The loud and brash Hawks have been silenced, finally.
And it’s all part of their plan to get better in 2025.
Sam Mitchell has given his team the silent treatment, introducing silent training sessions, so his players can get used to playing in front of big crowds when it’s too noisy for them to communicate verbally.
James Sicily was anything but silent when defending Jack Ginnivan after a taunt from Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley last season.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
Their skipper James Sicily says he is becoming used to performing without direction.
“We do some ball movement drills where you are not allowed to talk, just to make sure we know where each other is out there. Sometimes, you can’t hear each other when you are playing in front of 80,000 people, so it’s just making sure we know where each other are without talking to each other,” Sicily said.
“That’s what a system and a process is. Once you do something, so many amounts of times, you just go on autopilot.”
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell sometimes makes his players train in silence.Credit: Getty Images
Of course, the Hawks didn’t become a box-office attraction in 2024 by impersonating renowned mime artist Marcel Marceau.
So you can expect the same in-the-face attitude from provocative small forwards Nick Watson, Jack Ginnivan and Connor Macdonald, but the theory is their instincts will take over when they can’t hear themselves think. That trio will dance like it’s a silent disco.
Mitchell’s innovative shows the detail being attended to as expectations at Hawthorn rise, and they attempt to recapture the form that took them to a narrow semi-final loss in 2024 despite losing the first five games.
They’re no longer dreaming of playing in front of big crowds, now they’re preparing to play in finals-like cauldrons.
Apart from natural growth, their team looks stronger on paper after they recruited defenders Tom Barrass and Josh Battle. Those acquisitions will pave the way for All-Australian defender Sicily to play forward more often as he has at various times in his career.
However, such a move is not guaranteed. Sicily says the recruits merely create the option of him playing forward.
“I will play forward on occasions, depending on where we’re at, during a quarter, or for a half, or for a quarter or even maybe go into a game playing forward. But I think the majority of my game will be down back,” Sicily said.
“If I’m not getting a kick then it’s awesome to have some flexibility within the team to try some different things.”
Mitchell and skipper James Sicily embrace after the Hawks’ elimination final win.Credit: AFL Photos
There is little doubt Sicily will get a kick. The bigger question is whether the Hawks have a key position forward good enough to make an impact now that both Mitch Lewis and Calsher Dear are not expected to play until the season is half done.
Sicily says Mabior Chol has done the work over pre-season to take responsibility, while young ruck forward Max Ramsden has also leapt into calculations.
“[Chol] really went to work on his upper-body strength and being able to be a better contest player for us this year. He did a great job last year, working in tandem with Calsher [Dear]. But he’s ready to do that and shoulder that contest load by himself,” Sicily said.
“He’ll also have a chop out potentially. Max Ramsden’s doing really well as a tall.”
Now we know that the noise surrounding Hawthorn is real. But opponents need to know when the Hawks go quiet, that’s the time to worry.
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