Autopsy Hawks vs Port featuring the Great Escape

[Agent Smith]

With Roughead kicking 6 goals that takes his tally to 70 goals from 22 games @ 3.18 goals per game this year which is his highest ever goal average in a season. That's the third time in his career he has now kicked over 70 goals and he's done it back to back. No player has kicked more goals in the competition over the last two years.

2008: 25 games - 75 goals = 3
2013: 25 games - 72 goals = 2.88
2014: 22 games - 70 goals = 3.18

Sooo... all it takes for us to win a premiership is for Roughie to kick 70+ goals a season? Interesting...

Anyhoo, I'd just like to take a moment to recognise the gladiator that is Luke Hodge. I honestly felt the first quarter was a match up b/w Pt Adelaide and Hodgey, with Port only just taking the chocolates. It was nice to see a few teammates assist him from that point onwards but geez, how many times do I have to thank God Hodgey plays for Hawthorn? In those last vital seconds, while the paramedics had me prostrate on the ground and yelling 'Clear!' while placing paddles on my chest, I watched in awe as he led by his actions yet again, screaming 'We will not go quietly into the night!' That's why he's the captain. You rock, Luke!

 

[TeamPlayer23]

Duryea is a beast. Nu Goo

 

[Baz_hawk]

Geelong last year and now Port this year. I've lost at least 5 years off my life in those 6 hours.

So happy we got through, we really appeared to put the cue in the rack half way through the final term. Don't wanna take anything away from Port as they were super but we pushed people behind the ball and really did nothing to counter their charge in the centre clearances. Lucky to survive and probably a poor tactical choice with so much time left on the clock.

Spangher had a poor game, worked hard bt was out bodied as a forward and ineffectual in defence. Will be sweating throughout the week and hoping he can keep his spot. Hopefully Lewis is ok, our best player all year and will be needed.

 

[Lightning_Rod]

Congratulations guys, it's 1am and I'm still gutted with what could have been, hoping we can bounce back bigger and better and hoping you guys go on and beat those COLA pricks

 

[Hodgey 15]

Richo was like an 8 year old watching his first final. I dunno how he keeps his job tbh.

I thought the same especially some of the ridiculous stuff he was saying throughout the game. I actually yelled out a couple of times for him to shut the f***k up.
Richo comes out with the most banal comments. And he's like a bloody parrot and has no original thoughts of his own.
God - what a dopey b****** he his.

 

[Wandering Hawk]

Duryea is a verb. The noun taking it is put in the passive and often the past tense. Variants include being Duryea'd and the colloquial 'meeting the Doc'.

It's a specific irregular verb family common to Hawthorn. See also Langford for another example.

 

[Hodgey 15]

Some players were down on usual and hopefully it is a bit of a kick in the butt for next week

Probably good we got that ordinary game out of our system. Not very often we put two of those together.

 

[Hodgey 15]

Would really like to see Breust kicking bags of 3 again...

Next week would be a great time to start again...

Maybe kick a few extra to make up for the lack of them in the last few weeks?

Yeah his inconsistent form concerns me a bit. We'd be a hell of a lot more dangerous with him kicking two/three a game again.

 

[tribey]

Congratulations guys. Too much poise and ruthlessness when it mattered. The coolness of wise old heads in the clinches telling where our youthful exuberance translated to snatching at moments once too often.

Much like our near misses against the wonderful Brisbane juggernaut in '01 and '03, hopefully getting schooled by the best today serves as the forge that steels us towards greatness.

All the best for next week.

 

[cryptor]

Really surprised they made Wingard the sub and didn't get him on earlier in that last quarter. Thought he was one of their best players this year.

 

[Jim Dixon]

Really surprised they made Wingard the sub and didn't get him on earlier in that last quarter. Thought he was one of their best players this year.

Touche!

Well done to your guys... just a wee bit too good when it counted. Congratulations.

I'll be cheering for you blokes next week. Just can't support those COLA campaigners. And you guys play the game the right way.

 

[BlueWaterHawk]

Well played today guys. You took your chances and that's what it is about at this time of year. Enjoyed the atmosphere at the ground, plenty of good banter! Hope you win next week; 1) because it is the COLA's; 2) because if you do I will feel like we are not far away.

On point 2; you don't need us to win to feel like you're not far off it. Port are on the precipice of an era of excellence, just hope we can match some of your athleticism and tactics during that time.

 

[aussielondon]

Great to be playing in another grand final. That umpiring today was woeful. Roughy got molested all day, I thought rolf Harris was playing on him.

LOL!!!

Seriously though, next week I am hoping for a draw. Make things interesting.

 

[Pessimistic]

I thought the same especially some of the ridiculous stuff he was saying throughout the game. I actually yelled out a couple of times for him to shut the f***k up.
Richo comes out with the most banal comments. And he's like a bloody parrot and has no original thoughts of his own.
God - what a dopey b****** he his.

Richo and Darce had limited team success, now the whole AFL public knows why. Airheads

 

[madhawksfan]

After giving them a rap a few weeks ago (after the Geelong game) the commentators last night were back to their shit stain best. BT you are a ****ing flog, and Richo, if you want to cheerlead go and sit in the crowd with a skirt on you ****ing clown. Ruined yet another great game with your innane and biased commentary. I had to watch the last few minutes on mute.

Anyway, well done to Port for the way they took up to us all game. Flag favourites next year if they get Ryder for mine. Their midfield is so deep and so damaging all that is missing is a second ruckman.

Was proud of a few blokes in particular last night. In no particular order- Hodge, Rough, Langford, Duryea, Mitchell, Smith, Hill, Shiels, Suckling, Poppy and Lewis all stood up on the big stage. We missed Lewis in the last quarter and I hope he is right for next week. Whoever was on Wingard gave him an absolute bath (until the very end) and Gibbo and Birchall were solid done back

Special mentions to Langford and Duryea who have cemented their spots for next week with two excellent finals game in a row.

Happy to in another GF with the chance to right a wrong from two years ago and score a victory for the real clubs in the AFL ( the ones who don't rely on hand outs).

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Thought he was great. Would have had him in the votes at the point he was subbed.

I thought Lewis was quiet in the first quarter especially but started to become involved more when the game went on.

 

[Taskmaster]

Congratulations guys. Too much poise and ruthlessness when it mattered. The coolness of wise old heads in the clinches telling where our youthful exuberance translated to snatching at moments once too often.

Much like our near misses against the wonderful Brisbane juggernaut in '01 and '03, hopefully getting schooled by the best today serves as the forge that steels us towards greatness.

All the best for next week.

Thanks mate. Great game and you Port supporters should be pretty excited for the next 5 years. Your a bloody good side and my tip to be right up there come last day in sep next year.

 

[Winestoppable]

Congratulations on the win and good luck next week.

No umpire excuses here, we were beaten because we didn't take our chances and a quality opposition made the most of that.

Thanks for having us at G, great atmosphere. Cya next year.

 

[threesixpio]

Still coming down from the game.

Somehow we snatched victory from a game that could easily have been lost for a number of reasons.

In hindsight, our selection decisions were wrong. Suckling had one great passage of play but otherwise was fairly anonymous for most of the game. Thanks to the efforts of Langford in particular, Hawthorn didn't miss Sewell too much in the clinches, but Suckling did little to justify his selection (save for his goal, of course).

Clarkson tried to quell Westhoff with Spangher in the first half and when Spangher showed that he wasn't up to the job, sent Spangher forward. All it illustrated was that Spangher, as a forward, is a great defender. Why Mitchell decided to kick long to Spangher when he was closely minded by Carlile is an interesting decision (especially as Mitchell had Hodge free 15 metres away on his own).

Ceglar dominated Port's second ruckman but otherwise chose a brilliant day to have his worst game around the ground this season. At the end of the game, Hawthorn was crying out for Ceglar to take a contested ruck mark out across the half-forward flank and time and again, he would get his hands to the ball and spill the mark. His tap-work was very good most of the time, but he almost undid all his work with some poor efforts around the ground. If McEvoy plays a good game for Box Hill tomorrow, he would have to come under serious consideration.

Stratton did well to quell the dangerous Wingard, but apart from Stratton and Birchall from time to time, our back six collectively had a shocker. Hinkley is a smart coach and he made sure that Schulz didn't try to engage Lake in a wrestling duel which Lake would generally win. Rather, Schulz was instructed to get on his bike and lead at every opportunity. It also meant that Lake's great strength of reading the play was nullified. Schulz definitely took the chocolates tonight. Fortunately for Lake, his next probable match-up of Tippett doesn't have the capacity to make leads and play up the ground like Schulz did tonight.

Gibson also was poor for most of the game. He did effect some good spoils but he also seemed to misjudge the ball in flight a good deal. He's probably the match-up for Franklin next week, and to be honest, it doesn't fill me with much confidence.

Birchall fought hard to create play off half-back, but Monfries also kicked four goals and Birchall spent the bulk of his time on Monfries (although one goal was a generous one from the umpires, IMO).

Burgoyne had a quiet first half and was quick enough to butter up from his own mistake in kicking out to force a Port Adelaide miss. On the other hand, his run and carry down the ground created a goal-scoring opportunity. Nowhere near the heroics of his 2013 preliminary final, but he played a reasonable game.

As far as I could tell from watching the game live, while Langford generally played on Boak, he wasn't asked to tag Boak, who was Port Adelaide's best player (particularly in midfield). Langford also turned over the ball twice in the first quarter for two Port Adelaide goals (a handpass to Mitchell which missed the target, though Mitchell perhaps could have gone in harder for the ball, created Port's first goal). However, his manic attack on the ball and his capacity to win clearances for his teammates were vitally important. I'll mark him down a fraction in the voting for the Yabby medal, but he played a very good game.

Hodge rose to the occasion as the game wore on. With Lewis generally well-held (and then subbed off with injury), Hodge was his usual bullocking self, creating space for teammates. His efforts with the game on the line at the end of the game were par excellence. On the other hand, while Mitchell had it plenty of times, he also wasn't his usual efficiently creative self, IMO. It's not often that one sees Mitchell pinged for holding the ball, but Port managed to nail him a few times tonight. As he prepares for his fourth grand final, I'm sure Mitchell is setting himself for a big one.

Gunston didn't touch it in the first quarter, and while he was less than his usual output, he still had important touches and his patented approach to holding his ground and plucking a mark against a defender was used to create a goal for himself tonight. Hombsch generally played him pretty well.

Once again, we saw the devastating effect of a fired up and angry Roughead. This time, Roughead was pretty peeved off at the umpires for not pinging his defender for grappling him, and he responded with his best ever final performance. In fact, without his game, Hawthorn would be dissecting a missed opportunity. He was very efficient - at one stage, he had four goals from four kicks - and he was my BOG.

I don't needs to post anything about the game as this is close to exactly what I thought....but was also worried about our back 6. Hoping that the very different Forwardline of Sydney suits us better (in spite of the media lauding over them them as the best forwards ever). Port are a smart, talented, well coached team. Good luck to them.

 

[MinerBoy]

I thought Lewis was quiet in the first quarter especially but started to become involved more when the game went on.

95% of them were. We couldn't get our hands on it.

 

[diggydig]

Having had the night to get over it, what struck me was how unwilling most our boys were to go in after the ball. I'm hoping that this was our boys preserving themselves for GF, free riding on Duyrea and Langford, otherwise we have no hope next week. Big argument for the return of Sewell for next week even without this performance. Not sure who he replaces, if Lewis recovers - maybe Suckling, but he was alright last night for a guy returning from a long lay off, and was great against Swans last time.

While it was painful to watch Spangher unable to win a contest at CHF, think people are being a bit harsh. His job up forward was to restrict the defensive marks - Trengove drown from 5 marks and 13 disposals against Fremantle to 2 marks and 7 disposals. Thought Spangher only looked lost when they subbed Trengove. Shoe would need to play better than he has all year, to demand a recall.

More worrying was young Ceglars ability to hold a mark. Watching Pyke against Goldstein, he just continued the tactic they used against Sandilands of crashing into him at every opportunity. Don't know that Ceglar is strong enough to handle that, but McEvoy is - just needs a solid game today you'd reckon.

 

[threesixpio]

Would really like to see Breust kicking bags of 3 again...

Next week would be a great time to start again...

Maybe kick a few extra to make up for the lack of them in the last few weeks?

Likely would with his little mate Rioli nearby

 

[Langford4FBOTC]

Found this one, the last 8 seconds of the game and Lake worth every cent, Angus Wantfrees would have goaled otherwise.

View attachment 81319

My heart stopped when Port opened us up with that break down the open side on the members wing. Great relief when they kicked it on top of Brian's head. Almost stopped again when the ball got trapped under his legs. He's been massive for us.

 

[Hawk Dork]

Having had the night to get over it, what struck me was how unwilling most our boys were to go in after the ball. I'm hoping that this was our boys preserving themselves for GF.

Lack of PF experience by Port or they didnt get the memo that you dont play your GF on PF day its about getting into the GF unbruised.
Crash and bash only when you dont have to play again next week is the key.

 

[Langford4FBOTC]

Morning after and my overwhelming feeling is one of pride in our great club. We stood up in a classic encounter against a truly worthy opponent and prevailed.
I'm looking forward to next week with great expectation hoping beyond all hope that we write another glorious chapter in our history, whilst doing every true footy fan a favour by showing that money doesn't buy you respect and hopefully it doesn't buy you premierships.