Why Russell thinks Hawks can be the “biggest club in Australia” by the end of next season

SEN host Dwayne Russell thinks that Hawthorn could be the biggest club in Australia come the end of the 2025 season.

While many consider Collingwood, Carlton, Richmond and Essendon as the big four Melbourne-based clubs, Russell can foresee the Hawks passing those rivals plus big interstate sides like Sydney and West Coast as the competition’s biggest and best should they win the 2025 flag.

Hawthorn had the sixth-most members of all clubs in 2024 with 83,823 signed up and as they head toward that 100,000-mark, Russell thinks their growing fan base is just one reason why they could be the competition’s No. 1 club.

“Hawthorn have got claims, and their fans certainly have claims, that they're going to be the biggest club in Australia in a year or two,” Russell told SEN Afternoons.

“They're heading toward more than 100,000 members. They are going to have their new base up and running. They are the social media darlings right now - their online presence is absolutely massive.

“They're in some ways, the coolest club in Australia to barrack for … if Hawthorn wins the flag next year, they'll go from almost extinct and merging to the number one club in Australia.

“I reckon kids want to barrack for them, they've got this crazy Hokball thing going social media-wise, they're cool.”

To get to that top spot, Russell went through the other contenders that were challenging for the title as the biggest and the best.

With queries over all of those clubs, he thinks that the Hawks have a red-hot opportunity to climb the ranks.

“Sydney might claim to be bigger when it comes to allure for sponsors and they've got Sydney attached to their name, the biggest city in Australia,” Russell said.

“Collingwood had 110,000 members this year, the biggest club by membership, but Collingwood missed the eight.

“Carlton has 106,000 members, but they can't lay claim to being the biggest club in Australia because they can't win flags.

“Richmond's going to take a little bit of time to bounce back, they’ve got 94,000 members.

“West Coast Eagles have 103,000 members, but they’re big in one state.

“If Hawthorn wins the flag, they could rocket to number one.”

In response to Russell, Andy Maher had his say about why he doesn’t think the Hawks are challenging the likes of the Magpies and Blues for the claim.

Watch his reply below.