Hawthorn started the season 0–4 for the first time since 1998. Hawthorn failed to match their 17–5 record from 2016, finishing in 12th with a 10–11–1 record. With Hawthorn's 7 point loss to Carlton in round 22, they were eliminated from finals contention for this first time since 2009. This was also the first time since 2005, Hawthorn were defeated by Carlton. This was also the first time under Clarkson that no player kicked 50 goals for the season.
Club summary
The 2017 AFL season is the 121st season of the VFL/AFL competition since its inception in 1897; having entered the competition in 1925, it was the 93rd season contested by the Hawthorn Football Club. Tasmania and iiNet continued as the club's two major sponsors, as they had done since 2006 and 2013 respectively,[1][2] while Adidas continued to manufacture the club's on-and-off field apparel, as they had done since 2013.[3] Hawthorn continued its alignment with the Box Hill Hawks Football Club in the Victorian Football League, allowing Hawthorn-listed players to play with the Box Hill Hawks when not selected in AFL matches.
Senior personnel
Alastair Clarkson continued as the club's head coach for the thirteenth consecutive season. In a surprise announcement, Jarryd Roughead replaced Luke Hodge as the club's captain on 20 January 2017 after the latter had led the club since 2011.[4]
It was announced in December 2016 that Stuart Fox would leave his position as the club's Chief Executive Officer to take up the same position with the Melbourne Cricket Club at the end of February 2017.[5] On 1 May, Tracey Gaudry was appointed the club's new CEO.[6]
Playing list changes
The following lists all player changes between the conclusion of the 2016 season and the beginning of the 2017 season.
The Hawks began the 2017 season with a 25-point loss to Essendon, which welcomed six of its banned players back from a season-long suspension which had spanned the entire 2016 season, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round one;[23] due to the weighted rule, it was the only time the clubs met during the regular season. The club's first home game came the following round, when it hosted 2016 finalistsAdelaide at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round two.[21] It travelled to Adelaide twice for matches against Port Adelaide and Adelaide (for a second time) in rounds 11 and 14 respectively, while it also travelled to the Gold Coast, Sydney and Perth once each, in rounds three, ten and eighteen respectively. Additionally, it played three Friday night matches (two against Sydney and one against the Western Bulldogs) and two Thursday night matches (both at the Adelaide Oval) during the regular season, while ten of the club's 21 matches were broadcast on free-to-air.[21]
Based on its finishing position from 2016, Hawthorn's fixture was rated the second-most difficult (only behind Greater Western Sydney) by The Age; it was the fifth consecutive season in which it has been dealt either the most or second-most difficult fixture of any club.[24]
