Review 2023 Hawthorn Mid-Season check in : Liked, disliked and hated?

[Strapping Young Lad]

We're halfway through the season, so it's time a bit of a review.

What have you liked, disliked and hated?




Liked: Our renovated midfield is performing better than expected, and the footy dept seem to have nailed their decisions over summer.

Disliked: The forward half connection for large parts of the season to dare had been horrible to watch.

Hated: All the Harley Reid bullshit.

 

[crazywildhorse]

Liked: the way Mitchell goes about it. The positivity, the creativity the inclusivity. Great constructive attitude.

Dislike: The saga and the carrying on of the media in particular.

Hated: still Carlton, Geelong and Essendong

 

[Brishawk]

Liked the improvement we have shown. Liked winning.

Disliked getting flogged by the bombers and cats. **** that!

 

[Philhawk]

Liked: Sam Mitchell. We have a special coach here.

Disliked: DGB being out of the team. I'm not saying he deserves it on form - but his development is a key part of our rebuild, else we risk going back to draft to use another key piece of capital to get a top KPD.

Hated: Damo. **** that guy.

 

[eldorado]

Liked: Snippets of what's coming up in years to come, green shoots sprouting against the Saints, and an irresistable 3rd quarter against Brisbane

Disliked: The media telling us that we're tanking to finish last for Harley Reid, and some of our own fans saying that's exactly what we should be doing.

Hated: Sitting through the 3rd quarter against the Cats...22 inside 50s to 1, 10.5 to nothing...a massacre reminsicint of Fitzroy at their worst...never again

 

[Cyril says]

Liked: Jai, Day, Worps, Nash, Mitch Lewis, and all the other green shoots. 2024 is going to be a ride.

Liked: Sam’s pressers. Win or lose - same temperament.

Liked: The wins and the second half against Port.

 

[moginie]

Liked: The high octane running, sharing, sweeping way our attack has been over the past four weeks. It's exhilarating stuff.

Disliked: The tanking bullshït. It was a soft target attack by a load of flat track bullies.

Hated: Fade outs against the drug cheats and Geelong and the awful first half against Melbourne. Also the non-call against Rankin that enabled the crows to get over the line.

 

[Roddy]

Liked: the way we’re slowly but surely building towards something very special.

Disliked: short-sighted, ignorant fans who can’t see that we’re building towards something very special, who crap all over themselves about half the players on our list after every loss.

 

[The Sizzle Factor]

Disliked: making the effort to take my kids to what turned out to be the most insipid Hawthorn game of all time, ie Freo. Had to go home and watch the last quarter of 2013 on repeat for a week.

Liked: the second coming of Leigh Matthews

 

[Mitchell Madness]

Liked - the green shoots

Disliked - the toxicity of some fans (many happy to have a laugh and discussion though)

Hated - suspensions

 

[humid hawk]

Liked: The energy when we are playing on our terms, and Sam's philosophies on how footy should be played.

Disliked: How a small band of supporters turned on the team and coach after 2 games - even though we knew this year was going to be tough.

Hated: Every aspect and angle of the racism case. There are no winners here and it's been a dumpster fire ever since the leak occured.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Liked: The desire to win. Winning is great - but the absolute want to win in those losses to Adelaide and GWS and the disappointment the side had in being pipped at the last moment in those games - coupled with the joy on the players' faces when we beat St Kilda. Improvement in the kids is amazing - but the overall want to win is what will couple so well with the talent progression as time goes on. Our coach being a competitive beast is clearly rubbing off on the players.

Disliked: Hawthorn supporters on our social channels getting angry when we beat St Kilda. Cheering on losses is Carlton-level pissant behaviour that I hate seeing anyone who claims to be a supporter of this club engaging in.

Hated: The media narratives. First it was tanking then it was draft pick stripping. The hatchet jobs coming for our club from a handful of hate-filled hacks who are as much a journalist as a drug dealer is a pharmacist. These hate merchants are a blight on the game and that they are employed by the governing body in some cases is just bizarre.

 

[Dewnior]

Liked: Everyone inside the club buying in to Sam's plan

Disliked: The incessant behaviour of those outside the club trying to pull us down

Hated: Purple's disgusting face

 

[Noel Gallagher]

Liked:
Connor Nash averaging 25+ possessions and fast becoming the most feared midfield bull in the competition
Connor McDonald showing that he will most likely become an elite goal kicking midfielder
Connor Mack already showing that he will most likely become an elite goal kicking midfielder
James Worpel

5

James Worpel

Age

25

Ht

186cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

23.5

5star

K

12.2

5star

HB

11.3

5star

M

2.9

3star

T

4.5

5star

CL

5.1

5star

No current season stats available

D

15.6

4star

K

6.2

3star

HB

9.4

5star

M

1.0

1star

T

3.2

5star

CL

1.8

4star

reminding everyone that his Peter Crimmins win in his second year was no fluke

Disliked:

Hated/ The flog that is Damien Barrett and all his tanking crap
Yet another concussion to Max Lynch, just terrible news, was ready to fire as a ruckman resting forward

 

[grumbleguts]

Liked: everything to do with the rebuild
Disliked: purple's stupid response to the rebuild
Hated: all the off field crap.

 

[mknaven]

Liked: Our win over the Saints. Lots of guts & determination shown in that win. Was super important from a belief perspective imo.
Disliked: Sicily missing matches from suspension(s). Lewis' absence rendering our fwd line impotent.
Hated: The shallow and basic media tanking accusations.

Looking forward to: Further improvement in the 2nd half of the season, with our youngsters retaining their spot in the team ahead of some more seasoned team mates.

 

[Endorphin Machine]

Liked: the development of the midfield , particularly Day, Newcombe & Nash . The further consolidation of Lewis as a bonafide FF. General team spirit and unity .

Disliked: Our foward line without Lewis , and our backline without Sicily. Still gaps in these areas to fill.
Conversion rate also needs to improve .

Hated: Third quarter capitulations &
backline brainfades .

 

[wahawk]

Liked - the green shoots

Disliked - the toxicity of some fans (many happy to have a laugh and discussion though)

Hated - suspensions

Liked - watching the young hawks play

Dislike - reading the game day thread when posters put shite on our players, young &/or older

Hate - don’t really hate anyone or anything

 

[KermitJagger]

Liked: the continual bits of improvement we've showed over the season, the performances of Newc, Day, Nasher and all the other lads, Sam Mitchell's pressers. Been an enjoyable bottom 4 year so far.

Dislike: this board after losses.

Hate: the media circus, the MRO / Tribunal crapshoot, the AFL being the AFL

 

[Mr Lizard]

liked:
Mitch Lewis back in the side
Seamus Mitchell
Sam Mitchell
emphatically silencing all the idiots' talk of tanking

disliked:
watching footy with the sound on

hate:
leads to anger, and so on. heavy is heavy, my heart is sad

 

[Slainte]

Liked: a midfield that worked for the first time in years while JOM and Titch get a chance to play finals with contending clubs: win-win.
Disliked: getting smashed for periods of play
Hated: not showing a bit more vs Geelong

Having said all that I am genuinely happy with our progress this year and not too fussed about the losses. We are on the right track and Sam Mitchell seems to be doing a great job in all aspects of the coaching role. Better than I expected - I knew he was smart and committed but I had no idea he would be so comfortable in the job.

 

[Elhawko]

Liked the revival of Newk and development of Nash.

Disliked how badly pulled apart we are when we are not switched on.

Hated the racism saga.

 

[TylerDurden]

Liked - the new midfield. And the second coming of Worpel.

Disliked - opening the floodgates and letting sides absolutely embarrass us for quarters.

Hated - the media narrative around the saga, the tanking, Barrett, the whole shit show. How disrespected our club has been during a rebuild that we were pushed to do. It's the ugly side of humans and how they love crushing others even when they're down. I've flipping despised the media.

 

[CHUBBSS]

Liked: everything and every player, seriously having a really fun season with some great stories coming through. Combined with some genuine talent and emerging plus very determined group - we are building a strong culture to have some sustained success.

Our players, list manager and coach are starting to shine…

Hated & Disliked: the AFL head office and management as a whole

 

[extractasam]

Liked - Karl Amon

10

Karl Amon

Age

29

Ht

181cm

Wt

71kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

9.7

4star

HB

6.8

4star

M

3.4

3star

T

2.6

4star

MG

294.5

4star

D

21.0

5star

K

15.0

5star

HB

6.0

3star

M

6.0

5star

T

2.0

3star

D

10.4

3star

K

6.8

3star

HB

3.6

3star

M

2.6

3star

T

2.0

4star

MG

146.8

3star

. Haven’t heard boo about him anywhere in the media. He is the exact type of recruit we needed and changes the angles for us really well. Getting better every week.

Disliked - No prime time games at all. I get we are bad, but one would’ve been nice. Put us against an arch rival, the people will come.

Hated - The suspensions and the second half against the cats.