Training 2025 Off-Season & Preseason reports and discussion

[cs61]

Last year our midfield was dominating with Newk, Worpel and Day in the run home. Yet into the run to the finals the 'Brains Trust' kept saying 'The one issue with the Hawks don't have any super stars in the midfield'. It took for Newcombe to completely rip apart the Bulldogs in the finals (after doing it many times during the year) for some to finally say "Newcombe is pretty good actually...".

Not only is our midfield good, the size of having Meek, Newcombe, Nash, Worpel, Day, combined with our running power which is elite, is a really daunting mix for the opponents. Worpel is much stronger than he looks, and Day is as tough as nails, and the others are monsters but also athletic. After the Collingwood game the media went hysterical with our celebrations, Ginnivan and the 'Hollywood Hawks', but we witnessed a mix of ruthless toughness at the contest in the wet, and incredible outside run, to completely smash Collingwood. That game was a sign of the longer term potential of this group, in probably of the most tough and skilful wet weather games I've seen from a Hawk's side. Yet the media were more interested in what happened between the ball being passed back to the umpire after a goal, then they were when the ball was in dispute. So it's no wonder our midfield has been under-rated.

 

[TheFourPillars]

I have said this before when u play as a team u naturally share the load. The outcomes are no dominant players but great efficiency in attack and defence. It's what wins games and premierships

 

[tommyk72]

How many All-Australians did we have in 2013-15 again?

 

[Randy Campbell]

How many All-Australians did we have in 2013-15 again?

It's an award that helps, to let losers feel better about themselves.

 

[stevehawkington]

It's an award that helps, to let losers feel better about themselves.

Does help with when players cross over into media. Plenty of All australians that did not win cups that commentate, Jobe Watson, Nick Riewolt, Luke Darcy, these types. They need to be able to say these guys contributed, justifying thier media positions.

 

[Howe Amazing]

I have said this before when u play as a team u naturally share the load. The outcomes are no dominant players but great efficiency in attack and defence. It's what wins games and premierships

Spot on we are building a team with no weak links and now depth that is what wins flags

 

[peetoo]

Jobe Watson?

 

[Hawkthorn33]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, is there a set date for the annual intra-club game .

Thank you

 

[Pinoy Hawk]

Why is our midfield ranking so low?

I thought we should be higher.

But as what TheFourPillars has mentioned, it's the end result what matters.

 

[matey]

Pretty sure I read a midfield ranking the other day and we were ranked 5th best ….. can’t remember where I read it maybe foxfooty

 

[MasterSamurai]

Ranking of midfields by footy journos or so called experts obviously isn't important, it's a good conversation piece for us to chew the fat over in this time of no footy action. To me, we have the one of the best, top 3 or 4 in the league anyway. Remember, a midfield mix of Mitchell, Lewis, Smith, Hodge, Burgoyne, Sewell and Shiels wasn't all that highly rated either, but, it was the best performing mix in the comp for about 5-6 years! Gimme cups over rankings any day.

 

[matey]

Another thing that the midfield ranking doesn’t consider is how our small forwards push up the ground running +10km a game helping out the midfield in transition and applying pressure and how our backs are often running hard forward doing the same delivering the ball into our forwards or having shots at goal. Under Sam’s game style the thought of the traditional midfield group in the middle of the ground has been thrown out the window!

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Another thing that the midfield ranking doesn’t consider is how our small forwards push up the ground running +10km a game helping out the midfield in transition and applying pressure and how our backs are often running hard forward doing the same delivering the ball into our forwards or having shots at goal. Under Sam’s game style the thought of the traditional midfield group in the middle of the ground has been thrown out the window!

It's been a real revolution under Sam with how many kms our half forwards are covering.

I'm super big on Ginni this year he looks uber fit and primed to have massive year as that hard running half forward.

 

[bigmaxi]

It's been a real revolution under Sam with how many kms our half forwards are covering.

I'm super big on Ginni this year he looks uber fit and primed to have massive year as that hard running half forward.

Yep . The half forwards play high and give us more numbers around the ball, dragging their opposite numbers higher up the ground, and choke the opposition forward half then break fast back, into our open forward 50 to give our guys the best chance to mark/crumb and score. It is a thing of beauty.

They try the same thing and our elite interceptors in defence chop it off and relaunch the attack.

Cannot wait for this season. The evolution of Sam’s game plan will unfold. Bring it on.

 

[kazzooka]

It's been a real revolution under Sam with how many kms our half forwards are covering.

I'm super big on Ginni this year he looks uber fit and primed to have massive year as that hard running half forward.

There's a few new trends in the game that i've noticed that are mostly being done by Hawthorn and GWS and that's 1. heaps of running medium defenders 2. Half Forward Flank is now essentially a midfielder after the centre bounce. It's why you often see Macdonald, Moore and Ginnivan at stoppages at CHB.

 

[JZedd]

I feel we need to make a statement against the Swans. I hope the club trains in the night, considering how many night games we have.
If it's tight up to half time then I'll back us
to win.

 

[peetoo]

I feel we need to make a statement against the Swans. I hope the club trains in the night, considering how many night games we have.
If it's tight up to half time then I'll back us
to win.

It’s a tough first up fixture. Swans rarely play away and rarely lose first up.

If hawks win, it’s definitely on

 

[SSSSSS]

Our midfield might not be as sexy as some of the other teams but it was brutally efficient all season (even when we were losing).

We have so much size and endurance that we are going to absolutely grind teams down in the middle. Teams with star power will have periods of dominance where the cream rises to the top but good luck getting on top of us for four quarters.

If Day stays healthy and finds his goal kicking boots that is our X-factor.

 

[peetoo]

Our midfield might not be as sexy as some of the other teams but it was brutally efficient all season (even when we were losing).

We have so much size and endurance that we are going to absolutely grind teams down in the middle. Teams with star power will have periods of dominance where the cream rises to the top but good luck getting on top of us for four quarters.

If Day stays healthy and finds his goal kicking boots that is our X-factor.

I reckon Newk ‘resting’ forward could cause some opposition heartache too

 

[Hawkboy62]

I feel we need to make a statement against the Swans. I hope the club trains in the night, considering how many night games we have.
If it's tight up to half time then I'll back us
to win.

It's only a fortnight till our friendly againstthe Cats, at GMHBA. Hopefully on Foxtel? I can't wait to see how we match up after the trouncing we received last year. I think we will be goals better at the G.

Then our official preseason against the rejuvenated Doggies. Sanders ripped us one last year and is doing well by recent reports, along with some new recruits. Overall two good teams to have a hitout with.

Bring it on!

 

[Roddy]

Our midfield might not be as sexy as some of the other teams but it was brutally efficient all season (even when we were losing).

We have so much size and endurance that we are going to absolutely grind teams down in the middle. Teams with star power will have periods of dominance where the cream rises to the top but good luck getting on top of us for four quarters.

If Day stays healthy and finds his goal kicking boots that is our X-factor.

Been watching quite a few replays and highlights of games from '24, something that struck me was the number of times Meeky palmed or punched the ball beautifully down to a midfielder (eg Nuke) or small forward for a goal or at least a chain of possessions that led to a goal. Unstoppable.

 

[parsons nose]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, is there a set date for the annual intra-club game .

Thank you

They won’t be having one this year is the word.

 

[ahhhhhh]

They won’t be having one this year is the word.

Yep. Just confirmed by Edmund on SEN.

 

[CaptainWorpedo]

So ready for a game of footy, even a practice match to check out our development and some of the younger guys play!

Season 2025 must start with a Win, get our confidence up and then dominate as much as possible.

It would be really great to win our first 5 games to set the stand high, especially after last year.

 

[Blackhawk42]

There's a few new trends in the game that i've noticed that are mostly being done by Hawthorn and GWS and that's 1. heaps of running medium defenders 2. Half Forward Flank is now essentially a midfielder after the centre bounce. It's why you often see Macdonald, Moore and Ginnivan at stoppages at CHB.

I wonder if that plays a part in why our last 4 games against GWS have all been close arm wrestles that ended up with a very similar amount of goals in each game?

Final scores of 85, 72, 77, 75, 84, 82, 85, 79.

It's actually a crazy little on-field rivalry that's developed.