Brett Ratten chats to Sam Mitchell at quarter-time of the match between Hawthorn and Geelong at the MCG on April 1, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos

HAWTHORN is sending its coaches across the globe this off-season after the Hawks returned to September for the first time since 2018. 

Head of coaching performance and development, Brett Ratten, is heading to the United Kingdom, where he will spend time inside a football club in Wales that has risen from obscurity to the Hollywood club in the past few years.

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Wrexham AFC have risen from the fifth tier of English football to now sit second in League One following back-to-back promotions, after being purchased by famous actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2020.

Ratten will spend time sitting in meetings with coaches and officials at the Welsh club ahead of a game, as well as visiting Cardiff City, which plays in the Championship – the second division – and Wales Rugby. 

The former Carlton and St Kilda senior coach will then cross over the border and go inside powerhouse rugby union club Bath in Somerset, sitting in on the review meetings, before attending a leadership summit in London. 

David Hale has just returned from a three-week trip across the United States where Hawthorn's midfield coach met with coaches and officials in more than a handful of organisations. 

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The three-time premiership player visited NFL franchises Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals, as well as the UFC training academy. 

Hale also went inside Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy and spent time at Stanford University in California. 

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Senior coach Sam Mitchell visited Tottenham Hotspur last year to observe Ange Postecoglou up close, but this off-season the Brownlow medallist is heading over to New Zealand with Kade Simpson, David Mackay and fresh free agency signing Josh Battle.

The group will spend time inside different organisations later this month, ahead of pre-season training starting on November 25. 

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Andy Collins will spend part of the off-season in New South Wales with NRL club Canterbury Bulldogs.

Under the leadership of GM Rob McCartney, Hawthorn mandates a minimum of three days of professional development for each member of staff in its football department. 

Every coach then presents a couple of key learnings to the group over the pre-season.