Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has responded to a recent report suggesting midfielder Cam Mackenzie might be disgruntled.
A report from The Agena Setters on Channel 7 this week stated Mackenzie's management spoke with the club over frustrations with Mackenzie's limited playing opportunities this year.
Mackenzie has played 12 games this year, with two of his last four appearances seeing the former Pick 7 selection subbed out of eventual defeats, while another of those matches saw him play less than 60 percent of the game time against St Kilda.
The 21-year-old didn't feature at a central bounce across Rounds 12-14 and hasn't been in more than 50 per cent of those restarts since Round 11.
Mackenzie addressed the rumour with Mitchell on Thursday morning, stating he didn't "know where it came from", with the pairing laughing over the report, which Mitchell states "there was not much to".
"We had a chuckle about it today," Mitchell told the media. "He's a young player who's going to be a star, certainly one of my favourites.
"There was not much to (the report). We've been really enjoying his development as a player.
"He's going through a little rough patch in his form right now, but I'm not concerned about his development by any stretch.
"I just tell him: 'You're one of my favourites and you'll get back to it'. The story was, he said: 'I don't know where it came from,' because it was about him being [disgruntled]. We had a bit of a chuckle about it this morning."
Mackenzie has played a total of 46 games in the brown and gold across his three seasons with the club, with a hand injury also limiting his tally in 2025.
The young ball-winner played 20 games under Mitchell last year, with a hamstring injury ruling him out of the club's finals series.
