While the Hawks' general manager of player personnel and strategy Chris Pelchen has warned that the club won't trade if the asking price is too high, he has identified the Bulldogs forward and Kangaroos ruckman as targets.
However he has refused to comment on the defender in their sights, except to say it's not Chris Tarrant.
"It would be fair to say we've got some interest in Josh Hill," he said on afl.com.au's Trade Week Radio after revealing he had met with the Bulldogs a couple of weeks ago and again on Tuesday.
"We've spoken to Josh and his manager. It's still early days; I wouldn't suggest a deal is about to be done and we haven't put a formal offer to the Bulldogs for Josh.
"We've certainly opened discussions so it would be fair to say we've got interest there."
Pelchen said he believed Hale's future would be at either Melbourne or Hawthorn, with the Hawks to play him in a hybrid role if they won his services.
"We don't see him as being a stay at home forward, whether that be full-forward or centre half-forward, and we don't see him as being a stand-alone ruck," he said.
"We're delighted with the progress and development of Brent Renouf this year and we fully expect that Max Bailey will come back as early as round one next year. He's back in full training now after his latest knee rehabilitation.
"With David, we see him as a genuine hybrid forward/ruckman, and that's how we plan to use him if we get a deal done."
Pelchen conceded Melbourne had the inside lane when it came to recruiting the big man, considering draft picks and the status of talks with Hale's manager, but said the Hawks remained a genuine chance.
"We have firm interest in him and we believe the interest is worthwhile. If we believed we were going to be outbid and had nothing to offer the Kangaroos, we just wouldn't enter into discussions," he said.
He also says the club did have genuine interest in Tarrant but have conceded he is Collingwood bound.
He also denied interest in Port Adelaide forward Daniel Motlop, whose name has been bounced around already this week.
"I wouldn't suggest with have strong interest in Daniel. We certainly respect him as a player but we're going down other paths," he said.
Pelchen also said the club wouldn't trade Carl Peterson and believed the forward would either remain a Hawk or not play football at all next year, depending on his personal issues.
Follow our complete coverage of the 2010 AFL exchange period from October 5-11. No trades are official until paperwork has been accepted by the AFL and formally recognised after 2pm on Monday, October 11.
Join the AFL trade conversation on Twitter: use #tradeweek in your tweets.
