Mighty Fighting Hawks

The rare feat of winning back-to-back flags in 2013 and 2014 cemented coach Alastair Clarkson's men as a truly great team and Hawthorn FC as a great club. At the end of the 2004 season Hawthorn was an unholy mess, with no coach, no chief executive and no captain. Enter Clarkson, who established a club culture based on endurance, courage, mateship and sacrifice and in 2008, won the first of his three premierships. It was an unlikely win since Geelong was clearly the best team of the year. All premierships are different, and if the 2013 flag was about redemption – following the 2012 loss to the Sydney Swans – the 2014 flag was about resilience. After a season where injuries, illness and the absence of Lance Franklin dominated the headlines, the Hawks shook off their arch rival Sydney in a stunning victory against the odds. Under Clarkson, there is always a way to win. From Jeff Kennett's reign to the defection of Franklin; from Sam Mitchell standing down as captain to make way for Luke Hodge to the key roles of Jarryd Roughead and Cyril Rioli, this is the story of the team that Alastair Clarkson built, in a decade of success. 'This club is here to stay and we plan to be a juggernaut of the AFL.'Andrew Newbold, president of Hawthorn Football Club, 28 September 2014