Hawthorn cannot afford to stand still and must once again be aggressive in their recruiting to progress beyond their AFL preliminary final exit, coach Sam Mitchell says.

And Essendon skipper Zach Merrett looms as the man at the top of their shopping list.

The Hawks followed last year's breakout run to a semi-final by reaching the final four from eighth place, only to have their hearts broken in a 17.13 (115) to 13.7 (85) loss to Geelong on Friday night.

The young, dynamic Hawks will clearly be favoured to be among the contenders again in 2026 - but Mitchell knows there are no guarantees.

"The game doesn't stand still for anyone. If we play exactly as well as we did this year, we probably won't make the eight next year," Mitchell said.

"We've got work to do, every club. Fifteen clubs n

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