Josh Gibson isn’t sure whether AFL teammate Brad Hill’s mid-season meeting with Fremantle will become common across the league.

But Gibson suggests Hawthorn have no issue with it, saying the three-time reigning premiers pride themselves on being frank with one another.

Hill, who is homesick, recently visited Perth to meet with Dockers coach Ross Lyon.

Similar trips have attracted plenty of angst and scorn in recent seasons, even earlier this year when Western Bulldog Lin Jong inspected the facilities at Collingwood.

Some former players have been aghast at Hill’s trip west but the Hawks were aware and happy.

“Footy is changing … there’s going to be different scenarios that you didn’t see 10 years ago,” Gibson said on Tuesday.

“I can’t speak on behalf of everyone and every footy club environment. We’ve got a pretty good group here that is tight and we talk about a lot of things.”

Hill responded to the headlines in the best possible fashion, playing his best game of the season.

The 23-year-old tallied 31 disposals in the Hawks’ 70-point win over Richmond on Sunday.

“You look at the way Hilly played and I think it was great for him to get it off his chest,” Gibson said.

“He was relaxed when he played.

“We’re not going to keep talking about it. He’s got a job to do, as do we.”

Hill has insisted he hasn’t made any final decision.

The speedster, who is the younger brother of Dockers star Stephen, admitted he was “a bit nervous” telling teammates about the visit.

“Clarko (coach Alastair Clarkson) brought me in with the leaders, they spoke to me and they were very good about the way they said it to me, made me feel a bit more comfortable,” Hill said.

“They’ve done a lot for me over the time, (now I want to) repay them with playing some good footy.”