The Hawks were damaged by off-field indiscretions as well as your standard injury tolls, and had a hard time peaking for the season due to the lengthy break, as well as lack of attendance at training.

You don't come to expect low commitment from first-grade sides, but the back rower said it plagued his troops from the get-go.

"We struggled to get numbers to training and I suppose that can happen after a year off," he said.

"It just had a big impact on everyone's thoughts towards the game and I don't think there was a lot of passion at the start of the season.

"As the season progressed, we started to get back into things and enjoy it, but the year off still made it difficult."

Hawks had far from a bad season. While they suffered some disappointing defeats, were able to peak for a home game against the Panthers in which they lost by two points. They also swept St Pat's, and destroyed a depleted Dragons side at Wade Park during the early stages of the season.

The unique test facing Hawks next season is the halves situation as both Willie Heta and Toby Westcott have left the club, the latter relocating to Queensland for a lifestyle change.

"There hasn't been much talk about that since the start of the off-season," he said.

"But, change can be really good sometimes. We've been trying to do the same thing for a few years now and sometimes a change can spark things up."

There were still plenty of stars for Hawks this season, and McKellar turned to his good mate Pottsy when asked to pick out an MVP.

"He's just a natural stand-out," he said. "He's always doing his job and plays well above his weight for 80 minutes. "He's also a top bloke off the field and someone you always want to play alongside."

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