Hawthorn are a team on the rise. They should improve further with time, and be an even bigger threat in the years to come – but they may never get as good an opportunity to win the flag.
These brash, young Hawks are as good as any team in the race this season, and they know it. Rarely will a club enter September in such white-hot form and with their list in such strong health as Hawthorn. Of those who have played regularly, Will Day is the only member of their best 23 unavailable for the Hawks’ first final in six years.
Hawks players celebrate with a selfie after their thumping win over the Roos.Credit: AFL Photos
Coach Sam Mitchell, in his third season at the helm, is not a man who gazes too far into the horizon, but even he is not pulling the handbrake.
“The great challenge for us now is what’s the ceiling,” Mitchell said after the Hawks’ 124-point trouncing of North Melbourne on Saturday.
“We’ve never put one on. We’ve always said while we’ve been building towards these moments that there’s no speed limit on how quickly we want to achieve the things we wanted to achieve.
“Hawthorn is a club........