Hawthorn currently has one of the best draft hands of any club heading into this year's draft with three selections inside the top 25.
The Hawks hold Picks 5, 21 and 24, with Fremantle the only other club to currently have a better hand ahead of the 2021 NAB AFL Draft next month.
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Speaking on SEN on Monday, Hawks Head of Football Rob McCartney highlighted the importance of utilising the draft to help forge a pathway for future success.
“You look at the sides that played off in the Grand Final – the Bulldogs had Smith, Naughton, Bontempelli and Macrae all inside 10 (within the draft),” McCartney said.
“Melbourne had Oliver, Jackson, Petracca, Brayshaw and Salem all inside 10. Our only pick at this point of time on our list is Denver Grainger-Barras in that period.”
McCartney said the club was looking to approach the 2021 draft similarly to how it did during its premiership years of 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
“Get as high as you can and get as many picks as you can inside that early phase,” he said.
“And then try to keep them at your club, develop them, and create them into players that can take you into September and not just in one season, but in multiple seasons.”
The first round of this year's draft will take place on November 24, before the remainder of draft occurs the following night.
Despite Hawthorn’s already strong position, McCartney said the club would be open-minded and curious about bolstering its draft hand right up until draft night.
“We’ve got a pretty good hand already in terms of having three picks inside 25,” McCartney said.
“Are we open and curious still about whether we can improve that? Yes, but it doesn’t always involve that it has to be about a player.
“It could be that Pick 5 turns into a couple of picks inside 15 – who knows? There are plenty of ways, means and mechanisms to explore.
“I think that’s what our members and supporters would expect of our football club is to continuously to look at ways and means to improve that draft hand so we can do what Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs have done over this year.”
