Let’s be honest, when you look at a club like Hawthorn and their quest to rebuild for future premiership success, it’s easy to get caught up in the grand, historical narratives. We talk about culture, drafting, and long-term strategy. But sometimes, the most instructive lessons come from looking at rebuilds in other leagues, in different contexts. I’ve been following basketball closely for years, and the recent trajectory of a team like the Blackwater Bossing in the PBA offers a fascinating, if unexpected, parallel. It’s a case study in how the right moves can make a team look “ripe for a playoff run,” as the analysts say, and what it truly takes to transition from preseason promise to legitimate contention. For Hawthorn, a club with a proud history but currently in the thick of its own regeneration, understanding this transition is everything.
The Hawks have made their moves, much like Blackwater did over the past few seasons. They’ve brought in young talent through the draft, made some shrewd trades, and invested in development. The potential is there. You can see it in glimpses—a breakout game from a new midfielder, a solid defensive structure starting to form. It reminds me of how Blackwater assembled that intriguing quartet of Sedrick Barefield, Christian David, RK Ilagan, and Dalph Panopio. On paper, it’s exciting. It’s a new core. For Hawthorn, think of the combination of their last few top draft picks starting to gel with a key veteran acquisition or two. The pieces begin to fit, and hope builds. That’s the first, crucial phase of any rebuild: creating a foundation that makes people sit up and say, “Okay, there’s something here.” The Bossing showed this in their preseason; they had a good run at the Kadayawan pocket tournament title and notched victories in tune-up games. Preseason form is vital—it’s where chemistry is built and systems are tested. Hawthorn’s strong performances in the 2023 practice matches against established sides served a similar purpose. It proves the plan isn’t just theoretical.
But here’s the hard truth, and it’s where many rebuilds stall: the preseason ends. As the commentary on Blackwater rightly pointed out, “this is the actual season now, and they will need to prove that they are for real in the games that matter.” That sentence hits home for any sporting fan. For Hawthorn Football Club, the 2024 season and beyond is that “actual season.” The training wheels are off. It’s no longer about looking promising in a dead-rubber game or a practice match at Waverley. It’s about delivering in the crucible of a Friday night at the MCG against a top-four contender, or in a must-win clash to secure a finals berth. This is the monumental challenge facing coach Sam Mitchell and his young squad. Building a list is one thing; forging a team that consistently wins the games that matter is another entirely. The mental leap is enormous. You can have all the talent in the world—like that Blackwater quartet—but if it doesn’t translate to consistent, hard-nosed, winning football when the spotlight is brightest, the rebuild remains incomplete.
So, how does Hawthorn bridge this gap? From my perspective, it’s about accelerating the maturity of that core group. It’s about targeted experience. For me, this might mean being slightly more aggressive in the trade period than some purists would like. It’s not about selling the farm, but about identifying one or two players aged 24-27 who have been through finals battles, who know what it takes to win “in the games that matter,” and bringing them in to add steel to the young core. It’s about leadership density. On-field, it’s about system discipline. The game plan can’t just work against lower-ranked teams; it must hold up under finals-level pressure and scrutiny. I’d argue we saw signs of it cracking under that pressure at times last season, which is completely normal for a young group. The key is the rate of improvement. They need to cut down those costly lapses from, say, four per game to two, and then to one. That’s how you start turning narrow losses into grinding wins.
Ultimately, the path for Hawthorn Football Club to rebuild for future premiership success is a dual-track journey. One track is the continued accumulation and development of elite young talent, which they are doing. The other, more nuanced track is the cultivation of a “big-game” mentality. They must learn to not just compete, but to conquer in high-stakes scenarios. It’s what separates a team that is “ripe for a run” from a team that actually makes the run. Looking at parallels like Blackwater’s journey is a useful reminder that preseason optimism is a currency that devalues quickly once the real stuff begins. The Hawks have done the hard yards in establishing their foundation. The next phase, the hardest phase, is about transforming potential into proof, promise into points, and hope into a hardened, sustainable model for premiership success. I believe they’re on the right track, but the 2024 season will tell us a huge amount about how far they’ve truly come and how fast they can accelerate toward that ultimate goal.
