ALASTAIR Clarkson says Hawthorn chased free agent James Frawley with an eye to unshackling veteran defenders Brian Lake and Josh Gibson and swinging them into attack next season.
Clarkson said Frawley's key position credentials at both ends of the ground made him a valuable target once he parted ways with Melbourne after 139 games.
But the 26-year-old is also likely to free-up Lake, Gibson and fellow tall backman Ben Stratton as surprise forward options.
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"We've been unable to play Brian Lake, in his two years at our club, forward at any stage – unless it's been a real pinch-hit," Clarkson told AFL.com.au.
"The same with Gibson … and Stratton hasn't played another position other than in the back end.
"That's why we chased after James - to give us that flexibility."
Lake, who some thought might retire after last season, has experience in attack, having booted 32 goals from 197 games for the Western Bulldogs.
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But the 32-year-old (he turns 33 on Friday) has only kicked two goals in 32 appearances in brown and gold, while Gibson (two career goals) and Stratton (one) have barely troubled the scorers.
Clarkson accepted throwing the trio forward might fall flat, but he believed it was a worthwhile experiment.
"We didn't want Lakey to retire unless his body told us that it was time or he said 'I've had enough', because we wanted to have that flexibility in our side where we could swing our players from time-to-time," Clarkson said.
"But we'll see how that unfolds – that might create headaches for us too.
"They might not be able to perform in those roles but a really important part of our growth and development of our side over the past two or three seasons has been players able to play a variety of positions.
"If they don't have to be in the bash and crash positions of key back or key forward on a regular basis, maybe that allows those guys to play a bit longer too."
The Hawks boasted two of the game's premier forwards in Jarryd Roughead and Jack Gunston last season, with the spearheads combining for 133 goals.
But their tall forward depth still came under scrutiny, despite the strong contribution of David Hale and chip-in peformances from Ryan Schoenmakers and Matt Spangher.
While Clarkson acknowledged his side's marking options needed to develop, he was confident talented youngsters Tim O'Brien, James Sicily and Dallas Willsmore would eventually step into those roles.
"Key forward is one of the more difficult positions on the ground and they need time to grow and mature," the triple-premiership coach said.
"They need to be strong bodies, they need to be able to compete really fiercely with aerial balls and ground balls.
"They need to learn their craft and it takes a little bit longer. (But) we've got the flexibility of guys who from the back end can come forward and we've got the young guys emerging.
"We feel like our forward stocks are capable. We'd love it to be better but we know we've got a nice balance of senior guys and young blokes emerging."
