HAWTHORN coach Sam Mitchell will have a star-studded forward line at his disposal next year, but how the Hawks will be able to fit in that talent remains to be seen.
The Hawks landed Gold Coast gun Ben King as a free agent last week and he will join club great Jack Gunston, recently re-signed key forward Mitch Lewis, important tall Mabior Chol and emerging youngster Calsher Dear as options for Mitchell in the front half.
Then there's Hawthorn's suite of electric small forwards, including All-Australian Nick Watson, ex-Pie Jack Ginnivan, the hard-working Dylan Moore and much-improved Connor Macdonald.
It's a good headache for Mitchell and his coaching staff to have, but a headache nonetheless.
"I have a lot of trust in Sam Mitchell and our coaching group around a gameplan and a way that our forward structure works," Hawthorn executive general manager of football Rob McCartney told Continental Tyres AFL Trade Radio.
"Last year it was Adrian Hickmott who was the forwards coach who looked at the strategy and how we could score as many goals as we possibly could and that will happen again.
"We've had some significant talks about how that can play out if we were to bring in Ben King and I'm really comfortable and confident that I've got a coaching group that has proven themselves to be able to get the best out of all their players with whatever mix and find a way that will give us the best outcome.
"We obviously have some flexibility around how that might look."
Lewis had a career-best season this year and was finally able to get a clean run at things from a fitness perspective, after injuries derailed the early part of his AFL career.
The star forward re-committed to the Hawks with a four-year extension in July this year, keeping him in the brown and gold until the end of 2030.
Gunston continues to wind back the clock at 34 years of age after booting 66 goals in 2026, the second-biggest haul he's ever had in a single season.
Gunston's leadership around Hawthorn's young group has proved pivotal in recent times, but his ability to continue to contribute on field has been exceptional.
Chol's ability to pinch-hit in the ruck is a point of difference, but questions remain on his ability to impact big games after a quiet finals series.
Then there's exciting youngster Dear, who turned his back on considerable rival interest to pen an extension with the Hawks and continue the Dear family legacy in the brown and gold.
Dear burst onto the scene in 2024 but was limited to just five games at AFL level this year, instead plying his trade in the VFL with Box Hill.
The Hawks hope a fully fit Dear can have a strong summer to lay the platform for a big 2027 campaign.
And now the Hawks have added King to the mix. King has finished in the top five of the Coleman Medal in each of the past three seasons and has been held goalless on just three occasions across his past 72 matches.
There are queries about how King can co-exist with Gunston in the same forward line given their similarities, but if one thing is for sure, it's that Mitchell and his coaching staff will find a way to ensure both are firing on all cylinders.
Mitchell also ran with a two-pronged ruck setup including Lloyd Meek and Ned Reeves for an extended period this year, giving him something else to think about over summer.
While the Hawks were happy to use Chol as the second ruck late in the year when Reeves was out injured, it's another option for Mitchell to consider when he looks at the side's mix of talls.
The Hawks have added former Essendon captain Zach Merrett to their onball brigade as well this Trade Period, adding another weapon to the arsenal for 2027.
Hawthorn had tried to execute a trade to bring Merrett into the fold this time last year, but was unable to strike a deal with the Bombers by the time the trade deadline arrived.
McCartney said the Hawks had learned from last year's failed trade which put them in a better position to get the job done this time around.
"I think you learn from all of your experiences in life, some of those learnings come from when you don't get the outcomes that you're absolutely chasing," McCartney said.
"What we realised in last year is that we probably needed to have a bit more time working through the option of getting a trade done. We started much earlier in this Trade Period with the conversations directly with Essendon.
"That was something that we realised wasn't part of what transpired last season, it's also another 12 months, so there's also an openness of Essendon to probably look at it differently as well.
"We definitely knew that there were some things to take on board from last year and we put them in place.
"There's no doubt that Mark McKenzie and Matt Rosa were having ongoing conversations well before the Trade Period opened."
While the Hawks have added King and Merrett to the mix for next season, youngsters Aidan Schubert and Sam Butler have been traded to Gold Coast and father-son Finn Maginness is now a Bulldog.