Opinion Hawks & free kicks

[OnTheRocks]

I am interested in the thoughts of the knowledgeable Hawks supporters on the reasons why we seem to have a favorable free kick deferential?
I get the impression that because free kicks are part of the game, that we are actually coached as to give away as few as possible. Not just the obvious ones that players know about & sometimes brain fade into giving away (Lewis & Hodge), but coached into structures that get rewarded because it forces the opposition into infringing upon our players.
I get the feeling that it is being enforced on our players as not to give away free kicks & is frowned upon unless it is to the benifit of the team to do so.
As Hawthorm stive to be the best club in Australia, it makes sense to play by the rules as not to give any opponent a free kick but also makes perfect sense to gain as many free kicks as possible & gain an advantage by doing so.
Is this another one of the little things that we do that make us so good?

This may have already been discussed, idk.

Oh and #freekickhawthorn

 

[Hawkthorn33]

It's simple, since Franklin left us our free kick count has been drastically reduced

 

[Mr Lizard]

#rubofthegreen
#maybeevenfactual

 

[hawksalltheway]

i think we are just the best drilled side in the comp....simple

you dont win 3 in a row by chance....

one of the few competitive advantages you can control these days is giving away free kicks....so if we are able to take that out of our game, wouldnt our differential improve?

 

[GrumpyOldFart]

Here's the current free kick stats from: http://www.afl.com.au/stats



I believe this table includes last night's game against the Swans.

Here's the "differential" Ladder

1 W. Bulldogs +76
2 West Coast +41
3 Collingwood +34
4 Nth Melb +27
5 Adelaide +21
6 Hawthorn +18
7 Essendon +17
8 Carlton +6
9 Melbourne -1
10 Sydney -13
11 Brisbane -15
12 Freo -16
13 GWS -18
14 Richmond -23
=15 Geelong -37
=15 Port Adel -37
=15 St Kilda -37
16 Gold Coast -54

Hope this helps!

 

[EIGHTYEIGHTEIGHTYNINE]

The biggest difference is the lack of demonstration by our players to decisions that go against us, gratuities to "Gary Ablett" aside. They more often concentrate on setting up the next play structure. I often notice dodgy decisions against the Hawks replayed during the coverage without comment: it's as if the commentators are unsure of themselves and think "well if the Hawthorn player didn't object then decision must have been correct" all while I'm losing my shit at home

 

[Bad Boy Beama]

This is what I posted in our Swans post game thread re free kicks

Swans supporters will complain about the fee kick difference, but we should point them to the tackle count. We got lots of holding the balls and incorrect disposal decisions go our way. To be honest for every one they paid to us they missed an additional one or two more.

Sydney kept on taking on the man thinking they would bust through tackles (they must have thought they were playing league (saw a lot of throws)), sometimes they did get through the tackle but mostly they didn't and were pinged. Even Hill got a free for a really nice tackle and was rewarded.

 

[The Jet From Poowong]

The last two weeks I have been in absolute awe at how well the umpires have paid the holding the ball/throw against the two worst offenders against us in recent years - Port and Syd (Rich being the other one). In the last two games our blokes have absolutely destroyed the opposition with their tackling and been rightfully rewarded.

If you take the tackler on and look to draw him in, and then you don't dispose it properly- it is holding/throwing the ball. It has been great watching this.

The general noise you hear about umpiring and Hawthorn is loser mentality. There is very little left for them to convince themselves that the Hawks are just too good.

 

[Scream]

Am I the only one who think's we haven't taken advantage of the leniency the umpires have to the little flick throws? Personally I don't like it in our game but some teams are getting a pretty big advantage in close by doing it.

 

[nickrebellious]

Honestly, its just team bias. Everyone wants us to lose so they'll only cry at the decisions in our favour while we will cry at calls that go against us. Good game to see this in was the Geelong/St Kilda game the other week. Geelong supporters swear they were hard done by while everyone that was going for the Saints says other wise. Watching the game there was just shit decisions and missed calls for both teams. Its pretty funny realising this and watching people argue on here. They will blindly write every wrong decision that goes against them all in row and then another poster will do the same for their team and you look at it all and it looks pretty even.

 

[bugalugs213]

Opposition fans going nuts over the hawks being mid-table in frees for differential, where they're so used to seeing them in the bottom 4.

 

[filly]

Look on last nights game the free kick differential was in our favor, but as another post mentioned Shitney got away with heaps of throws and IMO far too many holds on our players!!!!!!! I am getting the impression the players at our club are being really well drilled to not respond to bad decisions or teams like Norf trying to out muscle us. Concentrate on the systems even more diligently and win where it counts THE SCOREBOARD !!

 

[crazywildhorse]

Without counting, I am sure it Holding-the-ball has a lot to do with it. Our side tackles so effectively and clinically, that it draws a free kick instead of having ball just dribble out and a pack forming. Another one to look at would be how often the opposition infringes because of being caught massively out of position. Our players are so well drilled they will often be in spots where the opposition is not ready to cover.

 

[Boyler_Room]

So many times Sydney players were subtly holding our men running for the ball when they didn't have it and none were paid. Even then I realised I probably had Hawks goggles on with them.

 

[Roddy]

Once a certain ideology has been planted in the brains of the simple minded, it's almost impossible to shift. They cling to it like its gold, even if there's virtually zero facts, science, evidence etc to back it up, even if there's evidence upon evidence upon facts upon facts to prove the opposite is actually the case.
File the 'free kick Hawthorn' bollocks alongside 'all Muslims are terrorists', 'immigrunts are come to steel err jerbs', 'climate change is a hoax', 'the Liberal Party are better economic managers' etc etc etc....

 

[WireHawk]

Once a certain ideology has been planted in the brains of the simple minded, it's almost impossible to shift. They cling to it like its gold, even if there's virtually zero facts, science, evidence etc to back it up, even if there's evidence upon evidence upon facts upon facts to prove the opposite is actually the case.
File the 'free kick Hawthorn' bollocks alongside 'all Muslims are terrorists', 'immigrunts are come to steel err jerbs', 'climate change is a hoax', 'the Liberal Party are better economic managers' etc etc etc....

Roddy, you should post your comment on the main board. It's as perfect a summary on this subject as there could possibly be. Bravo!

 

[LuckyHawk]

Its bias alright, opposition fans and the media goons are sick to death of us winning and the way we're winning and now the reality planted in the back of
their tiny minds that we are a great chance again is just too much to handle.

 

[TAITA]

This is what I posted in our Swans post game thread re free kicks

Swans supporters will complain about the fee kick difference, but we should point them to the tackle count. We got lots of holding the balls and incorrect disposal decisions go our way. To be honest for every one they paid to us they missed an additional one or two more.

Sydney kept on taking on the man thinking they would bust through tackles (they must have thought they were playing league (saw a lot of throws)), sometimes they did get through the tackle but mostly they didn't and were pinged. Even Hill got a free for a really nice tackle and was rewarded.

This synopsis has some real merit and ties in with how we control the tempo of the game.

I also think that, like Geelong before us, in a 50/50 it is human nature to lean towards the proven champion rather than the challenger - call it the rub of the green if you like.

Ultimately the fact that we are rarely demonstrative works both ways.

 

[Hawks1994]

It still surprises me how fickle some sports 'supporters' in Australia can be. People passing judgement when they have no knowledge of the subject and basically following other haters just because it is the 'talk of the town' so to speak makes me furious

My favourite saying lately, in relation to this, is: "Do you have evidence of that?" Usually the response is a simple no or some bull**** to avoid answering the question.

If you have an opinion on a topic; that's 100% fine, go for it. Make crazy claims without any evidence; get out of my face

Rant over

 

[TAITA]

It still surprises me how fickle some sports 'supporters' in Australia can be. People passing judgement when they have no knowledge of the subject and basically following other haters just because it is the 'talk of the town' so to speak makes me furious

My favourite saying lately, in relation to this, is: "Do you have evidence of that?" Usually the response is a simple no or some bull**** to avoid answering the question.

If you have an opinion on a topic; that's 100% fine, go for it. Make crazy claims without any evidence; get out of my face

Rant over

Tie into that most people do not understand the rules - which is fair enough in a way because a lot of people who played the games didn't actually understand the rules.

Interstate crowd are notorious for wanting the offender locked up for a minimum of 20 years such is their offending of holding the ball should one of their 'stars' fingernail accidentally enter the vicinity of 5cm of that ball carrier.

 

[Hawks1994]

Tie into that most people do not understand the rules - which is fair enough in a way because a lot of people who played the games didn't actually understand the rules.

Interstate crowd are notorious for wanting the offender locked up for a minimum of 20 years such is their offending of holding the ball should one of their 'stars' fingernail accidentally enter the vicinity of 5cm of that ball carrier.

Quite true. In the case of calling foul over misunderstood rules in footy, it is fault of the AFL for tampering so much with the rules of the game, that a majority of supporters now aren't sure of the actual written rule. A good example being the deliberate ruling. The decisions have been so inconsistent, now crowds yell for deliberate almost every time the ball goes out. Everyone is confused

 

[cryptor]

We only get free kicks because our players learnt the names of the umpires. Which obviously is all they ever wanted and they pay us back kindly in free kicks.

 

[Manila_Hawk]

Somebody (forgot who... Cant find it now) posted this on the main board:

"Winners are grinners and losers can blame the umpires".

I love it. Simple. Succint. And there's no come back without whining more.....

I think all Hawk supporters should use this as the standard reply to each meltdown / conspiracy accusation.

 

[Porkmason]

Am I the only one who think's we haven't taken advantage of the leniency the umpires have to the little flick throws? Personally I don't like it in our game but some teams are getting a pretty big advantage in close by doing it.

We're also taking the advantage, just disguising it better with actual handballs

 

[savagebradley]

i think we are just the best drilled side in the comp....simple

you dont win 3 in a row by chance....

one of the few competitive advantages you can control these days is giving away free kicks....so if we are able to take that out of our game, wouldnt our differential improve?

There's a lot in this.
We don't complain about every free kick like certain Geelong players and others. We just get on with it, so when we do complain, the umpires realise they've stuffed up.

Also, when a free kick is given, rather than whinge, we look to where to ball's about to go, watch out for the opposition and keep to our structures.

It's partly keeping to the rules and partly discipline.


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