2009 - not a wasted year

[nigelbs]

A lot has been written about 2009 - spending most of the year with a skeleton defence and culminating with a make shift forward line. So be it.

That aside a number of positives came out of this season.

Josh Kennedy - Progressing nicely, with a good pre-season I am hopeful he will be 'in the 22' next year. Key point - he can find the footy.

Brent Renouf - Stood up manfully yesterday. Big men take time, don't forget he has still only played a handful of games. Big upside.

Ben McGlynn - Improved in all areas, except disposal. Love his work ethic. If he can improve his disposal I see him as a certain starter each week.

Max Bailey - When fit, our number one ruckman (no offense Robert Campbell). Hopefully injury is not serious. If he is able to play next year it will make a huge difference to us. Has the potential to be our most important player... not best, but most important.

Junior Boy Rioli - Continues to amaze. Enjoy watching him play more than any other player in the AFL. All he needs to do is convert some of those behinds into goals.

Ryan Schoenmakers - Pleased he has been given the opportunity to string a few games together. Early days but I expect him to be a 200 game key position player for us.

Liam Shiels - Look at his work ethic, look at him dive in after the ball. Courage in the Hodge/Mitchell mode. Looking forward to seeing him develop in the next few years to be one of our elite.

Beau Dowler - Starting to believe in himself. That mark in in front above his head when running flat out was a gem. Will be a handy player at least, at best, could become a key.

Gary Moss, Brendan Whitecross, Shane Savage, Riley Milne - good to get game time into them. They will all be better for 2009.

Three others that I have to mention.

Campbell Brown - I ignore the comments made by other club's supporters, none of whom would have the guts to say it to his face. Brown will never be the most skillful player, cannot be expected to burst a game open with a '3 goals in 5 minutes' effort, but... he is a player every club would want playing for them in the finals where courage is paramount - the courage to back into a pack knowing you will be crunched - seen him do it many times. Would do anything for this club... in another era he would have been captain. You can understand why Sheedy watched him play at Scotch College, only to see us nab him in the draft, and then tried to broker a trade at the end of his first season. In this age of 'spin' he is one of the few who says what he believes.

Sam Mitchell - The 'quiet achiever'. Franklin, Hodge, Roughead, Rioli etc take the limelight, however never underestimate the contribution of Mitchell. Cool in a crisis, never wastes the ball, puts his body on the line, leads by example...

Luke Hodge - our 'ruckman'. Mr 'I will do whatever it takes'. Everyone talks about Buddy's winning goal against Adelaide in the 2007 elimination final. I will never forget the site of Hodge hobbling from the ground, game over, season over... only to see him come back on with a leg stapped from top to bottom, straight into the centre, driving the ball forward... and culminating in the pass to Franklin to allow him to kick the winning goal. When you talk about players who have given their all for our club... Arthur, Crimmins, Matthews etc remember to include Hodge.

Considering we were 'the hunted' this year with everyone dissecting our game plan and wanting to 'beat the premiers', our run of injuries, and our young side, it wasn't so bad a year.

Back in 1996 I never thought I would see another Hawthorn premiership.

No-one can take away the 2008 flag - I am still enjoying it.

 

[macmate]

top post

 

[The BIG X]

Agree it is a top post and 2009 is not a wasted year - sure we expected more and better performances however we are a young list and the games put into our new breed will benefit our club in the years to come.

GO HAWKS

 

[WooDawg]

Top post. People are delusional if they think footy clubs can win 80% of games and reach the GF every year. We managed to win the GF by having our best 22 on the park when it mattered in 2008. The emergencies for the GF were Tuck, Murphy and Taylor (I think) and stokes was next in line. Shows how little depth we had last year. After 2009 we know that Shiels is set to become a crowd favourite, Schoenmakers has progressed heaps since Round 1 and very few of us would have thought Kennedy would be in the best 22. McGlynn is probably most improved this year, earlier in the year I loved his attack at the ball, but hated him kicking it, now he slots 1-2 goals every week and is probably our most consistent player of the last 8-10 rounds.
I was sad to take off my guernsey and scarf for last time yesterday, but can't wait for 2010 in the knowledge we have more than 22 players capable of making our best 22.

 

[nigelbs]

Too arrogant after winning it last year, not enough endeavour this season, you gave up in more than half your games and the bottom half of your list was exposed dreadfully. Went to the bulldogs game earlier in the year when you didnt kick a goal till half time or whatever and am still adamant melbourne would have beaten you that night. Your team has been pathetic, hypocritical and soft. Cheers

Thank you for reading the thred demondavey, and like everyone, you are entitled to your opinion.

Personally I wouldn't use the terms 'pathetic', 'hypocritical' or 'soft' about any team in the AFL. It doesn't matter if you play for the premiers or the wooden spooners it takes a certain level of talent and courage to have reached the level of AFL.

I have been to a number of games this season and I would say the reasons for our losses include...

1. Outplayed - looking through the season I would not count many losses as 'unlucky to lose'. I would say we have been beaten by a better team on the day.

2. Game plan exposed - other clubs had worked out ways to combat the 'cluster' during the off season.

3. Injuries - not an excuse, a fact. I don't care which team it is, if 5 of your 6 defenders are out for a a considerable length of time you will struggle. Some other teams may have been able to cover the losses but with such a young list we struggled. Hawthorn is not the first team to have a season adversely affected by a string of injuries, I recall it happening to St Kilda a few years back where they struggled to get their key players on the ground. The reverse being Sydney who in 2005/6 were able to keep their 'A' team on the park. Their depth at the time was very limited and if they had experienced a string of key injuries to their key players I dare say their seasons would have been very different.

Only those in the inner circle would know if 'arrogance', or 'lack of endeavour' were, or were not, part of the problem. How many times have we watched a player and thought, 'he didn't chase hard enough' or 'why doesn't he stand shoulder to shoulder with his opponent'. The point being we don't know why... 'He didn't chase' could be because he is on one leg but has been told to stay out there, 'he wasn't shoulder to shoulder' could be because instructions were stand 10 metres in front.

In reference to the Bulldogs game, we need to be mindful not to take credit from the Bulldogs. How much of that scoreline was due to Hawthorn's bad play as distinct from the Bulldogs good play? The key point I took out of that game was that a large number of Hawthorn players' mistakes were caused by Bulldog pressure. As soon as a Hawthorn player got the ball they were tackled - it was one of the best examples of pressure I have witnessed. Rather than saying Melbourne would have beaten Hawthorn that day... I think the more profound statement would be... the Bulldogs would have beaten anyone that day. FWIW Melbourne 2009 would not have applied the level of pressure the Bulldogs applied.

Demondavey you are building a good list which will hopefully lead to the ultimate success for Melbourne supporters at some stage.

I have been lucky witnessing 10 Hawthorn flags during my lifetime and when we aren't in contention I hope the Bulldogs, Saints or Demons can succeed so others can experience the ultimate joy.

Cheers

 

[Lethal44]

I agree 2009 has not been a wasted year, the experience some of the young players have gained this year is invaluable. Will be interesting to see which young players hold their place in the team when the more experienced players return from injury.

 

[noosa hawk mad]

with 8 blooded youngsters it will hold us in good stead for years to come

 

[madhawkboy]

We should have some depth now with those players. 2010 looks good!

 

[Camnstell]

Great post Nigelbs - think we need to take a look at the positive of this 'down year'. Obviously I'd love to be organising a pass from the lovely to watch the boys play for the ultimate prize over the next month but of all the years to miss the finals this is it......

We got invaluable time into the likes of Shoey, Muston, Shiels, WhiteX, K3, Dowler & Savage. Junior took a big step forward, so did McGlynn and we have a top 10 pick in the last uncompromised draft before GC17 & Western Syd take half of the top 20 for the next 5 years.

A fit & healthy list with full preseasons, experience & a taste of the big time for the kids & a Pelchen gem at pick 9 will set us up for many September assaults from 2010. Cant wait - only 7 months till round 1.