“In awe”: Johnson commends seamless nature of Hawthorn recruits

Hawthorn have transferred their thrilling 2024 form into the new season, claiming three wins from three to kickstart their 2025 campaign.

With the second-youngest list in the AFL last season, the Hawks under coach Sam Mitchell perfected the art of the off-season, adding two mature defensive stocks to stabilise the electric semi-finalists.

Since joining the club, 26-year-old Josh Battle and 29-year-old Tom Barrass have barely put a foot wrong, contributing to a defence conceding just 75 points with 33 spoils per game (+6 from 2024), and an 85 per cent one-on-one win rate (+6 per cent) from over 13 per game (the most in the AFL).

Brad Johnson has loved what he has seen from the recruits, commending their ability to transition seamlessly into coach Mitchell’s defensive system.

“You look at two players that they have brought in, and how quickly they have settled to have a defence set up around them in Tom Barrass and Josh Battle,” Johnson told SEN’s Sportsday.

“The way that Josh Battle played the other night was fantastic. I was sitting at ground level just in awe of what he’s doing as a player.

“It’s happened so quickly, so often we see new players come in and they take a bit of time to adjust to a new environment, and even his teammates, the way they are reading Battle has clicked instantly.”

In Thursday night’s 80-60 win over the Blues, Battle held two-time Coleman Medallist Charlie Curnow to just five disposals and no scores, while Carlton’s other key stock in Brodie Kemp managed just one major from six touches in Harry McKay’s absence.

“They are moving that quickly,” Johnson continued.

“They are seeing ‘Battle is going to mark this, Barrass is going to mark this, we are out and going’.

“They are getting wide to create space in the middle for others to lead into for the short kick to start ball movement going forward.

“Their ball movement off half-back because of Barrass and Battle is unbelievable, it’s quick, it’s fast but it’s so effective, and their kickers and mid-sized players are brilliant at the moment and it’s awesome to watch.

“The flexibility it creates them for James Sicily is perfect for Sam Mitchell, because Blake Hardwick can play back, we know that, so there is the direct swap there between those two players when he needs to do it.”

The Hawks are set for a top-end contest against the Giants in Launceston on Saturday night in a bid to remain undefeated in 2025.