+34
Hawthorn forward Dylan Moore has gone from off-season arrest to role model, and now stands one win from an AFL grand final as the Hawks meet Brisbane on Saturday night.
Hawthorn forward Dylan Moore will take the field for Saturday night's preliminary final against the Brisbane Lions as one of the club's most respected figures, one step away from a grand final.
It is the latest chapter in a redemption tale that began with an off-season indiscretion last year. Moore, 27, was arrested by Scottsdale police after trespassing and climbing onto a scissor lift suspended 2.5 metres in the air during a boozy end-of-season trip. Moore and a companion were charged with third-degree criminal trespass over the incident. The obligatory mugshot followed, but in July his case was officially dismissed.
Moore was also arrested after he was searched and a plastic bag with a crystalline substance was found, but that charge was quickly dropped. He said the hardest part of the whole experience was informing his partner and family. Telling my parents, my partner, the club, Sam, I just felt like I let a lot of people down and, yeah, I'm just so lucky that they showed so much love and care for me the following months, he said.
Moore, contracted until the end of 2030, said the support of the club helped him through. I think just walking in every day to the football club, I wanted to put my best foot forward, be the best clubman, best teammate I could be. The club showed me so much love and care and respect, and I couldn't thank them enough.
I felt like I've got to play good football, in a way, to repay the faith and the love they showed me. I feel like if I can play my role every week, then it shows that I can be a good clubman and a good teammate, even when stuff around you happens. I feel very thankful to be at the best club possible. Reflecting on the ill-fated trip this week, Moore said it had been a humbling experience.
He explained that the scrutiny fell heaviest on those closest to him rather than on himself. Yeah, I think it's more tough for the people around me, like my partner, my family, they're the ones getting all the questions. I can just come into the club every day and kind of not focus on that. Whereas they go to work and get asked, Oh, what's going on?
Whereas here, I felt very safe, valued, and it was all out there. So it was fine here. It was more of the people around me, and yeah, it was tough on them. And I felt like that's why it was tough on me, because of how hard it was for the people around me.
Telling my parents, my partner, the club, Sam, I just felt like I let a lot of people down. While the Hawks handled the case with care, Moore was stripped of the vice captaincy. He was ordered by the Scottsdale city attorney to pay a 300 dollar diversion fee, complete an alcohol screening, and take 16 hours of alcohol education. Hawks co-captain Jai Newcombe said Moore's attitude and professionalism had since been exemplary, praising his consistency and training standards.
Dylan's been the same Dylan that I've always known, and yeah, obviously, had the slip up in the off-season, pre-season, but he's done a lot away from the game to earn the respect back, Newcombe said. To us, it didn't take much from me on the inside for him to gain that trust back. He's been a role model here for a long time, especially in training standards and what we expect.
He is by far one of the best trainers that we've got here. And now, with the forward line and the small forward line that we do have, it's been really important that he has that presence to perform, and to teach them as well at the same time.
Moore has taken on a teaching gig of his own this year, joining teammates Will Day, Massimo D'Ambrosio and Jack Scrimshaw in coaching the under-15 boys' Eastern Football Netball League representative side for 10 weeks. It has been a learning experience but one he has relished, allowing him to impart the wisdom he has garnered from nine seasons in the big league.
Moore's game is based on work ethic and commitment, a career-defining epiphany he had with Craig McRae when the Collingwood coach was an assistant with the Hawks, still in front of mind. Having felt he had wasted his first three AFL seasons when he managed only 10 senior games, overly focusing on his so-called weaknesses, McRae told Moore he should spend more time enhancing the skills which had seen the former Eastern Ranges talent taken with the 67th pick of the 2017 national draft.
I think I had a good game in 2020 at the end of the year against Gold Coast, but they didn't really show up that day, so I got a bit lucky. But that was the first moment I was like, Oh, I can impact a game, Moore said. And then Craig McRae came to the club as our forward-line coach, and he sat down with me and said, Why did you get drafted?
So I said, Yeah, like hard work, footy IQ. And he goes, All right, let's focus on that this pre-season, see how you go.
Then that year I played 20 games and felt more comfortable that I was in the best 23. I think continuity is so important in football, and the more you play, the more you can kind of relax before a game and be like, All right, I'm good enough. I just need to do this, this week. I feel like he helped me just create a role in the side and show my strengths.
Those strengths have helped Moore negotiate a trying 2026, the ultimate redemption tale almost within reach for him and the Hawks. Moore, also an avid sports card collector with Day, will be a key weapon for Hawthorn alongside small forward Nick Watson when the Hawks meet Brisbane on Saturday night. Teammates say there is no one they would rather go into battle with than the robust forward.
theage 
brisbanetimes:‘Repay the faith’: How Dylan Moore has gone from the jailhouse to becoming a role modelThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Dylan Moore Hawks Redemption Criminal Trespass Team Culture Hawthorn Hawks Brisbane Lions AFL Preliminary Final
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Young Lions forward knocks back millions ahead of Devils’ entryLogan Morris has made a major decision on his AFL future.
Read more »
Lions lock away another young gun ahead of preliminary finalLogan Morris already has 144 goals and two premierships from just 69 matches for the Brisbane Lions. He plans to add to those tallies in the weeks and years ahead.
Read more »
Charlie Cameron eyes Hawks preliminary final as Lions lock in Logan MorrisCharlie Cameron prepares for Brisbane Lions preliminary final against Hawthorn at the MCG while Logan Morris signs a two-year extension through 2029 and Kai Lohmann remains unsigned beyond 2027.
Read more »