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Running It Straight: 6pm TuesdaysNot panic, just concern: Hawthorn's worry ahead of Opening Round
Jaiden Sciberras • March 2nd, 2026 6:16 pm
How much of a concern is Hawthorn’s unstable forward mix?
The Hawks’ pre-season clash with the Bulldogs wasn’t quite the result they would have hoped, losing by 44 points in a rather average hit out at Whitten Oval.
Beyond the notable midfield issues, one of the central concerns within the loss was Hawthorn's forward half, particularly their entries inside 50 and their ability to turn entries into scores.
Last season, the Hawks introduced a four-tall forward line, made up of Calsher Dear, Mabior Chol, Mitch Lewis and Jack Gunston. With Dear left out of the lineup against the Dogs, Gunston (65 per cent game time), Lewis (76 per cent) and Chol (77 per cent) were all present within the loss.
With the addition Aidan Schubert’s second half appearance, the four talls combined for just four goals, three of which came from the boot of Gunston.
While it may just be a pre-season hit out, West Coast Eagles’ Premiership coach Adam Simpson said that it is a slight concern just days out from Opening Round.
“Hawthorn is my worry,” Simpson told SEN Whateley.
“It’s not the midfield that has been spoken about; it’s more the front half. They were probably the worst forward line for the weekend. They went at 34 per cent scoring efficiency – sometimes that’s the delivery and sometimes that’s execution.
“You don’t want to be scratching your head going into Round 0. ‘Do we need to change personnel, connection, we could train this…’ but the time has run out.
“You’d be a little bit concerned if you were a Hawthorn supporter, but we’ve over-indexed some of those things in the past as well.”
Kane Cornes couldn’t help but concur, stating his concern with their tall forward mix.
“They’ve got some selection issues, Hawthorn,” Cornes added on SEN Fireball.
“Clearly their tall forwards are central to that. Dear looked as though he was going to take the competition by storm last year, and he probably still will. He’s young, but for him not to be playing in a pre-season game is an issue.
“My boy Mabior, his best is unbelievable, and then at some stages you don’t see him, and probably the same with Mitch Lewis as well.
“Gunston – he is the main target again, and you probably can’t rely on him to do that forever. They’ve got great small forwards, but they have got some selection headaches.
“(They are) not panicking, but things aren’t in the perfect position that we would have liked to have drawn in up at the end of season last year.
“They aren’t hitting the ground running ahead of Round 0.”
Hawthorn opens their season against the GWS Giants at Engie Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
