The Hawks are a fair way away from another flag, and the reality is that Alastair Clarkson's side are in the midst of a rebuild.
Whilst they have some youngsters coming through, they still sit almost smack bang in the middle of the pack for average squad age, meaning they could use some younger, established talent to reinforce their team.
5 Trade Targets: Adelaide
5 Trade Targets: Brisbane
5 Trade Targets: Carlton
5 Trade Targets: Collingwood
5 Trade Targets: Essendon
5 Trade Targets: Fremantle
5 Trade Targets: Geelong
5 Trade Targets: Gold Coast
5 Trade Targets: GWS
We continue our ‘Five trade targets for every club’ series with Hawthorn.
In no particular order, here are five players which the Hawks recruitment team would do well to target and potentially poach.
1. Sam Taylor
The young GWS defender has been one of the standouts for Leon Cameron's side over the course of the year with his partnership with Nick Haynes being pivotal.
Despite being struck down with arthritis at the start of the year, Taylor has come back and proved to be one of the most solid players in GWS' lineup.
Defender
Disposals
Marks
Rebound50s
The 22-year-old averages 5.1 contested defence one-on-ones per game and is ranked sixth in the league for intercepts per game, top level numbers for a defender.
Should he make the move down south to Victoria, he would become one of the main men in the Hawks defence. Alongside Changkuoth Jiath and Sam Frost at the back, Taylor making the switch would provide a sound base for Hawthorn to build from.
