HAWTHORN added two first-round picks at last November's NAB AFL Draft, but the one it drafted 12 months earlier – Josh Ward – has returned to full fitness this week after an interrupted second summer in the AFL.
Midfielder Cam Mackenzie (pick No.7) and defender Josh Weddle (pick No.18) have settled impressively into life at Waverley Park and are both mounting cases for early-season debuts, but the sight of Ward back on the track this week has been a big positive for Sam Mitchell's squad.
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The 19-year-old was hampered by a nagging groin and hip issue across December and January, but transitioned back into match simulation at La Trobe University on Monday ahead of Hawthorn's pre-season camp in Gippsland.
Under the guidance of new high performance boss Peter Burge – who returned for a second stint at Hawthorn in October, following a decade at Richmond – Ward has patiently built up his conditioning over the past six weeks, spending plenty of time on the bike, in the pool, boxing and running around the boundary.
Ward completed Thursday's training session at Morwell East Football Club, showing no signs the interrupted block is going to hurt his 2023 campaign, along with Irishman Conor Nash, who was restricted by a back injury last month but is back to full fitness.
Hawthorn is still waiting to see how Mitch Lewis' knee settles across the next week after the budding key forward sprained his anterior cruciate ligament in match simulation last week. The incident was so innocuous the club struggled to identify the moment when going through the tape, but the scans ruled out a rupture last Wednesday.
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The 24-year-old has been ruled out of round one at this stage, with the club optimistic he will miss a month at the most, and walked laps alongside Harry Morrison, who strained his hamstring on Monday.
A timeline will become clearer when the Hawks return from a four-day break, but Lewis has demonstrated positive early signs in his recovery and is expected to start running on the Alter-G treadmill next week.
Young gun Will Day had his workload managed in Morwell and didn't train with the main group on Thursday, but the South Australian has made inroads across his third pre-season and is set for an increased midfield role in 2023.
Hawthorn has spent part of its four-day pre-season camp at Federation University Churchill on leadership and are getting close to appointing Ben McEvoy's successor as captain.
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The Hawks expect to announce their leadership group in the next two or three weeks, potentially before the intraclub clash at La Trobe University on February 15.
The club spent time on Tuesday night and before and after training on Thursday on leadership. It won't run a formal voting system, rather a series of meetings to identify who is the best fit for the group in line with the Hawks' trademark.
Reigning Peter Crimmins Medal winner James Sicily is the favourite to become the next skipper after a career-best campaign in 2022, following 18 months on the sidelines due to a knee reconstruction.
Dylan Moore, Jarman Impey, Blake Hardwick and Lewis are the other leaders in contention, while veteran forward Luke Breust – the only premiership player left at Hawthorn and the only player above 30 – can’t be ruled out, especially given he has two years to run on his contract. The past three captains have all led for two years each.
Sicily was involved in a scuffle in match simulation on Thursday after being pinned holding the ball by small forward Sam Butler. Sam Frost and Denver Grainger-Barras were also involved in a moment that highlighted the intensity of the session, rather than anything sinister.
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With star midfielders Jaeger O'Meara and Tom Mitchell departing during last October's Trade Period, spots are up for grabs in Hawthorn's engine room.
Local boy Jai Newcombe, who was the king of the kids at a clinic in Morwell on Wednesday night and has inherited the famous No.3 guernsey, is set to shoulder more of the load in 2023, while James Worpel, Cooper Stephens, Finn Maginness, Connor Macdonald, Mackenzie, Nash and Ward are all fighting for time inside heading into Hawthorn's round one clash against Essendon on March 19.
With one night of camp still to come, the Hawks completed a gruelling running set after training, returning to Federation University for hill sprints next to the cabins they are sleeping in.
Endurance machine Changkuoth Jiath led the charge alongside Maginness, with Ned Long and Weddle not far behind, ahead of Moore and ruck duo Max Lynch and Max Ramsden.
Hawthorn will face Geelong in a match sim at GMHBA Stadium on February 23, before heading to Launceston for the first time in 2023 to host Collingwood on March 2.
