Hawthorn has bolstered its current list, while adding to its draft hand this year and beyond following the conclusion of the 2026 trade and free agency period.

Check out everything you need to know below. 

Who arrived: Ben King, Zach Merrett, Josh Goater, Ollie Purcell (Category B Rookie) 
Who left: Sam Butler, Finn Maginness, Aidan Schubert, Bodie Ryan
2026 Telstra AFL Draft picks: Pick 29, Pick 37, Pick 71, Pick 94, Pick 107, Pick 112 
2027 Telstra AFL Draft picks: Round 1 Pick, Round 2 Pick, Round 2 Pick (tied to Gold Coast), Round 4 Pick 
2028 Telstra AFL Draft picks: Round 1 Pick (tied to Gold Coast), Round 2 Pick (tied to Gold Coast), Round 4 Pick

Hawthorn National Recruiting & List Manager Mark McKenzie said:

On the club's priorities 

"We had two main priorities. Number one was to bring in some high-end talent, obviously targeted through Zach Merrett and Ben King. And the second priority was to protect our future draft hand as best as possible throughout the process."

On Zach Merrett 

"It was a very respectful process. Speaking to Matt Rosa from Essendon Football Club, everyone was very open in their dialogue, and discussions just kept moving forward, which was great for both clubs. So, to be able to get that done obviously on the first official day of trade period was, I think, important for both clubs to be able to go forward as long as everyone was happy with the deal, move forward and start moving on to what they potentially wanted to do next year in the period. It's great to have Zach into the footy club."

On Ben King 

"Ben's one of the premier key forwards in the AFL. He's kicked 60-plus goals over the last three years, and he's just one that's always going to challenge his opponents with that size and speed and ability to kick goals, he's a beautiful kick on goal. That ability to challenge your opponents is going to be important for us and the mix of our forward line. So, for someone who's proven to be a damaging player up forward, it's important for us to get in the footy club, and also just provide other options in mixing and matching what our forward line might look at times. It was important to get someone of that calibre into the football club, so we're excited about Ben.

On Josh Goater

"So we liked Josh through his draft process a number of years ago now, and he really comes into the football club as a defender. We think he can provide a bit of rebound, but also lock down on some opponents. He can intercept mark and can use the footy well. Mark Finnigan, who's part of our recruiting department, he was actually part of drafting him at the Kangaroos. So, we knew obviously a little bit more about his character. Unfortunately, he's been hampered through injury over a number of years, and we think he can come over to the football club and add to what we have in that defence."

On Ollie Purcell

"It's always exciting going through the process of Cat Bs, because they are a bit different than the rules associated with the draft and trade period. Ollie was a professional water polo player. He represented Australia, but also played a lot of junior football. So, most recently, he was at St Kevin's College playing football there. He comes to us as a 195cm back, so we see him as a number two, number three back. He's had a very great professional career. He'll put everything into his development. There were some other clubs talking to him as well. For us to be able to provide a bit of the outlook about what the future may hold for someone like him as a Category B player was important, and thankfully he chose us."

On the club's future draft hand 

"I think it's important every time we look at the draft, we look at our flexibility. Whether that's where we want to be positioned in each draft, some teams may have father-sons, might have NGA-eligible players as well in the future. We always just want to maintain that flexibility to be able to make decisions, and that's what we've been able to do. To be able to keep our presence in the first round and then enhance our second rounds over the next two years was a great result for us. Just to be able to provide that flexibility, especially with Tasmania coming in and the impact that that will have on the next two drafts, to be able to maintain some strong, healthy presence in the first and second rounds over the next two years was great for us."

Watch Mark McKenzie's full trade wrap below