After three flags and nine finals appearances in ten years, it was only a matter of time before the AFL’s equalisation structure dictated that Hawthorn would tumble down the ladder. While Hawks fans might have hoped for a soft landing, instead they’ve fallen off a cliff.
Dating back to the trade period last October, next to nothing has gone right for Alastair Clarkson’s team.
They gave up too much for the injury-plagued Jaeger O’Meara. Ty Vickery continues to frustrate as he did at Richmond. Veteran stars Luke Hodge, Shaun Burgoyne and Josh Gibson are quickly coming to the end of their magnificent careers. Injuries have cost Cyril Rioli, James Frawley, Grant Birchall, Ben Stratton and Jonathon Ceglar plenty of games. And while recruit Tom Mitchell has been excellent, he can’t have been expected to replace the loss of contested bulls Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis on his own.
This has all led to a current placing of 17th on the AFL ladder, a 4-8 record and a percentage of 76% – just six percent ahead of perennial battlers, Brisbane.
Some of Hawthorn’s performances have been downright awful, particularly a 75-point hammering by St Kilda at their former fortress in Launceston, consecutive beltings by Geelong and Gold Coast and 0.3 first half against Port Adelaide – the lowest scoring first half in club history.
There have been a few bright spots. Ryan Burton is a future star, Blake Hardwick has shown some promise in defence and the return of Jarrad Roughead after his cancer scare has been inspirational.
However the bottom line is that the Hawks are staring down the barrel of a very significant rebuild.
Alastair Clarkson has achieved more than just about any coach in the history of AFL football but returning this team to competitiveness any time soon may be his biggest challenge yet.
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