Hawthorn's plan for on going success - lessons for the Pies.

[Brown26]

Don't forget where Hawthorns stars came from - and their success which allowed them to be a big attraction for the free agents to choose to go there for nothing. The drafts that netted them Franklin, Roughead, Lewis (2004), Sewell (2002 rookie), and Hodge and Mitchell (2001) set them up. From there, once those players matured, they had an elite midfield and forward line. They could tinker around the edges and trade for the likes of Burgoyne and Gibson and being successful enough they got the benefits of Lake and Frawley for nothing, much like the Cats will get Dangerfield and Selwood for nics.

Our hope must be that our current teams success is essentially based around the 2012/13/14 drafts (although established players and young players traded in (Elliot, Adams and Treloar) will help. If we can have success over the next couple of years with this group then we will see the free agents asking to come to us for nothing, we'll get our Dangerfield etc and sustained success.

I hope!

- Ben