Hawthorn director Tim Shearer has candidly agreed with outspoken pundit Kane Cornes that the club's current roster of players is "a mess".
Shearer's comments made on SEN radio waves ahead of the weekend came in the wake of the incohesive coaching handover between the decorated Alastair Clarkson and his apprentice Sam Mitchell.
The board member's blunt appraisal has also arisen after the failure of the public firesale during the recent trade period in which the club were unable to offload the likes of Tom Mitchell, Jack Gunston, Jaeger O'Meara and Luke Breust for premium picks.
While the faded powerhouse is set to make just their second top-10 draft selection since 2006 later this month, there has been a view of late that Hawthorn's recent recruitment strategy of trading early picks for seasoned players had been an unsuccessful gambit.
When speaking with Cornes on Friday, Shearer asked the former Port Adelaide great whether he agreed with this stance, to which Cornes replied: โI think your list is in a mess, Tim. Itโs one of the lists that Iโd least like to have in the game."
Despite his frankness, the 300-gamer prefixed his belief with a mark of respect before continuing to prod.
โI preface that by saying Iโm so jealous of the success, so at some point, it comes to an end," Cornes continued.
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โBut when you neglect the draft for as long as Hawthorn has and you try and ship out some players for bargain basement prices that have been important, I do worry about the emotional impact that will have.
โI donโt think you can cheat your way around the AFL system and by cheat I mean neglect the draft and that will catch up with every club and think thatโs catching up with Hawthorn right now.โ
Although Cornes' typical candidness was likely to have ruffled the feathers of optimistic Hawthorn fans, Shearer's swift agreeance was sure to have left them vexed.
โI 100% agree with you,โ he said in direct reply.
โI think why we got to the position we did regarding the coaching situation was because there was a misalignment over a period of time."
Shearer then went on the suggest that the Hawks' change in tack towards embracing the future had arisen after reading the tea leaves.
โWith each year that went past a number of people have been keen to see us get back to the draft, rebuild, bring in some elite talent and thatโs what weโre committed to doing now," he continued.
โWe are turning down that path now.โ
Having finished within the competition's bottom five sides for the second successive season, the former AFL Umpire stated that he was under no illusions about where his club currently stood, however, he still held hope for the future.
Shearer also explained that if Mitchell was to be afforded the best opportunity to take the Hawks back up the ladder, key members of the club that were just in the shop window would need to be retained.
โYou must go through this transitional period keeping some of the senior players around. They need to be the role models for the young players, they need to take them under their wing and show them the way,โ he said.
โAnd if they do that well, thereโs every chance that they can still be part of the next round of success. But Iโm under no illusion that our success is some time away.โ
Irrespective of their rosy outlook on the future, there remains a real possibility that Shearer will not be a part of it in a professional sense.
With Hawthorn currently in the midst of their members voting to fill a pair of seats at the boardroom table, the Jeff Kennett aligned Shearer faces ousting if the 'Hawks For Change' backed Ian Silk or lawyer Jennifer Holdstock are elected.
Postal ballots for this election are set to close on December 7, with electronic votes set to be stopped on the 14th.
