HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson said the Hawks were never going to let go of Campbell Brown as it could have had ramifications on the culture of the club.

Clarkson said the Hawks didn't offer Brown up for trade in a bid to secure Shaun Burgoyne, but the Power were eager to lure him to Alberton.

"I know the Essendon footy club did that back in 2002 with Damien Hardwick, Blake Caracella, Justin Blumfield and also Chris Heffernan and I don't think it did the Essendon footy club any good," he said.

"Sending out players of that quality – it affects the culture of your club too much and we weren't going to do that with five quality players in our footy club, who are just so important to our culture.

"Campbell Brown is certainly one of those and you saw the reaction of our supporters and everyone involved in the football industry when Campbell was being [talked about] as part of the trade, because Port was really interested in getting him to their club, and fair enough too."

Clarkson said Port Adelaide expressed interest in Jordan Lewis, Grant Birchall, Ryan Schoenmakers and Campbell Brown, but all four were contracted and none wanted to leave.

"Mark Williams, Josh Kennedy and Ben McGlynn all indicated their desire to seek greater opportunities elsewhere," Clarkson said, "but we were never going to march anyone out of our football club that didn't want to go."

Clarkson said he had rated Burgoyne highly, as far back as when he was an assistant coach at the Power.

He added he was always confident the deal would get done.

"He's had to recover from a knee injury and knee surgery, but we wouldn't have given up so much to get him to the club, if we didn't think he could make a significant contribution to us over the next three to five year period, so we're delighted he's on board," Clarkson said.

Clarkson said Burgoyne and Gibson were always the club's major targets as they were looking for midfield leg speed and a key defender.

Burgoyne said it had been a tough and stressful week, but he was relieved that a deal was done to secure him a home at the Hawks.

"I can move on to bigger and better things now and getting my body right and getting some fitness for pre-season," the 2004 premiership player said.

Burgoyne said his relationship with Clarkson and "a few other boys" helped convince him to move to Waverley Park.

He added he wanted to make sure Port Adelaide was compensated for his departure and he believes that is the case.

"It's a pretty good deal with all four clubs involved in the deal, so I think I've left on pretty good terms," Burgoyne said.