CEO Justin Reeves has penned the following letter to members...

Dear members,

As is the way in football, a lot can happen in a week.

This time last week we were celebrating our win over the Tigers discussing a possible return to crowds in the coming weeks.

Since then a lot has happened in the world of football.

It certainly has been an eventful week and one that perhaps many of us would like to have wished was a dream. The passing of the God Father of our club, John Kennedy Senior, has certainly saddened all involved with Hawthorn. However, we are grateful that this Sunday’s game against North Melbourne provides a fitting opportunity to celebrate the life of John Kennedy Snr. Given John’s contribution to Hawthorn and North Melbourne we could not have asked for a better match up to pay homage to an icon of our game and both clubs.

There will be a minute’s silence in honour of John prior to the game and we are also asking all our members and fans to put their scarves out on Sunday as a way of paying respects to Kanga.

Whether it’s hanging them on your front door, your front fence or draping them over your letter box, let’s come together to paint the streets in brown and gold for a Legend of both our club, and the game.

John and the Kennedy family are so tightly woven into the fabric of the Hawthorn Football Club and we are so blessed to have had such a humble, courageous, and inspiring leader. So much of what makes Hawthorn a great club today, is due to the foundations laid by John. His legacy will always live on at Hawthorn and our club will throw its arms around John’s children Maureen, John Jnr, Bernard, Patrick, and their extended family and friends during this time.

This time last week, I was writing to you all about the potential of hopefully soon welcoming some level of crowds back to the footy. While crowds in Victoria may not be possible at the current time, we will continue to give you front row seats and incredible access to the inner sanctum. On Sunday members will be treated to an exclusive pre-game address from Director of Coaching Brendon Bolton. Please make sure you are logged into our app to get timely access to not only Bolt’s address but other exclusive content. We are also live training tomorrow’s final training session before our clash with North and this week we also gave a group of members the opportunity to take part in a Zoom press conference with Luke Breust. This was a fantastic initiative and one which we will look to provide more opportunity for members to take part in over the coming weeks.

In exciting news, we will have the opportunity to offer a small number of our NSW/ACT members the opportunity to be at Giants Stadium when we take on GWS in Round 5. The NSW State Government recently confirmed small capacity limits for sporting stadiums, however they are yet to confirm exact capacities. Given it is a GWS home game, the Giants will have control over the number of tickets allocated to us. Rest assured that we will be working closely with the Giants to ensure we can have as many Hawks members as possible in the stands. Unfortunately, we do still anticipate the demand for these tickets will outweigh supply. I wish we were in a position to offer more of our members this opportunity, including our members outside of NSW/ACT, however as you’re aware, we really are bound by the current restrictions and must ensure we put the health of our community first.  Members who are eligible to attend the match will be sent a link to register for a ballot, so please keep your eyes on your inbox.

With a lot of uncertainty still surrounding many aspects of the 2020 season, it was fantastic to have the next two rounds of our 2020 season locked in over the past few days. Our Round 6 clash will be against the Suns on a Saturday night, under lights at the MCG. Five days later we will head to Marvel to take on the Bombers in Round 7. It is great to have another two matches at home in Victoria and given the form of Gold Coast and Essendon, both look set to be cracking games of footy.

Beyond Rounds 6 and 7, we aren’t certain what our fixture will look like. But as has been our mantra all along, we are embracing everything that 2020 throws our way and will come ready to perform, whenever or wherever.

Thank you once again for your ongoing loyalty and support. Fingers crossed we can carry on our form from last week into Sunday’s clash with North. Don’t forget to put your scarves out for Kanga.

Go Hawks!

Reevesy