NEW HAWTHORN coach Sam Mitchell needs to consider making some big calls on his star midfielders, according to his former premiership teammate Campbell Brown.
The Hawks showed they can compete with the best when they beat future grand finalists Western Bulldogs by 27 points in round 21, after drawing with Melbourne three weeks earlier.
That was part of a late-season surge in which the Hawks won three and drew two of the last six matches of four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson’s tenure at the club.
But Brown has urged Mitchell to focus further into the future and consider moving on Tom Mitchell, Chad Wingard or Jaeger O'Meara to give the Hawks more opportunities to access elite young talent.
“They’re quality, A-grade midfielders of the club and when they play well Hawthorn have proven they can beat really good sides,” Brown said about the star trio.
“It’s just about getting that balance right, about looking into the future but also being really competitive. I’m sure Sam Mitchell and the recruiters will be making some big calls on some names.
“The list at Hawthorn needs work. Lachie Bramble was a real standout, [Denver] Grainger-Barras down back has been superb, so there are a lot of good signs but I think they need to get some more young kids into the club.”
The former AFL hard man, who played 159 games for the Hawks including in the 2008 Toyota AFL Grand Final victory and later 46 matches for Gold Coast, was speaking in Stawell as part of a Toyota Good for Footy promotion.
The Stawell Swifts Football and Netball Club recently redeveloped their home ground and facilities but were stuck with the same siren set-up they’d had for 20 years – two car horns running off an old car battery.
Toyota covered the costs of purchasing and installing the same siren that rings out across the MCG, the Hootronic Electronic Horn.
“If the old battery was a bit flat by the end of the day it was starting to sound like a crow,” said Ian O'Donnell, Stawell Swifts president.
“The new one is fantastic, sounds like an MCG siren which is exactly what we’re after. It’s something that the club and kids can get excited about.”
Stawell play in the Wimmera Football League and were sitting in third position when the competition was suspended.
The League hopes to launch into a top-four finals series as soon as community sport is able resume, when Stawell will be able to give their gift from Toyota Good for Footy its first official run.
