Hawks’ ‘dangerous game’ blew up in the face of Allen. It should put AFL rivals on red alert

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell might just be the boldest man in footy.

Not only are the Hawks playing with dash and dare that makes for appointment viewing each and every week, but Mitchell’s desire and willingness to go above and beyond in the recruiting space has been eye-catching to say the least.

A meeting with West Coast Eagles co-captain Oscar Allen recently has captured the attention of the AFL world.

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Mitchell’s recruiting efforts are symbolic of the themes running through the Hawthorn Football Club right now.

These young Hawks don’t care what people think. They play to their strengths, play as a team and have plenty of fun doing so, even if it sometimes rubs opposition fans the wrong way.

The turnaround since their 0-5 start last year has been quite utterly remarkable, but it didn’t just happen overnight.

Foxfooty.com.au takes a look at the Sam Mitchell revolution, particularly in the recruiting space, that has the Hawks humming once more.

THE ALLEN MEETING

Last year, Mitchell and his wife, Lyndall, were credited as key contributors in luring former Saint Josh Battle to the brown and gold.

While Battle had been weighing up his free agency decision for some time, Mitchell’s meeting proved one of many decisive factors in swinging the ex-Saints decision.

Operation Battle was a tick. Operation Barrass was also a tick. Now it’s Operation Allen.

After news broke that Mitchell had met with West Coast co-captain Oscar Allen in Perth, the AFL world went into meltdown.

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“He’s had to endure one of footy’s great pile ons this week, all for basically getting a sub-standard offer from West Coast and thinking he might just explore his options,” Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph began on Fox Footy’s post-match coverage on Thursday night.

“He had to throw himself at the mercy of the assembled media pack.”

The press conference, featuring Allen and West Coast Head of Football John Worsfold, was awkward to say the least.

It felt like Allen was being put on trial, having to discuss the meeting as though he’d committed a serious crime.

“I just want to offer my sincere apologies over the embarrassment of what happened over the last few days and weeks,” he said.

“Clearly the public nature and timing of what’s come out isn’t in the best interest of myself and the football club.

“I feel mostly remorseful towards our fans, players, support staff – I can’t imagine how you guys are feeling.

“I’m going to continue my role as co-captain alongside Liam Duggan this season. In conversations with people at the footy club, everyone feels like it’s the right thing to do.

“I’m still really confident I’m the right man – alongside ‘Duggo’ – to take this club forward in achieving some real progress and success this year.”

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It was awkward, it was weird, and it was uncomfortable.

“I just think that was a little bit ridiculous, it was a little bit over the top, he hasn’t hurt anyone, he hasn’t done anything too wrong,” Fox Footy host Sarah Jones said.

“Yes, it was maybe a very bad look for the captain of the football club, but to wheel him out so publicly and admit that, oh goodness, I don’t know how they get back from here.”

A “heartbroken” Allen has been chasing a six or seven-year deal, according to Ralph.

That deal is yet to come… but why? Allen is a co-captain of the footy club who was once one of the most promising young forwards going around. The co-captain of a club which has been battling in the doldrums of the AFL ladder for several years, who lost Barrass and veteran Jack Darling last year and are reportedly grappling with trying to retain star youngster Harley Reid.

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“Do you think in their heart of hearts, West Coast actually want to keep him even though he’s their co-captain? Given that compensation pick could be pick 3 or 4 or 5,” Ralph asked Fox Footy’s expert panel.

“No, I don’t think so. I think if they were being honest, they would say no, otherwise they’d have a sizeable offer in front of him right now,” North Melbourne champion David King said.

“I don’t understand why they wheeled him out in the first place, I really think his manager let him down more than anyone else. How can you allow all of this to happen if you’re there to protect the player?”

Ralph replied: “All I can say is potentially so many more of these meetings must have taken place – Andrew McDougal is one of the great managers over in Perth – he would never have wanted this to come out, all I can imagine is that it happens all the time and sometimes people are just really unlucky to get caught, it didn’t help that Sam Mitchell flew into town in the wild, wild west.”

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ARE THE HAWKS BEING ‘TOO BOLD’?

It begs the question, are Mitchell and the Hawks being too bold in their quest to lure players to Waverley Park from rival clubs?

“Is anyone at Hawthorn saying right now, ‘you’re playing a bit of a dangerous game, this could backfire trying to poach all of the star players’, or would he just not give a tinker’s cuss because it’s Sam Mitchell and he’s filled with wells of self-confidence,” Ralph posed.

But it seems as though Mitchell isn’t actually a lone soldier in this.

“I don’t think it’s a Sam Mitchell thing, we heard Adam Simpson on AFL 360 last night say that he spoke to a club captain in his time, he said it’s happening all the time. He was on with John Longmire and said, ‘I spoke to some of Horse’s players and he’s probably spoken to some of mine’,” Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall added.

“This goes on, it happens, it just blew up this time because it happened to be a club captain, and it got out.”

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There is an argument that Mitchell perhaps could have gone about things a little bit more discreetly. That perhaps part of his pitch to Allen could have been done via a text message or a video call.

“The pitch to him didn’t need to be made in a public space,” Ralph said.

St Kilda champion Leigh Montagna added: “There are probably other times you could do it – West Coast will come to Melbourne at some stage, even Gather Round they could cross paths. There are ways you could do it that would be a bit less obvious than flying into Perth, which is probably what’s made it so public.”

But that’s not Mitchell’s MO. He goes above and beyond to sell his vision to both his own players and those he’s trying to poach. The emerging coach leaves no stone unturned in his quest to deliver Hawthorn a first piece of silverware since 2015.

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WHY ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ PRESSER ‘PLAYS INTO HAWTHORN’S HANDS

Allen still hasn’t made a decision on his footballing future.

Will he opt to stick fat with the Eagles, who gave him his chance, or will he jump ship to Hawthorn to chase success? And how does Thursday’s press conference, where the Eagles “wheeled him out” in front of the media, change things, if at all?

“I think he would feel so embarrassed and so mortified that I would think it’s almost playing into Hawthorn’s hands,” Ralph said.

“I understand it was probably Sam Mitchell’s fault, but he’d be thinking ‘I’ve been embarrassed on a grand scale, I’ll go to Hawthorn and get away from all this kind of stuff. I’ve seen my good mate in Tom Barrass, I met Sam Mitchell at his wedding, I’ve seen how well he is playing’.

“Let’s face it, they’re going to have a three- or four-win season, I think he’d be thinking, ‘I want to get out of dodge’, I could absolutely understand that.”

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THE LIST BUILD – HAWKS YOUTH IS SHINING

AFL lists don’t get built overnight, they take years and years of careful planning to come to fruition.

Hawthorn are now starting to reap the rewards of some superb recruiting business behind the scenes. If we break it down simply, there’s two elements to building a list.

First and foremost, you have to nail the draft and bring in talented youth through the door.

Hawthorn’s golden era in the 2010s saw some unbelievable success, but their dominance came at a cost.

Ex-coach Alastair Clarkson saw holes in his list and targeted players to fill those voids. Brian Lake was lured over from the Western Bulldogs, ex-Roos David Hale and Josh Gibson were recruited, while Shaun Burgoyne, Jack Gunston, Ben McEvoy and James Frawley also experienced premiership success in the brown and gold.

To acquire all of those players, the Hawks had to be brave, coughing up plenty of top-end draft picks.

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When young gun Will Day walked through the doors at Waverley after being selected with pick 13 in 2019, it was the highest selection Hawthorn had used in the national draft since poaching Cyril Rioli with pick 12 all the way back in 2007.

But the Hawks’ recruiting team have been in fine form since then.

Midfielder Cam Mackenzie (pick 7, 2022) has taken his game to another level this campaign, while on-baller Josh Ward (pick 7, 2021) has also taken his opportunities with both hands.

Nick Watson (pick 5, 2023) is already lighting up the competition in just his second season on the big stage and Connor Macdonald (pick 26, 2021) has become one of the game’s most effective half-forwards.

The Hawks targeted Josh Weddle (pick 18, 2022) and he looks to be a very special player having already shown an ability to play in quite literally any position on the ground, while father-son Calsher Dear (pick 56, 2023) had a strong first season in the brown and gold as a later selection.

The only real ‘miss’ at the top end of the draft has been defender Denver Grainger-Barras, who was delisted and is currently plying his trade in Carlton’s VFL side.

Then there’s the bargain pickups, think Jai Newcombe, James Worpel, Dylan Moore, Blake Hardwick, Conor Nash, Mitch Lewis, Harry Morrison and Changkuoth Jiath.

Of those eight players, none were selected in the top 40 of the national draft. Talk about finding a diamond in the rough.

THE LIST BUILD – TRADE TRACK RECORD

While Hawthorn’s development of their young guns has been sound, it’s at the trade table where they’ve really shone.

The Hawks were a destination club back in the golden era, as players from around the competition flocked to play under Alastair Clarkson in their bid to earn a premiership medallion.

Now, thanks in part to the Sam Mitchell revolution, the Hawks are a destination club once more.

Since Mitchell took over as coach at the end of 2021, the Hawks have added seven players from rival clubs who are entrenched in their best 23.

Ex-Saint Josh Battle and former Eagle Tom Barrass were the star acquisitions in last year’s trade period and have slotted into the defence seamlessly.

Mitchell identified a quartet of players the year before, who have also become important members of the Hawthorn side.

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Fan favourite Jack Gunston returned after a year at the Lions, but it was the bargain pickups that Mitchell and the recruiting team should be most pleased with.

Massimo D’Ambrosio was in contention to be an All-Australian last year and cost them virtually nothing, while Mabior Chol has been crucial in the absence of Lewis and Dear this season and has booted 43 goals in just 27 games for the Hawks.

Ex-Pie Jack Ginnivan has also been a revelation, forming part of an exciting fleet of small forwards which are the envy of the competition.

In 2022, the Hawks pulled off a double coup by adding Karl Amon and Lloyd Meek to their ranks. Amon was a free agent but believed in what the Hawks envisaged, while Meek had been starved of opportunity and was sent to Waverley Park as a part of the Jaeger O’Meara deal.

Since then, he’s usurped Ned Reeves as the number one ruck at the Hawks and has developed into one of the competition’s premier big men.

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Jack Scrimshaw, Jarman Impey and Sam Frost all arrived at Waverley during the Clarkson era as well and have been loyal brown and gold servants.

But what does this all mean? It highlights a tactical approach from Mitchell to target players of need, precisely and effectively.

After missing out on Ben McKay and Esava Ratugolea in 2023, they picked up Battle and Barrass the next year. Talk about a sliding doors moment, but the Hawks had clearly identified a need for some key defensive reinforcements.

Mitchell wanted some class on the outside who could pick apart defensive systems with ease. Enter D’Ambrosio and Amon.

Need some extra firepower in front of goal? Welcome Ginnivan and Chol. A big man for a bit of force around the ground? Meek’s the guy.

Combined with the development of some talented youth, Mitchell’s recruiting raid has been precise, tactical and outstanding.

So, what’s the master coach got in store next?

Outside of Allen, the Hawks have also been linked to Port Adelaide superstar Zak Butters and Eagles young gun Harley Reid but there’s still plenty to play out in all three situations.

But why wouldn’t you want to play in the brown and gold right now?

Yet again, the Hawks are a competition powerhouse and after an undefeated start to 2025, one that’ll take some beating come September.

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