Today Clarko moves his sights away from the playing group and towards another very important group of people associated with this footy Club - the fans.
What Clarko says
1. The Fans
In early 2011 the Club shared with me the idea to have our #1 guernsey recognise the contribution our fans make to the Club. I was all for it, and so was our playing group. Max Bailey was really proud to hand over the #1 guernsey he had worn from 2006 to 2010 over to Hawks fans at Family Day 2011.
The Club has done a fantastic job in bringing the #1 guernsey to life. Along with continuing to acknowledge fans as number 1, each week since Max's announcement a Hawks member is appointed the role of #1 Fan of the Week. These members are offered money can't buy experiences like running water at training and visiting the rooms on match-day.
View our #1 fan profiles from 2011.
Meeting fans is one of the great joys of coaching at this level and Hawks fans always turn out in numbers to show their support - at training sessions all over the country and at Club events.
As I write this article, more than 46,000 Hawks fans have shown their commitment to the Club by signing up as 2012 members. Going into the pre-season cup, this level of support is amazing. Still, we are 14,000 members shy of our overall target of 60,000 members. If you haven’t joined already, now is the time to show your commitment.
I’m looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the MCG for our Round 1 clash against Collingwood. Turning the MCG into a cauldron of gold will no doubt have a motivational impact when Hodgey leads the team out for the season opener.
See you there! I hope you've enjoyed my article series, now bring on 2012!
Clarko's Summer Series - all 47 players reviewed heading in 2012Share your thoughts on the best part of being a Hawks fan below
