"I am sure a lot of people will express interest after yesterday," Hawthorn football director Chris Fagan said. Hawthorn is facing a fight to keep popular forward Ryan Schoenmakers with interested clubs already circling. Credit:Joe Armao "He could have left last year and he didn't because he wanted to stay and be part of something special, so he got to do that and he is a pretty loyal bloke. I should imagine we will get something sorted out." Fagan said that while Schoenmakers was a late inclusion to the side in the finals after Jack Gunston's injury, he had been considered a central figure all year. "We haven't viewed him as a fringe player this year, he is two-years post-knee surgery and we have been playing him in the position he is most suited to, which is up forward.

"He plays all right down back on the right match-ups." The Swans' interest is presumably to look at Schoenmakers as a versatile key position option either forward or to support the ageing Ted Richards and Heath Grundy in defence. Schoenmakers has previously done well on athletic forwards like Sydney's Sam Reid. "He was in career-best form when he did his knee and it's taken him a while to come back from that and he has just found his niche this year," Fagan said. "His last three finals have been outstanding. I would be hopeful he wants to stay with us." The Hawks are confronting a difficult week with post-season reviews as they juggle the need to renew their list and not frustrate young players into leaving through lack of opportunity. No player has yet announced plans to retire.

There had been assumptions that David Hale would retire but he said, slightly tongue in cheek, on stage at Hawthorn's family day at Glenferrie on Sunday, "I like running so I will keep going". Full-back Brian Lake has also expressed even as late as last month his desire to play on next year. It appears likely at least one, if not both, will struggle to be retained. "It's hard to strike a balance but you have always got to do what is right for the footy club," Fagan said. "You have to make the hard calls," Fagan said. "One of the things we have to make sure we do is when our younger guys are coming into next pre-season they feel like there might be some opportunities there, that's why we have to look hard at the older guys on our list and make decisions about their futures. "Our cap for next year is pretty tight so we have to work all that out."