Hawks coach Sam Mitchell has defended his decision to drop top-10 draft pick Cam Mackenzie back to the VFL, despite admitting he’s “not doing a lot wrong”.
Off the back of Hawthorn’s three-point loss to the Crows last weekend, the axe came down on Mackenzie, Denver Grainer-Barras, Ned Long and Conor Macdonald for their round seven clash against the Bulldogs. Max Lynch is also out injured.
Josh Ward, Josh Weddle, Max Ramsden, Mitchell Lewis and Will Day have been named as replacements.
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Mackenzie was the No.7 pick in last year’s draft, and made his debut against the Bombers in round one this season.
On Thursday, Kane Cornes said he “couldn’t believe” Mackenzie had been dropped off the back of his performance against the Crows.
“He only had 15 touches, only five kicks, but every time he touches it, something happens,” Cornes said on SEN’s Sportsday.
Mitchell said the decision to drop Mackenzie was made to give the 19-year-old a chance to rebuild his confidence and gain some more game time in the midfield.
“The thing with those guys is we’ve brought in a fair bit, so I wouldn’t call it swinging the axe for nothing,” Mitchell said on SEN Breakfast.
“We’ve brought in a fair bit of talent and experience and those guys had a really good discussion with them yesterday, they’re not doing a lot wrong.
“In Cam Mackenzie’s case, he’s played every game for the year. One of them was as the sub, and he just hasn’t had quite the same level of confidence [since], his output has been OK.
“But we just want him to just go and play with a bit of freedom – it’s a lot of pressure on these young lads and everything they’re doing is so heavily scrutinised.
“So, to just go and play with a little bit more freedom, get a bit more midfield time and spend a bit more time around the middle of the ground I think it will be good for him in the long term.”
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