday’s game: “It means we're winning games of footy and that's what we need to do to give ourselves the best chance of finishing high up on the ladder and that's really our only goal.”

What is most pleasing is that we have secured the four points when on occasion we haven’t played our best footy. With senior players such as Matt Suckling, Ryan Schoenmakers, Cyril Rioli, Xavier Ellis and most recently Grant Birchall, having suffered injuries it has been a testament to the flexibility and depth of the playing group and the outstanding acumen of our coaching group that we have been able to continue to perform well as a team.

Another good feature of this season has been our ability to seamlessly inject young players into the side, with Jed Anderson, Taylor Duryea and Sam Grimley fitting into the team nicely on debut. Brian Lake, Matt Spangher, Jonathan Simpkin and Jonathon Ceglar have also played their roles well having come to the Hawks from other clubs.

The performances and leadership of our group of senior players, coupled with those players previously mentioned, have set the standard for our entire Club with their team-first philosophy, selflessness and relentlessness on-field.

However, having worked through the challenges of a tough draw in the first half of the year, the months of July and August will prove to be just as difficult as we are set to come up against some formidable sides. I’m certain that Alastair and his dedicated coaching group will continue to teach, guide and challenge all of our players to ensure the group keeps improving and striving for the ultimate success we all crave.

Since last November several players including Jordan Lewis, Sam Mitchell, Luke Hodge, Luke Breust, Ben Stratton, David Hale and Jarryd Roughead have signalled their commitment to Hawthorn, re-signing or extending their contracts with the Club. This is further proof that while we have attained some success; there’s much more this group wants to achieve together.

In regards to Lance Franklin, it is business as usual. At the beginning of the year we informed you that Lance wished to delay discussion on his contract to the end of the season. As such, we acknowledged that this situation is part of a new football landscape under free agency.

What is most pleasing is Lance’s contribution within the team structure and our attitude is that while Lance is a contracted player for our Club we have the same expectations of him as we do for the other 45 talented players on our list.   

Be assured that our Recruiting and List Manager Graham Wright has maintained an open dialogue with Lance and his manager and while we would love Lance to remain ALWAYS HAWTHORN, ultimately at his age and stage of life he has an extremely tough decision to make.

Off-field, we have launched a new business plan and welcomed two directors to our Board in Richard Amos and Bruce Stevenson. The strategic planall for one will steer the Club’s overall operations from 2013-2017 and will lay the foundation for our organisation to work as a collective. It will inspire us to recognise we are in control of our destiny, that we are a team in pursuit of one common cause: the overall sustainability, growth and success of Hawthorn Football Club.

I would like to finish by saying thank you to our 62,497 valued members. In May, the Club broke its membership record for the sixth consecutive season, passing last year’s total of 60,841. To think that Hawthorn’s membership has more than doubled across the last seven seasons (in 2006, the Club’s total stood at 28,003) is a remarkable achievement and one we should all be proud of.  

While we have emerged from the first half of the season in perhaps a better position on-field than we would have expected, it will be a challenging road to the finals. I look forward to sharing the journey with you.

See you at the ’G this Saturday night in your brown and gold and let's hope we can get over those Cats!

Andrew Newbold
Hawthorn Football Club President