Did We Write Off Hawthorn Too Soon?

[Lunchlady Doris]

You wouldn’t want to find out either though.

Even though we could have easily lost, we already played without Dangerfield.

It's a pointless hypothetical, but those two were such a strong combination for you on Monday and while I thought O'Meara was servicable, Shiels is a GOP and Howe has a lot of development ahead of him.

 

[Lunchlady Doris]

Did we Declare the Cats premiership candidates too soon?

All star midfield has been reamed twice in a row and I don't think the trip west will be pretty for them. Enjoy the carnage

Who did that?

Not sure reamed is the right word - will be interesting to see if Smith is brought back in this week for sure.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I guess but 2 weeks in isn’t really a sample pool to hang your hat on. But yeah no doubt they definitely aren’t the worst. Looking forward to Jaegar getting match fit and hopefully one of the young bucks can earn a spot.

For sure. No arguments there.

With a bit of luck Glass, Lovell, Morrison and O’Rourke all compete for spots in the next month.

 

[Happy Mastenator]

Who did that?

Not sure reamed is the right word - will be interesting to see if Smith is brought back in this week for sure.

Smith must play surely. If mcevoy can take Stanley apart Nic Nat and lycett will do nasty nasty things

 

[Pessimistic]

Smith must play surely. If mcevoy can take Stanley apart Nic Nat and lycett will do nasty nasty things

Agreed, but big boy is having an excellent start. He’s in the conversation

 

[Scotland]

Nick Riewoldt made an interesting point pre-game on Monday that (both former teammates) Stanley is an explosive athlete and Big Boy is not and would wear him down over the course of 4 quarters with endurance. From my vantage point on the couch Big Boy beat him by just being a better footballer. A few times Stanley was inside defensive 50 and looked like had no idea where he was supposed to position himself.

 

[Happy Mastenator]

Agreed, but big boy is having an excellent start. He’s in the conversation

No doubt, but his strengths lie more around the ground than the ruck tap, where Nic Nat is king

 

[Foxx1]

As a hawks fan (obviously) I will say this. The style of play is so much better than last year. Who knows at this stage but they are looking more complete.

 

[Lunchlady Doris]

Smith must play surely. If mcevoy can take Stanley apart Nic Nat and lycett will do nasty nasty things

I'd rate McEvoy above both of them at the moment, and over Lycett by quite a way.

 

[Philhawk]

If we are honest, this has been the mood of the average Hawks fan over the past decade as we watch our team.

08-11: We have a terrific young team, we won one let’s try to nab a couple.

12-15: We have the best team in the competition by far

16: Our team is probably over the hill, but with Clarkson coaching we could surprise a few

17: Too many injuries to do anything, but getting some good young time into kids under the Clarko system.

18: We have topped up the list with trades and some good young kids - and Clarke now has the chance to work his magic with a team that has some games in them.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Nick Riewoldt made an interesting point pre-game on Monday that (both former teammates) Stanley is an explosive athlete and Big Boy is not and would wear him down over the course of 4 quarters with endurance. From my vantage point on the couch Big Boy beat him by just being a better footballer. A few times Stanley was inside defensive 50 and looked like had no idea where he was supposed to position himself.

McEvoy is the number 1 ruckman in the comp since the start of 2017, according to Champion Data(which won't mean a lot to some).

He gets a bit of a bad wrap, though.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Nick Riewoldt made an interesting point pre-game on Monday that (both former teammates) Stanley is an explosive athlete and Big Boy is not and would wear him down over the course of 4 quarters with endurance. From my vantage point on the couch Big Boy beat him by just being a better footballer. A few times Stanley was inside defensive 50 and looked like had no idea where he was supposed to position himself.

Stanley got destroyed. Seems to have added weight that makes him slower around the ground and no more effective in contests.

 

[frggr]

Stanley got destroyed. Seems to have added weight that makes him slower around the ground and no more effective in contests.

It's additional hair product.

 

[frggr]

Can we wait to anoint Hawks until they beat someone other than the Pies who are terrible, and a Cats team who managed to put out a team with only three players taller than 193cm, including Blicavs who isn't a key position player, Stanley who is one of the worst rucks in the league and Hawkins who can't leave the forward 50.

Good points.

It was also a team that included 13 sub-50 gamers, which includes 6 sub-20 gamers and a debutant. No 'real' ruck or KPD, either.

I think the Cats will be fine. It was only a point and the fightback shows they've still got grit.

The game next week should be more telling, I reckon. Can't wait. It's going to be a cracker!

 

[Paul Kersey]

Reckon the Eagles will kill 'em. Geelong always flat post Hawthorn and travelling to Perth for the Eagles, oh my. Hoping for more Liam Ryan magic.

 

[Sixpence]

Tigers game is interesting

Hard to tip that one

I wouldn't be surprised to see both Hawks and Cats lose this week. That last quarter was one of the most frantic quarters I've seen. The pace just didn't drop off all game. Both sides will be a little knackered from the effort.

 

[Sixpence]

Nick Riewoldt made an interesting point pre-game on Monday that (both former teammates) Stanley is an explosive athlete and Big Boy is not and would wear him down over the course of 4 quarters with endurance. From my vantage point on the couch Big Boy beat him by just being a better footballer. A few times Stanley was inside defensive 50 and looked like had no idea where he was supposed to position himself.

How is an explosive athlete meant to wear down an endurance athlete? Big Boy always comes in the top 3-5 at our 2km time trials. You won't be wearing him down with endurance any time soon. Don't think Roo thought that one through.

 

[hawkman]

I wouldn't be surprised to see both Hawks and Cats lose this week. That last quarter was one of the most frantic quarters I've seen. The pace just didn't drop off all game. Both sides will be a little knackered from the effort.

29 degrees also forecast in Melbourne on Sunday

 

[Scotland]

How is an explosive athlete meant to wear down an endurance athlete? Big Boy always comes in the top 3-5 at our 2km time trials. You won't be wearing him down with endurance any time soon. Don't think Roo thought that one through.

He said McEvoy would wear down Stanley, not the other way around.

Stanley is a pretty ordinary player, always has been. He's a good long set shot and fast on the lead but pretty terrible at everything else.

 

[Sixpence]

He said McEvoy would wear down Stanley, not the other way around.

Stanley is a pretty ordinary player, always has been. He's a good long set shot and fast on the lead but pretty terrible at everything else.

Ah right, that makes more sense, misinterpreted your post.

 

[Scotland]

Ah right, that makes more sense, misinterpreted your post.

All good. I have some hope for Riewoldt in the media. Not particularly charismatic but at least tries to add something of value from his own observations.

 

[Slysh]

It's funny that a lot of the same people that are saying it's only two weeks and we need to see more before we can say they are any good, are the same people that were happy to write us off and say we are shit before even playing a game...

I do agree that it is too early to judge us yet, but it's still kinda funny.

 

[parsons nose]

The big question marks coming into this season has been around two areas of concern.

1). Whether or not the likes of Smith, Shiels, Stratton and to a lesser extend Gunston and Breust would be able to recapture their premiership era form, or had the successes sated their hunger for more success

2) Would we be able to get OMeara on the park often enough to bolster the midfield stocks and ensure competitiveness in this area of the ground.

The early indicators are positive on both fronts. The form of the former has been encouraging thus far. Smith and Shiels played their best game in 18 months on the weekend. Gunston and Breust are once again proving a dangerous combination up forward. And Stratton has provided the necessary leadership in the back half of the ground.

O’Meara is moving without restrictions and there would be an expectation that his output will continue to increase as he gets more games under his belt.

Coupled with this is a complete overhaul of the way we play. More focus on contested ball, particularly through the midfield and attention to stoppages. While maintaining our stock in trade of creating pressure in the forward fifty.

It’s looking increasingly likely that a finish in the top half of the ladder looks almost certain, barring injuries to key players.

 

[JD888]

It’s looking increasingly likely that a finish in the top half of the ladder looks almost certain, barring injuries to key players.

Please wait until (at least) after Richmond/Melbourne before calling it a certainty.. Win against Richmond & Melbourne and then it's another story.

 

[Gibbke]

Nick Riewoldt made an interesting point pre-game on Monday that (both former teammates) Stanley is an explosive athlete and Big Boy is not and would wear him down over the course of 4 quarters with endurance. From my vantage point on the couch Big Boy beat him by just being a better footballer. A few times Stanley was inside defensive 50 and looked like had no idea where he was supposed to position himself.

McEvoy is close to being Hawthorn's most important player in some respects. Take him out, and you need to do a fair bit of reshuffling to cover his absence, which means moving Roughead here, Schoenmakers over there, little guys adjusting to Plan B, etc. And the fact he's just such a smart and effective player - so many times I've watched us get out of potential trouble simply because the ball went to him...

Recruiting second chance ruckmen - Rehn, Salmon, Byrne, Spider, McEvoy - we've done that well over the decades -