The decision to jettison the pair – the cornerstones of a failed Hawthorn attempt to defy the draft’s natural gravity from 2016 – was contentious enough to prompt accusations that the Hawks were tanking for draft picks this year.
Will Day celebrates the Hawks’ win over the Lions.Getty Images
The Hawks agreed to pay more than $250,000 of Mitchell’s wage at Collingwood,and close to $500,000 of O’Meara’s contract at Fremantle. Having lost Jack Gunston to the Brisbane Lions for next to nothing,and either retired or delisted experienced hands in Liam Shiels,Ben McEvoy,Kyle Hartigan,Daniel Howe and Tom Phillips,they became easily the youngest team in the competition.
Huge losses to Essendon,Sydney and Geelong in the first four rounds brought further questioning of the club’s list strategy,which invited comparisons with the strip-it-back approaches of Carlton of 2014-18 and St Kilda of 2012-14 – neither of which proved successful.
Hawthorn great Jordan Lewis,while backing the contentious list strategy,observed in late February that senior coaches in his friend Sam Mitchell’s position – the rebuilding coach – usually didn’t survive.
“That’s why I really admire what Sam’s doing,” Lewis said. “And he might not see the rewards at the other end,but what he won’t be accused of is playing it safe,getting enough wins to hang around eighth to tenth and his job might be safe.”
The Hawthorn coach,however,had seen the list analysis data and felt the Hawks had little choice but to double down on youth and remake a midfield that had been led by Mitchell,the 2018 Brownlow medallist,and O’Meara.
There was only one genuine suitor for Mitchell – Collingwood,which had been poor in clearances during their insurgent rise under Craig McRae in 2022. McRae was the Collingwood leader most keen on recruiting Mitchell to shovel the Sherrin to Jordan De Goey,Scott Pendlebury,Jack Crisp,Steele Sidebottom and the Daicos brothers.
Crucially,whereas Mitchell and O’Meara were the foremost mids at Hawthorn,they would only be support actors,rather than leading men,in the experienced ensembles at their new clubs.
It was far easier for Collingwood to ask Mitchell to take on a reduced,albeit still important,role than Hawthorn. The Hawks had tried Tom forward,which he did not relish. He is an inside midfielder only.
The Mitchell deal looks a win-win-win for the clubs and player.
O’Meara was valued as a leader in a young team,but he stood in the path of the next crop if he continued to take centre bounces and minutes from Will Day,Cam MacKenzie,Conor Nash,Josh Ward,James Worpel and Connor Macdonald (half-forward/wing). He was a strong chance to go home to Perth after his 2023 contract finished,too.
That said,there was a risk that Hawthorn would be rendered nigh uncompetitive in the midfield this year.
Sam Mitchell punted on the talented Day making the transition from half-back to a serious midfielder. Day had struggled when trialled as mid last year.
Mitchell’s plan,according to club insiders,was as follows:Train Day as a midfielder over pre-season,give him a decent go in that role. If it doesn’t work,he can return to defence.
Day,as we’ve discovered,is an emerging top-liner,capable of rivalling James Sicily as Hawthorn’s premier player.
Irishman Nash has taken time,but has added a novel dimension to the on-ball unit due to his size (198 centimetres) and running power. Newcombe has backed up his impressive 2022 with an even stronger season,while Worpel has been given more minutes in the middle and performed better.
An important part of Hawthorn’s new generation:Jai Newcombe.Getty Images
Ward’s progress has been hampered by a foot injury,the 2021 first rounder returning via the VFL.
If the draft returns for the Mitchell and O’Meara trades were moderate,the Hawks note that they did land promising Josh Weddle at pick No.18,as a result of giving up the pick gained in the Mitchell-Collingwood deal (27,via the Brodie Grundy trade) and doing a two-for-one pick swap with the Swans. The athletic Weddle was the specific target of the pick swap.
Paying that large portion of O’Meara’s wage was the price extracted by the Dockers for giving up ruckman Lloyd Meek to the Hawks and handing over a second round selection.
It is too early to declare Hawthorn’s aggressive list management successful,that the controlled burn will see a full regrowth to premiership contention while Sam Mitchell occupies the iron throne. Their game style is still an unfinished work – they used mark and kicks in early games (v North notably) and lately have been handball happy;defensive measures are more evident than in the first seven or eight games.
But what can be safely asserted is that,in a year that has seen Hawthorn utterly embarrassed by the AFL’s messy investigation into alleged mistreatment of First Nations players,reports of the club’s on-field demise have been exaggerated. On-field recovery is on track.
And they can forget about Harley Reid.