Hawthorn Hawks president Andy Gowers defends failed bid to recruit Essendon Bombers captain Zach Merrett
The Hawks are hoping Will Day will overcome his injury concerns.Credit: AFL Photos
“We are after sustained success here … the history of this club, we are out there to win. So, we do feel like we make bold decisions and bold plans. And over the long term, we will have to look back one day and see how successful this era will be. At this stage, we are confident about where we are headed, and we move on.”
Gowers pointed to the return of Will Day, the club’s best player who missed the Hawks’ run to a preliminary final because of injury, as a reason why the Hawks should improve next season and remain in the premiership hunt.
Dunstall, the premiership great and former club chief executive, said the Hawks could not sell their soul.
“We didn’t get Merrett but, to be brutally honest, a cordial deal between Hawthorn and Essendon was highly unlikely when you look at the relationship between the two clubs historically. I would love to have seen him in a Hawthorn jumper, I think he had wanted to come, but it didn’t pan out,” Dunstall said.
“You can’t sell your soul. We did everything we possibly could. I think Zach did everything he possibly could. At the end of the day, you (Essendon) get a new president come in, and credit to Andrew Welsh, he planted his flag and said ‘this isn’t happening’, and it didn’t happen.
“Once the new president came in, I think there was no chance of getting a deal done.”
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Club greats, including Michael Tuck, David Parkin, John Kennedy Jnr, Peter Hudson and Peter Knights, were at Waverley on Tuesday, as the Hawks’ statue of John Kennedy Snr was removed.
It will be relocated to the Hawks’ new multimillion-dollar base in Dingley, where the club is now set up. Kennedy, a former skipper and four-time best-and-fairest winner, remains the coaching godfather of the Hawks, who he turned from a once struggling suburban club into a powerhouse with three flags in 1961, 1971 and ’76.
Parkin, 83, was captain of that ’71 premiership side. He and Kennedy jnr were among those to recall how important Kennedy Snr was to lifting the club’s standing in the league.
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