Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has banished discussion of a premiership "three-peat", as the Hawks prepare to begin their campaign against arch-rival Geelong on Monday.
While the Hawks have the chance to chase history this season, becoming the first Hawthorn side to win three straight flags, and just the sixth team to do so in league history, skipper Luke Hodge says Clarkson just wants his men to focus on the weekly challenges that await.
"Clarko is a big one on whatever happens in the past, if you keep worrying about that, then you are not going to go forward," Hodge said.
"We have recruited guys this year to come out and help us improve. 'Chip' Frawley, Jono O'Rourke, we have Jed Anderson who is coming back, with Brendan Whitecross as well. We have brought people in to make sure we try and improve as a club because we know every other club is going to improve as well."
Clarkson has said his focus is "on the here and now", with seasons 2013 and 2014 "best forgotten".
The Cats believe they are one team to have improved through the draft and via trade since they fell to the Hawks in last year's qualifying final, with many experts tipping Mitch Clark to be the recruit of the year, should he avoid the mental and physical issues that have so far derailed his career.
The former Demon was a stand-out up forward through the pre-season, as the Cats gave their senior stars plenty of match time through the NAB Challenge in preparation for a tough opening month to the season proper.
Where the Cats once had a stranglehold over the Hawks, that has changed in recent times, with Clarkson's charges emerging victorious in three of their past four matches by an average of 21 points.
While Hodge expects James Frawley, the former Demon, and O'Rourke, the former Giant, to have an impact this season, he has also been happy with the progress made by midfielder Will Langford through the summer.
Langford edged the now retired Brad Sewell for a spot in the midfield late in the season, and enjoyed a strong finals campaign, so much so that he has put contract discussions on hold until later in the season.
Hodge, set to play on through 2016 after signing a one-year contract extension, said Langford's development had accelerated from when he was given a blanketing role on Cats' skipper Joel Selwood in round 22.
"It came from about round 22. (In) the second half he went to Joel Selwood. Joel was killing us. From there he has come on in leaps and bounds. And in the grand final, he kicked three goals," Hodge said.
"He just had an outstanding game. For the Langford name to continue on at the footy club, it's a great story."
Hodge said the challenge now for Langford was to retain consistency, for opponents are likely to put even more time into curbing him, particularly when he is allowed to play a more attacking role.
"He was in and out of the team through the first three quarters of the year but he has been a different man since. After playing six quality games at the end of the year, he has got more confidence in himself, more confidence in the structures, so he is now giving feedback to other guys," Hodge said.
"He probably didn't do that so much in the past. He feels as if he belongs at senior level, which is a great sign."
Hodge has also been buoyed by the efforts of Anderson, whose 2014 campaign was curbed by contracting pneumonia while on an off-season hunting trip in the Northern Territory and then ended by a serious shoulder injury in round one of the VFL.