Coach Sam Mitchell says he feels the love from Hawthorn powerbrokers win, lose or draw as the Hawks continue on their challenging rebuild.
Hawthorn secured their first win of the season on Saturday, upsetting former Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson's North Melbourne.
The Hawks were belted in the opening two rounds by Essendon and Sydney, leading to heavy criticism around their deep list cuts.
Experienced midfielders Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O'Meara were offloaded at the end of last season despite Hawthorn finishing 13th in 2022 with just eight wins.
New president Andy Gowers last Saturday hit out at suggestions of "tanking" to improve their draft position this year, calling them "utterly offensive".
It came just hours before the Hawks pulled off a memorable 19-point win in Launceston.
"I can't be anything but thankful to the board and Andy and all those guys," Mitchell said on Wednesday.
"They understand and they've been part of the direction that we're going and the strategic thinking, whether they were there from the start of the build or whether they've come in now.
"We've been really showing them everything that we've done, and they've been nothing but supportive.
"The amount of text messages I got from that group after the loss(es) showed me we're in good hands."
Even Jordan Lewis has questioned whether Mitchell, his four-time Hawthorn premiership teammate, can survive the expected period without playing finals before the dramatic list overhaul reaps rewards.
But Gowers has vowed to back in Mitchell even through some of the tough times that will likely follow with the youngest and least experienced list in the league.
During Clarkson's successful tenure between 2005 and 2021, he still regularly, and infamously, clashed with former president Jeff Kennett about the direction of the club.
"We're not the first club to do this and won't be the last and we've done this before successfully (from 2004-07)," he told 3AW on Saturday.
"This rebuild has been described as a form of tanking and I take absolute exception to that and find that suggestion utterly offensive.
"You're talking about an ultra-competitive guy (Mitchell) and wouldn't have tanked a minute of any game he played and he's in charge of those boys, along with (football manager) Rob McCartney."
Mitchell said dynamic star Chad Wingard will likely return for Hawthorn's Easter Monday clash with Geelong, while key forward Mitch Lewis (knee) is still about a month away from returning.
