Luke Mason: On the cusp of the free agency and trade periods, what approach are we looking to take this year? Will it be similar to last year where we appeared to be quite aggressive in targeting both mature aged and younger talent?
DH: I suppose what we’re trying to do leading into this particular period is we have to look at two areas.

The first thing we need to look at is where do we see the strength of the draft and just as importantly where do we see the depth in the draft.

We’ve had some retirements and we’re mindful that 2015 appears to be quite a strong draft with a fair degree of depth. A lot of our planning to date has been around 2015, in terms of contractually and our potential list strategy going forward. Having said that, where we are, we feel that the list is reasonably well balanced.

We don’t see the need to address our ruck situation given the development of Brodie Grundy and Jarrod Witts and we’ll be retaining Ben Hudson as a bit of a back up there for them, but hopefully Ben doesn’t have to play at all.

LM: What on-field needs have you identified that may need addressing?
DH: What we’re looking at leading into the period is to look at some specific areas that may help us. We’re unsure of where both Dale Thomas and Heath Shaw sit at the moment. In terms of targeting a particular area, we feel that we’re reasonably well balanced.

We will be speaking to Jesse White. We’ll assess our situation as the opportunity presents itself. We’re one of most Melbourne clubs that have spoken to Taylor Adams who has obviously come down from Greater Western Sydney. He’s a young player and potentially fills a need in terms of succession and to date in his performances at an AFL level have been good.

LM: How is our list placed heading into 2014? Some critics have argued that it’s a time of a mini-rebuild. Is that how you see it?
DH: In terms of the list rebuild, we don’t feel that there’s any real necessity to be making an overhaul of the list. We’ve had some serious injuries in the last two or three years. Next year we get Alan Toovey back, hopefully Clinton Young can get a bit more of a run at it, and he’s training very well at the moment so hopefully he can see some blue skies.

Again, our approach will be strategic and targeted with any potential opportunity.

We’ve got players like Jackson Ramsay who we feel will come in and play some senior football. Adam Oxley had a taste of it and we feel that he can play a role. There’s a few of those younger types – Josh Thomas is only going to be better for the senior games that he’s played, even Ben Sinclair having gone back and shown he has a real position here. Marley Williams has continued to develop. I know that the coaches are pretty keen to get him up and show him some midfield time – whether that’s in 2014 or beyond is all in our planning’s as well.

Tim Broomhead, who had an inconsistent start to the year because of illness, we feel that with a pre-season under his belt he’ll come in and play a series of games as well. Caolan Mooney’s another one, as is Ben Kennedy who, with a full pre-season under his belt, it is hoped will push really hard for a regular senior spot.

In terms of the age profile, it sits quite well, but having said that we’ll continue to be looking at opportunities as they present themselves.

LM: Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney were all able to regenerate on the run in the past five years and remain competitive. Is that the current rationale with players such as Josh Thomas, Brodie Grundy and others coming through this year?
DH: Yes and no. That tends to evolve. If you look at Hawthorn’s side on the weekend, they’ve got seven players that are 30 or above in 2014, so you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. It is about trying to find the right balance and having a bit of luck along the way.

From our side of things, we just need to be really progressive in how we balance the list out. We’ve had a lot of games of experience go out this year but having said that, we finished sixth on the ladder after the home and away season and I think the average games of the boys that have gone out such as Alan Didak and those sorts of guys is around eight games so in terms of the games played in 2013, it hasn’t really hurt us as such.

LM: Some clubs have predominantly used the draft as a way to build their list and others have relied heavily upon players they can trade in during October. Does Free Agency allow clubs to build their lists via both methods at once?
DH: It does. Last year we brought in some mature aged players but we were also able to trade into the draft with picks 18, 19 and 20. We were able to address two needs. For argument’s sake, if we were successful in bringing Taylor Adams in, he’s a 20-year-old player, if we were to look at other players we really want to make sure that it fits in with our age profile and what we want to do with the list.

I think going forward; the game continues to get harder to play. We played 40 players this year with eight debutants and finished sixth on the ladder post the season with at times a challenging injury list. Statistically it shows you that you’re going to have to need a series of players that are going to be AFL ready because the game’s physically becoming so demanding. We have to be able to address that. We need to be able to look at mature age players that will fit our age profile and potentially fit a need for us as well and recruit players that we feel we can maximise their potential through our systems.

LM: We currently have pick 10 in the National Draft, which would be our first top 10 pick since 2006. How is this year's draft shaping up compared to last year's where we picked two players in the top 20 who went on to play senior football??
DH: At the moment we hold pick 10 and again with the draft itself I don’t think that it has a lot of depth.

I think we’ve got an eye on to 2015, which really is a strong draft and has great depth in it so at this point in time we’ll probably run with 38 players on our primary list. If something pops up late in the draft that does take our fancy then we’ll certainly have to scope in a TTP (Total Player Payment) sense to bring a player in. But at this point in time, we’ll probably run with 38 players due to our planning for 2015.

LM: At the end of the 2013 season, we had several players on our rookie list that had played senior football. How are you looking to use them heading into 2014?
DH: From our point of view, Sam Dwyer’s come up onto the primary list. We haven’t made any commitments to any of the other rookies in terms of potential elevations. They’ve all agreed to terms and we’re just finalising one more at the moment.

By having the 38 players on our primary list, it gives us the scope to have two nominated rookies and that creates the incentive for your Adam Oxleys, your Jack Frosts and your Kyle Martins of the world, and your Caolan Mooneys for that matter.

Those guys can really attack the pre-season with a great deal of potential in the knowledge if they do have a strong pre season and perform, there’s the potential scope to be elevated to the senior list prior to the commencement of the season.