JAMES Worpel has wiped the slate clean and is ready to get back into it after the most challenging season of his career to date.
The 23-year-old dealt with form and fitness issues across the first half of last season, finding himself at Box Hill for the first time in a long time, before his season ended in his return game when he dislocated his shoulder against Greater Western Sydney in round 16.
After winning the Peter Crimmins Medal in 2019 in just his second season, 2022 was a bitter pill to swallow for the hard-nosed midfielder out of the Geelong Falcons.
But now Worpel has returned to full fitness following a shoulder reconstruction, building his load across the first half of the pre-season before being let off the chain to start the new year.
With midfielders Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara moving on deadline day last October, Worpel is determined to reclaim his spot in Sam Mitchell’s engine room in 2023 and reclaim his status as the one to lead Hawthorn's engine room into the new era.
INS AND OUTS Every club's full list changes ahead of 2023
"It was quite frustrating, but form is up to you; obviously it's up to you and what you're doing outside of footy and on the track is probably the main two," Worpel told AFL.com.au at La Trobe University on Thursday.
"Sam worked really with me throughout the year. He got me back to VFL, played some good footy down there and obviously got me back into the team and I did my shoulder. That was a bit frustrating, but these things happen in peoples' careers. It is just good to get back into it."
Spending so much time on the sidelines is never ideal, but the midfielder found a silver lining amid a frustrating winter.
"It was the biggest operation I've had so it's something new to me," Worpel said.
"I think I had a lot more time off at the end of the season, and after five or six years in the system, you need a little bit of a break sometimes. It's been a little bit of a reset for me this pre-season, so it's been nice."
"The body is going well. I started full training after Christmas, so it is good to hit some bodies and get back into it. It has been a long couple of months. I'm ready to get back into it."
With the surface at Waverley Park currently being repaired, Hawthorn is training at La Trobe University and Monash University across the next month, as preparations ramp up ahead of the Hawks' season opener against Essendon on March 19.
Worpel was one of the standouts in Hawthorn's match simulation in Bundoora on Thursday, excelling around stoppages alongside Jai Newcombe, who finished runner-up in last year's best and fairest and looks like someone who has benefited from a second full pre-season.
While Hawthorn lost more than 1000 games of experience at the end of last season – the Hawks will start the new campaign with the youngest list in the AFL – the club acquired star wingman Karl Amon via free agency.
The 27-year-old, who played 124 games across eight seasons at Port Adelaide, was another player who impressed on the track this week, and looks set to inject Hawthorn's midfield with some polish on the outside.
"Karl has been really good for us," Worpel said. "He is a silky left-footer, a good runner and a good ball user, so it's something we were missing in the midfield. We're excited to have him. He is a great player and a great bloke."
Hawthorn still needs to undergo a leadership process between now and round one to appoint Ben McEvoy’s successor, after the two-time premiership ruckman called time on his decorated career at the end of last season.
Worpel believes reigning best and fairest winner James Sicily is the standout candidate to become the next captain, after spending a large chunk of 2022 as acting skipper along with O'Meara.
"It is hard to say at the moment. I think 'Sis' is probably the biggest candidate; he has had the most experience at it, but we've got a lot of leaders around the footy club. We're in good hands, I think," he said.
