'Backing myself': Hawk flying with better AFL mindset

Somewhere between making his AFL debut and the start of last season, Josh Ward had gotten in his own way.

The midfielder was left out of the Hawthorn side for their round-one match. A 2022 Rising Star nominee, he was being too hard on himself.

Ward was brought back in round two and has not missed a beat since. Saturday's preliminary final against Brisbane at the MCG will be his 50th-consecutive game.

Last year, Ward won Hawthorn's most improved player award and he has continued to build on that turnaround.

"A big thing for me has been just being comfortable with the ball. I feel like as a junior that was one of my biggest strengths," Ward said this week.

"I didn't quite being that straight away in my AFL career. As I've gotten more experienced, I've been able to become more composed and bring back a bit more of what I feel like is one of my strengths.

Thanks to advice from club psychologist and former AFL player Ed Barlow, Ward realised he belonged.

"Ed Barlow has been massive for me over the last couple of years, being able to move on from mistakes and keep backing myself in when I've made errors," Ward said.

"I've always been a bit of a perfectionist and in the past, gotten down on myself after a few mistakes.

"A quiet quarter has taken me out of the game. So being able to work through that and re-set has been a big growth area over the last two years."

It also hasn't hurt that Ward is no longer on social media. In a week where Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson and Callum Ah Chee have reported vile online abuse, Ward is happily offline.

"I've been lucky. I haven't experienced as much as a lot of players have," he said.

"It hasn't been as much of an issue personally, but it's obviously a terrible thing to happen.

"You can have 10 good comments, but the bad one is what sticks with you and people need to realise the impact that can have.