Hawthorn has maintained an "aggressive" stance when it comes to the player movement space, and this year will be no different, according to coach Sam Mitchell.
The Hawks' 2025 season came to a crushing halt after they were downed by 30 points to Geelong in Friday's preliminary final at the MCG.
The Cats were simply too good in multiple areas of the ground, but a key element to their victory was their midfield dominance, led by superstar Patrick Dangerfield.
Hawthorn matchwinner Jai Newcombe was well held by defensive on-baller Tom Atkins, while James Worpel, Josh Ward and Josh Weddle all had lean nights.
It begs the question: are the Hawks one midfield star away from making that leap to the last Saturday in September?
"I don't think it's any surprise that we're going to be aggressive in trying to make our list the best it can be. I think every club is doing that," Mitchell said.
"I'm not ready for this yet, but free agency, the draft, Trade Period … they're all ways we can improve our list. We're going to need to do that. Everyone is.
"It's not just because we've got to be better than we were. Even if we're the same as we are this year, that's not going to be enough to make the eight next year. The game goes forward every year. We've got progress to make.
"I'm enormously proud of the whole journey when we look at it, and some of that has been aggressive development and some of it has been aggressive free agency, etc. But this isn't the aim.
"The aim isn't to sit here in preliminary final week as a loser and say we've achieved. I've got a level of pride, but I also have a level of desperation to go a couple of steps further than this."
Zach Merrett and Christian Petracca have long been linked to the club from a needs point of view, although the former took it one step further and met with Mitchell in recent weeks.
The pair are contracted at their respective clubs, but as the Hawks coach outlays it, they will be "aggressive" in luring star talent.
In the past two years, Hawthorn acquired defensive duo Josh Battle and Tom Barrass, as well as forwards Mabior Chol, Jack Gunston, Jack Ginnivan, and Massimo D'Ambrosio.
And 2025 will be no different.
