The Hawks have easily been the most active club over the off-season, so far landing nine recruits.

But Morgan was quick to question during the week whether the Hawks had "recruited well or simply added to their list."

Morgan also added "at this time of the year confirmed departures are often kept a lot quieter than recruits" and it was no surprise "they have recruited heavily as they tend to do."

"I'm not too sure where Luke is getting his mail from," Cresswell said.

"We have lost two players in Mat Medcraft and Tom McCaffrey .

"As far as saying we recruit heavily every year, for the previous six-years before my arrival at Rovers they didn't really recruit anyone which showed in their results.

"We topped up a little bit last season but we know we need to get better players into the group to be competitive against the better sides.

"Our recruits for next year will help the development of our younger players, having some role models.

"Having Tyson (Hartwig), Ryan (Stone) and Alex (Marklew) come back is really pivotal in our future success."

IN OTHER NEWS

One of the biggest talking points of the Hawks' recruiting blitz is how Cresswell will manage their list.

The club was under the most points pressure of all sides in the competition last season after Cresswell also recruited heavily after crossing from Wodonga Raiders.

"You have to be calculated in who you recruit," he said.

"You can't just go out and say he's available - I'll grab him.

"The recruits we have brought in I have got extensive knowledge of.

"We are really comfortable recruiting-wise, we are training hard but there are no guarantees in footy and a lot of things are going to have to go right for us to improve further.

"Certainly from my perspective I'm more than satisfied on where we sit compared to this time 12 months ago.

"A lot of people are quick to forget we were coming off a winless wooden spoon."

Cresswell said he was also mindful of promoting the club's youth after its thirds won the flag in 2018.

"When we beat Yarrawonga this year we had seven players who played in the thirds flag the previous year," he said.

"So we are bringing through our kids but they need some good players around them.

"Otherwise they will soon lose their confidence and passion.

"There is a real buzz around the club and its a positive place to be around."

Cresswell tipped Lavington hard to topple in its quest for back-to-back flags with Myrtleford the biggest threat.

"I can't go past Lavington as the team to beat," he said.

"In my opinion Lavington were dominant even though Wangaratta beat them twice during the year.

"Myrtleford with Dawson Simpson will be better again.

"Jake Sharp was a first-year coach and will only benefit by the experience."