Autopsy Hawks lose to Eagles

[Strapping Young Lad]

I have no idea where we are at looked like a top 4 side the first 4 weeks and have looked like a bottom 4 side since.

But we haven’t at all.

The Swans and Eagles are very good teams.

We should’ve gotten over the top of the Swans, but we didn’t.

I think some people just really struggle with not winning every week, and so they go to the worst case scenario straight away and start contemplating years out in the wilderness.

It’s not as bad as it seems.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Neither of those teams had the comps oldest best 22.

North had the oldest team in 2016 but have cut a lot of those players over the last 2 off seasons. They had more quality youth coming through than we have.

Take Burgoyne out of yesterday's squad and we had a younger side than the Eagles. Nice goalpost shift though.

Hardwick, Mitchell, Impey, O'Meara, Burton, Sicily, Morrison - all under 25.

 

[mikeder]

Oh and as a sidebar - if the AFL want to achieve equalisation and make the game more entertaining - there is a very simple solution. Just give every side a Rioli.

And no side a Razor too; don't know how he still gets to umpire games, hasn't got a f***ing clue and keeps on spoiling good games to boot!

 

[JustKickIt]

But we haven’t at all.

The Swans and Eagles are very good teams.

We should’ve gotten over the top of the Swans, but we didn’t.

I think some people just really struggle with not winning every week, and so they go to the worst case scenario straight away and start contemplating years out in the wilderness.

It’s not as bad as it seems.

I'm gradually going the ignore on the serial sooks. Makes the environment much more pleasant

 

[Ned Ryerson]

And no side a Razor too; don't know he still gets to umpire games, hasn't got a f***ing clue and keeps on spoiling good games to boot!

He wasn't noticeable yesterday until that high tackle call. It happened right in front of where I was sitting - and from what I could see he was standing right bloody there as it happened. The crowd rightfully went ballistic over it. It was a shocker of a miss. The resulting goal off the back of it hurt a bit. Still - I don't think it was a difference maker overall - the Eagles just didn't allow us to move the ball forward that quarter.

 

[mikeder]

He wasn't noticeable yesterday until that high tackle call. It happened right in front of where I was sitting - and from what I could see he was standing right bloody there as it happened. The crowd rightfully went ballistic over it. It was a shocker of a miss. The resulting goal off the back of it hurt a bit. Still - I don't think it was a difference maker overall - the Eagles just didn't allow us to move the ball forward that quarter.

In hindsight it obviously didn't, but at the actual time it could well have; I have lost count of how many times games for both sides have been spoiled by that poser.

 

[hebog]

They have been playing so badly it looks as they are trying to lose games not win them. I was going to tip them until I saw that Razor was umpiring.

 

[JoondalupJ]

Pull it apart here.

Two things lost that game , well, actually three, main thing Eagles too sharp, not by much just cleaner, next , we are turning the ball over with little so called precision passing the eagles did it too, not as much and it is killing us, and of course three goals that were points , we are kicking badly, the forward line isstarting tio look like Collingwood last year before they turned around,we sometimes get it up forward but then we butcher it at goals, or we seen like headless chooks down front at the moment , which was killing Collingwood last year, I think footy basics is where we need to return at training for everyone not just the younger players.
Why not a bit of Mark Jacko Jackson goal kicking practice, as mad as Jocko put on, he practised goal kicking incessantly, ALL THE TIME!!

IS IT LACK OF PRACTICE OR AM I RIGHT THE SKILL LEVELS HAVE DIED IN OUR GAME NOW , WHEN A PLAYER WHO IS PAID, TO KICK GOALS CAN'T, AND HAS TO TURN ON HIS SIDE BECAUSE HE IS UNSURE OF HIS DEAD STRAIGHT DROP PUNT KICKING CAPACITY....UNSURE??????????????????????SHIT!

For crying out loud Hudson used to kick flat big bang punts and hardly ever miss, now everyone is frightened. Goals is our problem, and ferocity!

 

[SA HAWK]

Take Burgoyne out of yesterday's squad and we had a younger side than the Eagles. Nice goalpost shift though.

Hardwick, Mitchell, Impey, O'Meara, Burton, Sicily, Morrison - all under 25.

Eagles had just as many under 25's playing as we did.

It is a fact we fielded the oldest team last weekend.

 

[SA HAWK]

But we haven’t at all.

The Swans and Eagles are very good teams.

We should’ve gotten over the top of the Swans, but we didn’t.

I think some people just really struggle with not winning every week, and so they go to the worst case scenario straight away and start contemplating years out in the wilderness.

It’s not as bad as it seems.

Bottom 4 may have been a bit strong but we are not looking like a team that will be playing finals.

 

[JoondalupJ]

Back line held up well with Darling scoreless. (Stratton's Bunny?)

Just cant score at the moment. Bruest scoreless for the second game in a row.

1 goal between Rough, Gunston, Pop and Breust and that is the game.

Cant fault the effort.

I can fault one effort, THERE IS NO ATTACK MODE running in the Hawks game at the moment its all "be careful" and "be afraid"
The whole sideways thing and over handpassing is getting really bad , but that's in lots of teams you see now.

Anyway that's it I've had my dummy spit Saturday and Sunday!

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Bottom 4 may have been a bit strong but we are not looking like a team that will be playing finals.

But again, we may, we may not.

Take the loss against Brisbane away and our last month of football has been pretty good, considering our draw.

We're not a top 4 side, we're not a bottom 4 side.

Depending on who finds or drops form in the next 2 months, we could either finish 4th or 14th, and that's ok.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

But again, we may, we may not.

Take the loss against Brisbane away and our last month of football has been pretty good, considering our draw.

We're not a top 4 side, we're not a bottom 4 side.

Depending on who finds or drops form in the next 2 months, we could either finish 4th or 14th, and that's ok.

Yes but all of that assumes you don't want to cling to every potential negative in order to consign us to the bottom 4 and lament about our coming doom.

 

[SA HAWK]

But again, we may, we may not.

Take the loss against Brisbane away and our last month of football has been pretty good, considering our draw.

We're not a top 4 side, we're not a bottom 4 side.

Depending on who finds or drops form in the next 2 months, we could either finish 4th or 14th, and that's ok.

You are ok with us missing the 8 with our lists age profile?

 

[MinerBoy]

Haven't read the thread so as to not cloud my thoughts. I came out of the stadium yesterday disappointed but not angry. The effort was there from the vast majority. There is still vast areas of improvement - but I couldn't be angry. West Coast deserved to win - their ability to not let us get the ball forward in the final quarter was immense. However - for most of that game we matched it with the current form side in the competition. The Mitchell high tackle in the 4th was a really cruel oversight - it hurt our momentum but we still weren't the better side so I can live with it (you're a ******* idiot though Razor).

I thought Impey was excellent in that first half - he was all over the ground. That first goal he kicked came off the back of him applying pressure on about 3 Eagles players in our defensive 50. 20-30 seconds later he's providing an option and kicking a goal. This kid is still raw despite playing a handy number of games - I think he's going to develop into an absolute game-breaking player for us.

O'Meara has turned into a beast for us - he is taking the old Jordan Lewis role and is an enforcer. I can see why our midfield became a turnstile last week - because without he and Howe we had no negating midfielders outside of Shiels. O'Meara is obviously still gaining confidence in his body and I think the flashier elements of his game will come in time - but for the moment he asserts himself well - he had some fantastic bumps yesterday. If we can get another good-very good midfielder then Mitchell and O'Meara will form a very scary trio with them. Would love to think Gaff was auditioning for us yesterday.

Stratton is the reason why anyone who quotes supercoach scores at you is talking out of their arse. So many games this year I have seen him holding our defence together yet he generally gets one of the lowest scores in our team. Those scores don't mean a thing - would not shock me if Strats was top 10 in our B&F count right now. If he can get his old mate Birchall back then our defence is almost sorted outside a gorilla defender to allow Frawley to take the second best forward. Replace Mirra with Birchall yesterday and it is a very different game.

Hardwick is close to my favourite Hawks player at the moment. Nobody deserves the 15 more than he does in our current crop of young players. For a smaller bloke he hits HARD. Crazy to think he is 21 and has only played 30 games. Imagine how good this bloke will be when he hits the 100 game mark.

It's easy to be gloomy at the moment because we aren't in the 8 and we have some deficiencies on the list that just can't be fixed by those currently listed. However - we are not a top 4 side (that is evident now despite our flourish early in the season). This is the price of making 4 straight grand finals with a side that was smack bang in its premiership window. However - if you can't be just a little bit chuffed with the developing nucleus of Hardwick, Sicily, Mitchell, O'Meara, Impey, Burton (who improved yesterday) and Morrison (who I am as bullish on as Clarko) - all of whom are under under 25 - well then there is no pleasing you.

Yup, tough times lay ahead. Frustrating losses and ugly wins will probably outnumber the absolutely crushing victories we were used to. The rebuild is still taking place in front of us and I am going to look for the positives and hope to hell we can pick up some vital pieces in the next 2 off-seasons to put a giant crowbar into that premiership window again.

Love this post!

 

[Lord Mud of Glenferrie]

Can we please now put an end to the two ruckmen theories now? We just looked way to slow and top heavy. This idea that Cegs and B.B. were going to mark everything that went in our forward was never gonna happen.

Today we was a wasted opportunity, boy we looked poor.

And what spectacular ball winning, short, speedster do you intend to bring into the side so that we won't look ' too slow and top heavy'?

Where did the idea that ' Cegs and BB were going to mark everything that went into our forward' come from?

A wasted opportunity? We looked poor? Remind me again who did we play and what was the final score.

 

[MrPremiership]

Eagles had just as many under 25's playing as we did.

It is a fact we fielded the oldest team last weekend.

What does that mean though? It's just another stat people like to harp on about.

Only a couple of the older players won't be around in 2-3 years, but they can be replaced in that time, especially via trading or FA. Roughy/Frawley/Silk/Poppy

The rest are 26/7/8. We have a large experienced group in that age bracket, but why is that a bad thing? They have 4-5 years in them, and don't need to be replaced overnight. That can easily be done in the draft.

I think you have an issue when you have older blokes playing who aren't best 22 and just list clogging.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

You are ok with us missing the 8 with our lists age profile?

I'm not sure of the relevance of the list age profile, to be honest.

I just did a ladder prediction for the rest of the year, and gave us 1 more win for the entire year, we finished 13th.

Then I did another. If we win the games we as supporters would like to win, we finish top 4.

It could fall either way.

 

[SA HAWK]

What does that mean though? It's just another stat people like to harp on about.

Only a couple of the older players won't be around in 2-3 years, but they can be replaced in that time, especially via trading or FA. Roughy/Frawley/Silk/Poppy

The rest are 26/7/8. We have a large experienced group in that age bracket, but why is that a bad thing? They have 4-5 years in them, and don't need to be replaced overnight. That can easily be done in the draft.

I think you have an issue when you have older blokes playing who aren't 22 and just list clogging.

Smith, Henderson & Stratton all turn 30 next year they may not be around in 3 years and if they are will likely be past their best.

Big Boy & Rioli are almost 29 Birchall is 30.

If we are going to do something with this list it has to be this year or next imo.

Unless we can snare some big free agents i see a huge drop coming from 2020 onwards.

 

[SA HAWK]

I'm not sure of the relevance of the list age profile, to be honest.

I just did a ladder prediction for the rest of the year, and gave us 1 more win for the entire year, we finished 13th.

Then I did another. If we win the games we as supporters would like to win, we finish top 4.

It could fall either way.

You would expect us to beat Gold Coast, St Kilda & Carlton 100% surely.

 

[OnceKicked50]

But again, we may, we may not.

Take the loss against Brisbane away and our last month of football has been pretty good, considering our draw.

We're not a top 4 side, we're not a bottom 4 side.

Depending on who finds or drops form in the next 2 months, we could either finish 4th or 14th, and that's ok.

I disagree we have been pretty good the past month.

We played poorly against the Saints in Launceston. Even worse against a Bombers teams that at the time was uncompetitive.

We should have beaten the Swans, but let's not forget this was without Buddy or Hannebery at the MCG.

We lost to a team that hadn't won a game by over 70 points. Yes Brisbane are better then that, but it wasn't exactly a 3 goal loss.

On the weekend we were much better, but at no stage did we ever really look like running over the top of the Eagles.

In short, our past five weeks has been pretty damn average. I don't love the club any less for saying that either.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Smith, Henderson & Stratton all turn 30 next year they may not be around in 3 years and if they are will likely be past their best.

Big Boy & Rioli are almost 29 Birchall is 30.

If we are going to do something with this list it has to be this year or next imo.

Unless we can snare some big free agents i see a huge drop coming from 2020 onwards.

Every cloud has a acid cloud lining with you, doesn't it?

I would honestly buy in to your relentless negativity if you followed a club that had demonstrated over multiple decades that they haven't the slightest clue on how to build a side that can compete. Thankfully we don't follow one of those. There were always going to be some frustrating years after you win 3 flags in a row. We all know there are deficiencies in the list - we have a couple of years to try and find players to slot in among the veterans and younger players to iron out the kinks a little. It could fail - it could work. Based on our last 10 years - I like our chances of figuring it out.

 

[Lord Mud of Glenferrie]

Two things lost that game , well, actually three, main thing Eagles too sharp, not by much just cleaner, next , we are turning the ball over with little so called precision passing the eagles did it too, not as much and it is killing us, and of course three goals that were points , we are kicking badly, the forward line isstarting tio look like Collingwood last year before they turned around,we sometimes get it up forward but then we butcher it at goals, or we seen like headless chooks down front at the moment , which was killing Collingwood last year, I think footy basics is where we need to return at training for everyone not just the younger players.
Why not a bit of Mark Jacko Jackson goal kicking practice, as mad as Jocko put on, he practised goal kicking incessantly, ALL THE TIME!!

IS IT LACK OF PRACTICE OR AM I RIGHT THE SKILL LEVELS HAVE DIED IN OUR GAME NOW , WHEN A PLAYER WHO IS PAID, TO KICK GOALS CAN'T, AND HAS TO TURN ON HIS SIDE BECAUSE HE IS UNSURE OF HIS DEAD STRAIGHT DROP PUNT KICKING CAPACITY....UNSURE??????????????????????SHIT!

For crying out loud Hudson used to kick flat big bang punts and hardly ever miss, now everyone is frightened. Goals is our problem, and ferocity!

Yes skill levels have dropped. It is now all about running and forcing stoppages. At stoppages it is just grab ball. put head down and barge, go to ground, release ball. Next player does exactly the same thing and the umpire just lets it go on and on. It's all about speeding up the game. LOL.

For those who think today's game is great spend several hours watching games from the eighties or even the seventies for that matter.

I really do feel sorry for those who have only seen football this century. Honestly you do not know what you are missing. Aussie Rules used to be easily the best game to watch. Not now.

IMO there is a simple change to once again make Aussie rules great.

No interchange rule. 18 players plus 2 or if you still crave for a little of today's game 4 reserves. I assure you the flooding and forward congestion would be a bad memory.

 

[Ranj Sri Lanka]

I disagree we have been pretty good the past month.

We played poorly against the Saints in Launceston. Even worse against a Bombers teams that at the time was uncompetitive.

We should have beaten the Swans, but let's not forget this was without Buddy or Hannebery at the MCG.

We lost to a team that hadn't won a game by over 70 points. Yes Brisbane are better then that, but it wasn't exactly a 3 goal loss.

On the weekend we were much better, but at no stage did we ever really look like running over the top of the Eagles.

In short, our past five weeks has been pretty damn average. I don't love the club any less for saying that either.

Appreciate you stating the truth about our state of affairs this year. There are loads of fans here who are reluctant to admit when somethings are not working and I am at a lost to understand our strategy in attack. Most of the time we seems to bomb the ball forward to see it come back in record time and we are neither a running team nor a marking team. I am confused with Clarko this year.

 

[SA HAWK]

Every cloud has a acid cloud lining with you, doesn't it?

I would honestly buy in to your relentless negativity if you followed a club that had demonstrated over multiple decades that they haven't the slightest clue on how to build a side that can compete. Thankfully we don't follow one of those. There were always going to be some frustrating years after you win 3 flags in a row. We all know there are deficiencies in the list - we have a couple of years to try and find players to slot in among the veterans and younger players to iron out the kinks a little. It could fail - it could work. Based on our last 10 years - I like our chances of figuring it out.

Absolutely and i am well prepared for it.

Wouldn't swap the success of the last 10 years for anything.

Having lived through the mid to late 90's this has a very similar feel to it.