New captain Ben McEvoy says Hawthorn fell short of internal expectations last year and expects the regenerating team to rise up the AFL ladder under his leadership this season.
McEvoy, 31, was on Friday named as a surprise successor to Ben Stratton after his premiership teammate’s retirement.
The Hawks worked with Leading Teams in a “robust internal process” to appoint the 222-game veteran and vice-captain Jaeger O’Meara, with a player vote central to the decision.
Rising star James Worpel joins experienced trio Liam Shiels, Jack Gunston and Tom Mitchell in rounding out the six-man leadership group.
McEvoy, who featured in the Hawks’ 2014 and 2015 premierships after crossing from St Kilda, said his key focus will be driving improvement in a Hawks team that won just five games last year.
“It was a really disappointing year for us and we don’t believe we put our best foot forward,” McEvoy said.
“We think we’ve got more in us.
“We haven’t had discussions about putting a number on anything but the reality is we finished 15th last year and there’s really only one direction to head from there.
“We’re focusing on the process and trying to improve everything, from our standards and how we train, and trying to transfer that into games and improve our performance.
“That will take us up the ladder.”
McEvoy becomes Hawthorn’s 37th captain after featuring in the leadership group for the last two years.
He had not previously held captaincy ambitions.
“I feel very privileged and humbled to be here, but it’s not something that I ever thought of,” McEvoy said.
“If there’s one thing that I’d like to think people say about how I’ve played my footy is that it’s team first, and I’ve always tried to do that.
“All my teammates have endorsed the way that I go about it and they think that I’m a suitable person to lead them.
“I can only assume they’ve elected that version of me, not a different version, so there’s no point getting to this stage and then trying to be something else.”
McEvoy starred as a ruckman in the 2014 and 2015 flag-winning teams but accepted a key defensive post in late 2019 as Jon Ceglar rose to the No.1 ruck role.
James Sicily’s long-term knee injury means coach Alastair Clarkson will likely require McEvoy to continue in defence this season.
“Clarko and the coaches and I have remained really flexible on that,” McEvoy said.
“I thought I was really privileged to explore a different opportunity last year and I know a lot of people had different thoughts on it, but I loved it.
“It really reinvigorated my love for footy, getting a different perspective (on the game).
“That’s not set in stone but I remain open-minded about whatever’s best for the team and I’ll jump into it.”
Hawthorn have missed finals for the past two seasons and open their 2021 campaign against fierce rivals Essendon on March 20.
