Moved Thread Hawthorn - Excuse Now?

[crazywildhorse]

Won't beat Geelong till Geelong beat themselves. But yeah worryingly fragile in the pinch

 

[rioli is a hack]

When the heat is really on there are too many fragile minds out there in brown and gold.

Let's face it, if the Pies weren't as dusty in front of goal that game would have been all over at half time.

For mine the Hawks are behind Geelong, Collingwood, Carlton and West Coast atm. Adelaide, Freo and Sydney would probably beat them interstate as well.

I think we can now say with confidence that 2008 was a fluke.

Dispicable.

 

[The_Big_Ship]

Uh - his post DID mean he thought the umps were biased towards the losing team ie Hawthorn.

....

 

[smasha]

Why did Buddy try and dribble the goal from 45 in the wet. Complete moronic act.

The grubber kick is a disease that's creeping into the game.

It cost Richmond a goal too.

Fair enough if the ball was round but it's a low percentage kick designed for showbiz factor and not much else unless you have to use it.

Buddy had an open goal to aim at.

 

[Jentleman Geff]

A 21yr old CHB is not going to dominate a bigger, stronger opponent in every contest. He's got a lot to learn, but that's why Clarkson is persisting with him.

Is that really any excuse? Hawkins is 23.

 

[Bengraham]

I think that mental fragility was highlighted by the precursor to the final goal to the JPod.

Two players in space, in the defensive 50 decided to soccer a ball they could have easily picked up and put on the boot.

Instead they panicked, feared the hit and wilted.

Let's remember this is a side that has one of its previous 4 finals attempt.

 

[scomac]

Hawthorns field and goal kicking was woeful as a team that relies on kicking wet games will test them. Quality side who will challenge for the top 4.

 

[Jentleman Geff]

So are they still flag favourites?

 

[BuddyHawk]

No excuses from me, but one major silver lining - it's only round 2.

A number of commentators and fans have been caught up in this notion that Hawthorn has less improvement in them than the other premiership contenders, just because they looked a bit sharper in the pre-season (West Coast aside). Personally I think we have a lot of improvement in us:

Shiels (an excellent contributor last year) to bolster the midfield;
Hodge to add his class and leadership;
Gilham to stiffen the backline;
Puopolo to provide some much-needed forward-line pressure;
Roughead to get fitter;
Bailey to (not holding my breath) take on first ruck responsibilities;
Relatively inexperienced mids like Savage, Smith and Whitecross to continue developing

That being said, the Pies, Cats and Blues also have significant outs, and West Coast have hardly skipped a beat since losing Le Cras and Nicoski. Throw in Sydney, Adelaide and Freo - all improvers this year for mine - and it's set to be a cracking season.

 

[macdaddio]

Hawthorn are a fragile mentally weak team when it comes to playing against the Cats.. Hawthorn lost today because of selfish and trying to be too fancy footy.
Hawthorn will never beat Geelong until the Cats are old and all the played that lost in the 08 GF have gone..
Geelong are not a great side but Hawthorn are great at letting the Cats play like a great side each time they play each other..

 

[Gavin Excell]

Great comeback. The spirit of the team has to be admired

For Hawks thought Suckling was pretty good. And they look to have found one with their new ruck guy

 

[Lasso]

This Geelong - Hawthorn rivalry feels like a rope being pulled tighter and tighter with every Geelong win. Eventually the pressure to keep winning becomes greater and Snap! Question is, when?

 

[Donners]

Thought the umpires were pretty even today.

Indeed, very fair and correct throughout.

 

[David the Cat]

Hawthorn are a fragile mentally weak team when it comes to playing against the Cats.. Hawthorn lost today because of selfish and trying to be too fancy footy.
Hawthorn will never beat Geelong until the Cats are old and all the played that lost in the 08 GF have gone..
Geelong are not a great side but Hawthorn are great at letting the Cats play like a great side each time they play each other..

Classic ..... Geelong only win because Hawthorn let them win...mwuhahahahahhahahahh.....

Well Squarks....keep up the good work!

How sweet it is!

 

[ThatsjustDappa]

It seems to me Hawthorn stack players behind the ball when they have a slight lead and then have to change 1 on 1 after somehow Hawkins and Pods seem to kick a few goals to level the score, seems to really upset the momentum doing this....maybe Hawks supporters can detail their strategy better than I can....

 

[Jentleman Geff]

Geelong are not a great side

Ha! If Geelong isn't a great side, I shudder to think what a side with Hawthorn's back six is.

 

[Sherrinator]

Why did Buddy try and dribble the goal from 45 in the wet. Complete moronic act.

Absolutely, not once but twice.

On another occasion a hawk was running towards goal from the forward pocket and instead of laying a shepherd to protect his teammate ball in hand and in a far better position, he demands the ball, nearly gets tackled and sprays it wide.

A bit selfish today was our Buddy.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I would blame Bruest more than Schoenmakers.

I would never pick Bruest again. His efforts when we needed him to deliver were pathietic. As for excuses, we lost by 2 points. Better effort than Collingwood in last year's grand final.

 

[yaco55]

Hawks have to bite the bullet and play Roughhead in defence.

Podsiadly and Hawkins were the difference between the two teams.

 

[toddles88]

Is that really any excuse? Hawkins is 23.

Shoenmakers is 21. Hawkins is 23. A lot can happen in those 2 years. Remember where Hawkins was at when he was 21. Give Shoey time. He has a lot of potential!

 

[Sherrinator]

not an excuse but why the ++++ did osborne try and pick iy up when he was 3m infront of goal???

That too, not only could he have easily soccered it but he could have picked it up and toe poked it in one motion.

However it was a very good game and can only hope that one day the lions show such heart that the cats did today.

 

[The Mongrel Punt]

No excuses here.

Beaten by a team who was harder at it, had the soldiers who went the extra mile, and we made dumb mistakes.

Congrats to the cats... AGAIN. Fantastic team

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

Surely, they must concede they are mentally fragile in close games?

Umm that's old news mate.

Everyone knows we are very small mentally. Little peanut brains in big heads.

 

[bulletproof]

Not sure they need to make excuses, they have come through a tricky fixture list with a commanding win and unlucky loss. They will be there in the final four and everyone knows they are one tough prospect. Franklin kicks those goals from the boundary and they are 2.50 premiership favourites.

 

[Mappa]

It seems to me Hawthorn stack players behind the ball when they have a slight lead

You have hit the nail on the head TJD. I cannot for the life of me work out why we constantly try to hold a lead by using a loose man, instead of going with a tradition setup, which is most likely the reason we got in a winning position in the first place. A couple of observations:

Geelong always seem to hold a structure. You rarely see their forwardline open and Hawkins and Pods and others sucked up the ground. We consistently get the ball out and hav nothing to kick to

Our second tier players are always found out by the Cats. Smith, Bruest, etc. These guys rarely fire a shot against them

Our forwardline is exposed by Geelong. We don't have a marking forward. Why do we bomb it in long to a) one of the worst contested marking forwardlines, and b) the leagues best backline.

We went "all out" apparently to get Norman Gunston, yet he's off until the last quarter. We need a target other than Franklin

Could the real David Hale comeback please

Breust and Bateman need to be dropped.