Hawthorn and targeting players the dogs want. Seems to go hand in hand.Sadly I agree with both of you.
From what I'm told, we were fairly far down the path with Barass, Pratt met up with him recently with the clubs permission when WCE were over here, and we had outlined an offer to him, but it was a ''wait until after the season is over before we continue further'' type situation, as Bevo likes to meet and chat with any perspective recruit before we put pen to paper, but Bevo doesn't do it in season out of respect to other clubs/coaches/dedication to the Dogs.
Hawks got wind that they weren't in the race for Smith anymore so shifted their focus to defenders and flew Sam Mitchell + others straight to W.A. mid week to meet with him and offer him a bit more than what we were, and that was enough to get him over the line with a commitment.
As much as I admire the respect side of it from Bevo, sadly if this is how the industry is going to move, then we do need to be more agressive and he needs to start meeting with prospective players during the season to get them over the line.