Where's the club at?
The Hawks are one of few clubs ahead of where they’d planned to be.
They won the premiership after being the second best side all year, with the bulk of their list still yet to hit the peak of their football careers. They don’t necessarily have the complete package but they were one of only two sides capable of knocking off Geelong this year. And they did it when it mattered most.
Other clubs will follow Hawthorn’s lead of building a premiership side from the ground up, so in a roundabout way the Hawks might have cost themselves the chance of gaining draft picks.
Needs
All season long Hawthorn’s defence was seen as its weak link. But a superb finals series put paid to that theory. That said, they might want to shore up their defence if doubts linger about Trent Croad’s foot.
Stephen Gilham is a handy defender but you wouldn’t expect him to always take the no.1 tall forward.
It is more than likely that Alastair Clarkson will try to mould one of his many tall forwards waiting in the wings into a defender.
Tradeable commodities
Historically the reigning premiers are not big players in trade week but the Hawks may consider following the path of Geelong last year and unloading some of their fringe players for lower draft picks.
Much has been made of Simon Taylor’s late season omission but he will most likely stay even though Brent Renouf has leapfrogged him in the queue of ruckman at Hawthorn.
Tim Boyle, Beau Dowler and Mitch Thorp could also bring a decent catch if they are sick of their lack of options in attack, with Jarryd Roughead and Lance Franklin ensconced in the tall forward positions.
What the club says
"The easiest way to put is that we'll be open-minded. Some people may have the impression that our strategic plan will be changed after our success last weekend, but it won't. We'll enter trade week with the same intentions, even if we had have lost in weeks one, two, three or four of the finals. We're certainly open-minded, whether that's trading in or out draft picks, so we'll look at everything on its merits across the week." – Player personnel and strategy general manager Chris Pelchen.
Crystal ball trades
Boyle, Dowler or Thorp could bring in a first round pick if the Hawks could find the right buyer. Port Adelaide has said its first pick is dispensable and with Warren Tredrea not getting any younger they could use a tall forward.
The Hawks might also want to add Ryan O’Keefe as a running mid-sized forward but it would be a question of salary cap issues. With Peter Everitt retired, the Swans are after a ruckman. Maybe Dowler with Taylor as a sweetener for O’Keefe could be an option?
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More trade talk
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Trade week runs from October 6-10, 2008. Please note, no trades are official until paperwork has been accepted by the AFL and formally recognised after 2pm on Friday, October 10.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
