There’s fears Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has committed “professional suicide” just one year into the job amid an exodus of experience from their list.
The Hawks traded Jack Gunston, Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara, and delisted Kyle Hartigan, Tom Phillips and Daniel Howe, while Ben McEvoy and Liam Shiels retired – losing almost 1,400 combined games of AFL experience.
The club now has just one player on their list for 2023 aged 30 and over – Luke Breust, and just six players over the age of 25, thanks to addition of 27-year-old recruit Karl Amon.
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Two-time premiership winner David King said he held “fears” for Mitchell’s job given rebuild coaches don’t survive in the AFL.
“I know Sam has made some comments about not wanting to limp into finals and wanting to get this great club back to the top where it needs to be,” King said on SEN.
“I fear that Sam Mitchell, another rebuild coach, has committed professional suicide in terms of what they’ve done with the experienced purge of players from their list over the last couple of weeks.
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“We’ve seen rebuild coaches fail. I’ve talked about David Noble … but there’s 100 names I could mention. (Justin) Leppitsch, (Brendan) McCartney, (Brendon) Bolton, (David) Teague, Scotty Watters, Alan Richardson – you can go through a heap of rebuild-type coaches that have had more experienced lists than what Sam is going to have for the next two to three years.
“I’ll give you the facts. Mark Neeld was 1-10 on the back of 4-18; gone. Ben Rutten – 6 and 15; gone. Second year is the one that gets you. McCartney went five wins, eight wins, seven wins; gone,” he said.
“Leppitsch – seven wins, four wins, three wins; gone. Teague – six, seven, eight; gone. Brendan Bolton – six, seven, two and then was 1-10; gone.
“Guy McKenna was in a different situation, Scotty Watters – 12 wins and then 5-17; gone.
“As soon as we see the fall or the slide and you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, that’s when the challenge comes. And I just fear that Sam has challenged the system and we’ve seen this is not the answer from the Kangaroos situation.”
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King lamented the fact Hawthorn would roll out a “drastically inexperienced” team week on week in 2023, with just picks 6, 24, 41, 48, 50, 52 and 65 in the upcoming Draft.
“When is finals seriously on the agenda when you’re cutting back so far and losing all experience? I just can’t believe he’s done this at the end of his first year of coaching,” King said.
“I don’t want this to be an issue for him in 18 months time.”
Co-host Kane Cornes admitted he was “confused” by the strategy of Mitchell and the Hawthorn Football Club in regards to their list.
“The upside/downside to keeping (experienced players) on the list vs getting a second-round pick – who cares about a second-round pick for O’Meara? This club needs top three picks and three years in a row of top three picks which they don’t have,” he said.
“They need to have a 10-year plan for Sam Mitchell because I don’t think you’d be making these calls if you’re just on a three-year contract.
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“(The club) made a big call to get him – (Mitchell) doesn’t make calls like this unless he’s very confident in his ability to coach and the support he’s got from the footy club.
“These rebuilding coaches historically just don’t survive … Young teams don’t win.”
Hawthorn started the 2022 season with great promise in Mitchell’s first three games and still sat inside the top eight by Round 5.
They finished with eight wins but since the end of season, the club has been plunged into controversy amid the damning historic racism allegations that surfaced last month.
