Hawthorn Chief of Football Graham Wright has spoken candidly about the club's interest in bringing Adelaide defender Kyle Hartigan into its ranks.  

The club has been linked to the Crow for several weeks, with rumours swirling he'd been offered a two-year deal.

"At this stage, it looks as though we will be able to get Kyle in as a free agent and we're excited to bring him here," Wright said on the Hawks Talk Trade podcast on Friday.

"The main reason in bringing him in is to obviously bolster the depth at the key defender position which he has played for a long period of time now at the Crows.

"Considerations such as whether we want to play Ben McEvoy in the ruck, James Sicily being out for probably most of next year and obviously James Frawley retiring, so, from that perspective, we felt like somebody else from a depth point of view was going to be really important. 

"The Crows had offered him a deal as well but his push was to get back to Victoria where he and his wife are from originally.

"So, from that perspective, it was a matter of the moons aligning for us and we think he can play an important role and give us options really."

On the other side of the coin, Wright conceded the club was disappointed to see Isaac Smith opt for a move to Geelong on the first day of free agency last week, but understands the decision was based around lifestyle choices.

He says he didn't believe Geelong's contract offer was necessarily superior to the Hawks', instead suggesting Smith's decision was based around a preference of where he'd like to live and bring up his young family.

"I think, if you ask him, it's a bit of a lifestyle decision, heading down to Bellarine is something he has always wanted to do post-footy so this gave him the opportunity to head down there sooner rather than later.

"We did offer two years to Isaac and that was done a couple of months ago so, from that perspective, I don't think our offer would be that different to what Geelong had offered but I don't know that specifically.

"He's always been really, really durable and certainly hasn't lost his speed and we know the endurance athlete he is."

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Wright also defused the idea that any club contract policy in regards to players over the age of 30 had hindered the chances of the 210-game Hawk remaining at the club. 

"It's never been a policy, certainly not in my time, we've never been guarded against giving longer term deals to guys that are 30-plus.

With Smith having played a significant role in a storied rivalry with Geelong in recent times, Wright admitted the fact Smith had chosen the Cats was an added source of pain. 

"It's obviously very disappointing to lose him, especially to a great rival in Geelong, but it is free agency and players have a right, like everyone else, to choose where they want to work.

"We're not against the mechanism of free agency but it obviously has worked against us this time.

"He has given us 10 years of great service so in that respect we should be rejoicing what he has done for Hawthorn and wishing him well down the highway," Wright said, before adding, "unless he is playing against us." 

Of key interest to Hawks supporters this off-season will be the national draft, with the club holding pick four ahead of trade period.

While Wright said the club was very keen to get involved in the pointy end of this year's draft, a luxury that has been rare for the club in recent years, he also explained that it was important to always be receptive of what other opportunities could potentially be out there.

"At the moment, I'd doubt that we would split (or trade) pick four.

"But we are always open-minded and I think you've got to be.

"If you're asking us to have a look at something, we will absolutely have a look at it, we won't just close it off."

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