Will Day. Changkuoth Jiath. Blake Hardwick. Jarman Impey. Jack Scrimshaw. Denver Grainger-Barras. James Sicily. Sam Frost. Damon Greaves. 

A youthful defensive division which is proving itself by the week.

Each piece of this exciting puzzle has his own story - past, present and future. 

Take your pick of those names.

Let's start with the number 15, Blake Hardwick. 

With the departures of some accomplished defenders over the off-season, Blake Hardwick has clearly accepted his place as a leader of the line now, despite being just 24 years of age.

Hardwick is averaging career-high numbers all over the place with 23.3 possessions, eight marks and six rebound 50s per game.

There's a deep breath amongst Hawthorn fans when the ball sits in the hands of Hardwick - his 82 per cent disposal efficiency probably suggests why. 

A nod to the little wins so far in 2021

Who next? How about Jars?!

Jarman Impey is quickly accelerating back to the form that saw him leading the 2019 best and fairest count prior to his tragic knee injury against the Cats in Round 18. 

Providing dazzling dash and drive off the half-back line, Jars' 22 disposals, 6.7 marks and 4.7 rebound 50s per outing are also career-best rates.

Still just 25 years old, he is a key factor that makes us pretty excited about the defensive department being built.

What about the man who's fast-becoming a favourite amongst the Hawks faithful?

Changkuoth Jiath entered this season with question marks over where he sat in the grand scheme of things, with just seven senior games to his name after three seasons on the list. 

But, charged by a stand-out pre-season campaign, Jiath has been superb in the opening three weeks of the year, earning coaches' votes in each outing.

Averaging 23.3 touches, he is emblematic of the Hawks campaign to date - youthful but unintimidated and determined to give it a crack. 

02:03

Three of those aforementioned eight names in Sicily, Day and Grainger-Barras disappointingly find themselves on the sidelines currently.

Sis and Daysy's abilities are well-known to the Hawks fans - they are clear pillars of the Hawks future foundations - while the fanbase has been forced to remain patient ahead of seeing the club's number six pick in the 2020 draft take the field.

If you subscribe to the idea that a team is built from its defence, then there should be a real sense of optimism about where this list is going based off these youngsters' progression.