Hawthorn captain James Sicily still can't give a definitive explanation of what 'HokBall' is or means.
It was the title bestowed upon the free-flowing, direct and expressive style of play implemented by Sam Mitchell, which saw Hawthorn surge from a 16th-place finish in 2023 to a semi-final berth the following season.ย
Inspired by a young, brash, generation Z-filled playing list, the Hawks swept up the competition through their exuberant energy,ย goal celebrations and post-win selfies.
With the Hawks now entering season 2025 as one of the teams fancied to place well and contend for the premiership, Sicily says his young team is trying to embrace the external expectations.
"It's awesome for us," Sicily told Zero Hanger.ย
"We're trying to lean into it as much as we can. Everyone wants to play in the most high-pressure game of all at the end of the year so to be exposed to that as much as we can and do our best.
"It's definitely express yourselves, be yourselves '... making sure you're adhering to what we value the most.ย
"Whether that's an identity out there on the field or behaviours we value and team principles off it.
"It's definitely leaning into an exciting, free-flowing, expressing yourself sort of vibe."
The footy world is anticipating the next layer of 'Hokball' and what the next evolution of Hawthorn's electric game style will be. Sicily wouldn't divulge what exactly it would be, but the 30-year-old did temper expectations ever so slightly.ย
He explained that while the desire to be excellent has been there on the track, the focus hasn't been on adding new 'tricks' or 'icing on the cake' to an already extremely watchable and vibrant game style.
"We haven't focussed on too many more tricks or icing on the cake; sometimes you can get swept up in that when you have success for a bit of time with how some things are going," he said.
"We're making sure we are getting better at the stuff that made us successful and the stuff that we value. Some of that stuff isn't necessarily 'Hokball,' and it's not sexy, but we value it.
"(It's more) just trusting that if we get that stuff right initially, all the glamoury sort of things will take care of themselves, and there will be some cool moments."
Sicily maintained that he wanted his players to keep expressing themselves. As Hawthorn sets themselves to meet the high expectations that have been placed on them, both internally and externally, the captain is hopeful his young players can find the right balance between application and fun.
When it meshes, as it did last year, it can create something powerful, as it did last year - a feeling which Sicily hopes they can replicate again this year.ย
"I think the more that we can allow players to express themselves and be who they are, balancing that with some clear boundaries in the way that we want to play and what we value," he said.
ย "Once we get that mix right, it's pretty powerful. We were able to find that mix last year and go on a bit of a run, hopefully, we can produce something similar this year."
