News Hawthorn in the media 2024

[Strapping Young Lad]

Just like last years thread, whatever Barrett has to say is not Hawthorn in the media.

Couldn’t care less for his shit takes, they don’t belong here.

 

[Argy]

It's just happened post this weekend, hasn't it?

Hawthorn announced themselves. Moreover, the style in which they did it, has now captured everyone's attention.

The media loves a bandwagon.

 

[cs61]

'The Hawks are Flying' -SEN Champion Data: Talks a bit about our dominate stoppages, and then mostly focuses on the amount of high kicks we are getting.

Interesting as not long ago I felt we couldn't win a high inside 50 compared to other sides, so think we must have changed the way we attack the ball in order to draw them.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Sam and the club seem to have a clear vision for the club, around list management and strategy, our game style, but also promoting the brand of club and engaging its members. It is a very bold strategy, as he is demanding elite training standards and work ethic, while also promoting the excitement of the game and AFL from our club through open access. It's a very different situation where we were in stealth mode in 2011, climbing into the top 4 almost invisible with very little media at all, and we nearly/should have pinched a grand final spot. We are THE talking point in every radio, TV, and newspaper segment, where I remember in 2011 thinking 'why is no one interested in us?' and sides Carlton, who in my eyes we were clearly better than, were getting more attention. We had just as many, actually more exciting players, its just that it was ultra conservative in 'just happy to get 4 points, my team mates helped set me up etc', and we didn't really invite any media in at all due to fear of interrupting that mission. Actually in 2011/2012 we played arguably the most exciting football we've played as a club, but not sure anyone outside Hawthorn supporters have that memory. We want to be a big club, get prime time games, get our membership right up there, attract our supporters to the game, and its seem like Sam and those in charge have seen the way to do this is give the AFL and our members a reason for the above. At the moment every media outlet is saying, "Hawthorn is by far the most exciting team right now" with our game style, but also the little celebrations etc bringing etc attention. That seems a pretty good reason, and it's been by design IMO by Sam and Co.

It's funny how quickly things can turn.

I remember Clarkos last three years and boy oh boy that was some tough footy to watch. I posted a few times how mentally draining it must have been on the players to enact that dour "long kick down the wings to a pack" game style week after week.

Now you can see how much fun the players are having playing Sam's attacking style and it is great to watch and also getting wins on the board. Also great for the clubs finances and it draws big crowds who want to come and see the likes of Ginni and The Wiz strut their stuff.

 

[KermitJagger]

'The Hawks are Flying' -SEN Champion Data: Talks a bit about our dominate stoppages, and then mostly focuses on the amount of high kicks we are getting.

Interesting as not long ago I felt we couldn't win a high inside 50 compared to other sides, so think we must have changed the way we attack the ball in order to draw them.

Also highlighted that Worpel is one of the best kicks going inside 50 in the league. We didn't have any in the worst.

I will say I don't like highlighting the free kicks up forward. Feel like this is a precursor to some scrutiny, and we'll stop getting frees that we deserve.

 

[cryptor]

Also highlighted that Worpel is one of the best kicks going inside 50 in the league. We didn't have any in the worst.

I will say I don't like highlighting the free kicks up forward. Feel like this is a precursor to some scrutiny, and we'll stop getting frees that we deserve.

I think the free kicks up forward is an interesting topic to discuss given he highlighted 5 of the top 6 players to receive free kicks inside 50 are all from Hawthorn. That's not a coincidence and while Watson and Moore (to a lesser degree) being so short is relevant, it doesn't explain why Breust, Ginnivan and Macdonald are featured who are all 182-185cm - an average height for a small/med forward in the AFL.

What I don't like is that he just dropped the stat but then there was no further analysis or discussion outside of jokes about how they must be looking to draw free kicks and "remember #freekickhawthorn?".

Pies fans around me at the game went nuts about Watson's head high free that got him his first goal. But most of them were quiet about it after seeing the replay. As with most of those head high free kicks it was just a case of the player going lower and harder to try and win the loose ground ball (a stat we've been smashing for months).

 

[KermitJagger]

I think the free kicks up forward is an interesting topic to discuss given he highlighted 5 of the top 6 players to receive free kicks inside 50 are all from Hawthorn. That's not a coincidence and while Watson and Moore (to a lesser degree) being so short is relevant, it doesn't explain why Breust, Ginnivan and Macdonald are featured who are all 182-185cm - an average height for a small/med forward in the AFL.

What I don't like is that he just dropped the stat but then there was no further analysis or discussion outside of jokes about how they must be looking to draw free kicks and "remember #freekickhawthorn?".

Pies fans around me at the game went nuts about Watson's head high free that got him his first goal. But most of them were quiet about it after seeing the replay. As with most of those head high free kicks it was just a case of the player going lower and harder to try and win the loose ground ball (a stat we've been smashing for months).

It's definitely interesting to discuss but the discrepancy is what bothers me, 10 the difference between us and the next team. Even if the free kicks are fair, which I think most are, it's not like the AFL to see something that one side are doing exceptionally well and other sides are not and let it run its track. Generally they see a team getting an advantage and then there are rule changes and interpretation changes to stop it.

As it sits, amongst medium forwards we've got 4 of the top 25 small/medium forwards for Ground Ball Gets and the only reason Breust doesn't appear in the top 25 is because of limited game time. So you're right, but I don't think that has ever stopped the AFL before.

Even the wording around "drawing" the free kick bothers me, like the free kick is the target. It's already framed like that when in reality the ground ball is the target and the free is the side effect.

 

[TylerDurden]

From Twomey today:

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Correct. And Gabelich is my favourite reporter.

Gabelich a Pies fan. Said the weekend was a hard watch for him.

Kane is clearly the best media performer at the moment. He’s got Fox, Seven and SEN all trying to add him to their line ups.

 

[bindas12]

From Twomey today:
View attachment 2057331

Mckay has been one of the best recruits for mine. Essendon wouldn't be close to where they are on the ladder without him.

 

[cs61]

Gabelich a Pies fan. Said the weekend was a hard watch for him.

Kane is clearly the best media performer at the moment. He’s got Fox, Seven and SEN all trying to add him to their line ups.

If it surprises you to find out who someone supports, as it has just done with Gabelich, then it means they are good at their job and doing something right.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Mckay has been one of the best recruits for mine. Essendon wouldn't be close to where they are on the ladder without him.

They may have won more games without him, with the basic errors that he’s making over the last month. That’s why he’s not getting mentioned by Twomey, who is a bomber nuff.

 

[KermitJagger]

Mckay has been one of the best recruits for mine. Essendon wouldn't be close to where they are on the ladder without him.

Don't think so. The progression of Durham, Caldwell and others has seen most of their improvement. It's all in the midfield. They've gone from bottom 4 for inside 50s to top 4.

In defence they're the 4th worst team for conceding scoring shots per inside 50, they were mid table last season. They're also the 3rd worst team in the league currently for losing defensive 1:1s.

If anything they're where they are in spite of McKay.

 

[mustang]

From Twomey today:
View attachment 2057331

If we can have just as good a trade period this year we may make the big jump to top 4.

 

[killerspud]

Peter coached me.

Did he ever tell you about playing a game with a badly injured shoulder? The other team knew before hand he had an injured shoulder and Kanga went down into the rooms and told him he was playing and told the trainer to strap up that shoulder. The trainer started strapping up the injured shoulder and Kanga screamed at him not that shoulder the other one. The opposition team spent the game targeting the good shoulder with the strapping on it!!!

 

[humid hawk]

The whole social media and viral focus that the team has going on right now is really interesting. Since I've worked in the online space for a fair amount of time, I thought I'd delve into it a little bit. Apologies in advance for the long thread.

Digital marketing is so, so different to what it was even 5 years ago. Back then, to get ahead online, you'd write a few blogs / articles with relevant keywords and come up with some video content that ticked boxes for your viewership. google kinda ruled the roost, and the goal was to meet criteria for their SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) algorithms in order to get boosted up their ranks in their search engine pages.

Now google's SEO criteria is a movable object. Entire companies and industries have been bankrupted by focusing on a key requirement of googles SEO architecture only to have the rug pulled out from under their feet almost overnight. And irrespective of what SEO companies promise you - this is not a quick process. To really gain on keywords for google SEO takes 6-12 months depending on how much cash you want to burn. In a competitive market, your opponents are undoubtedly doing the same, so it turns into a bit of an arms race.

So, basically, google rewards websites based on their relevance, architecture, speed and content, amongst a bunch of other stuff. This is why all recipe websites seem to have pages and pages of absolute rubbish fluff before they display the actual recipe - it's literally trying to please google daddy. And this isn't even factoring in the rise of AI rubbish in search results, which google has had some issues with recently.

However, younger generations are preferring to stay within social media ecosystems, and rarely even get close to google search when looking for content. And when I refer to socmed ecosystems, I'm not talking about Facebook. Facebook is OLD. Who wants to jump on a social media platform populated by your parents and their friends, right?

No, tiktok is the game. And it is HUGE with the teen and young adult market. Content can go viral instantly, and it is all fed by an algorithm that is being gamed by people who understand how to jump on viral trends.

And it happens FAST.

Online celebrities are being created, platformed and then discarded in the matter of months.

But some things seem to be universal. Behind the scenes fun content is a huge tick. Authenticity is huge - if it was a bunch of thirty-something blokes trying to do the celebrations like Ginni or CJ, it'd come off as quite lame. And interactivity is also key - developing something that be replicated by fans and other creators.

Kids and teenagers are picking up on Hawks content much faster than adults and it's having a huge effect - not just on Hawthorn, but on the wider AFL. The AFL is now gathering young eyeballs thanks to the Hawks effect which may just have a significant effect in a few years. For example - one 11 second tiktok vid of the players having a fun wrestle at training now has 5.2 million views.

I know crusty old footy fans probably hate it, but it's where media is right now. We're still doing some cool 20 min videos on players days which include inner-sanctum footy-nerd content, which means we're not ignoring people (like me) who find that stuff interesting, but we obviously also understand where the real growth will be.

I bet there will be a few opposition club supporting parents out there utterly horrified that their kid wants a Ginni or Watto guernsey for xmas, but they'd better get used to it.

 

[Bugs1977]

Gabelich a Pies fan. Said the weekend was a hard watch for him.

Kane is clearly the best media performer at the moment. He’s got Fox, Seven and SEN all trying to add him to their line ups.

It seems Kane has gone away from being a shock jock / fluff media to being a serious one. Probably my favourite alongside Bucks.

 

[cryptor]

The whole social media and viral focus that the team has going on right now is really interesting. Since I've worked in the online space for a fair amount of time, I thought I'd delve into it a little bit. Apologies in advance for the long thread.

Digital marketing is so, so different to what it was even 5 years ago. Back then, to get ahead online, you'd write a few blogs / articles with relevant keywords and come up with some video content that ticked boxes for your viewership. google kinda ruled the roost, and the goal was to meet criteria for their SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) algorithms in order to get boosted up their ranks in their search engine pages.

Now google's SEO criteria is a movable object. Entire companies and industries have been bankrupted by focusing on a key requirement of googles SEO architecture only to have the rug pulled out from under their feet almost overnight. And irrespective of what SEO companies promise you - this is not a quick process. To really gain on keywords for google SEO takes 6-12 months depending on how much cash you want to burn. In a competitive market, your opponents are undoubtedly doing the same, so it turns into a bit of an arms race.

So, basically, google rewards websites based on their relevance, architecture, speed and content, amongst a bunch of other stuff. This is why all recipe websites seem to have pages and pages of absolute rubbish fluff before they display the actual recipe - it's literally trying to please google daddy. And this isn't even factoring in the rise of AI rubbish in search results, which google has had some issues with recently.

However, younger generations are preferring to stay within social media ecosystems, and rarely even get close to google search when looking for content. And when I refer to socmed ecosystems, I'm not talking about Facebook. Facebook is OLD. Who wants to jump on a social media platform populated by your parents and their friends, right?

No, tiktok is the game. And it is HUGE with the teen and young adult market. Content can go viral instantly, and it is all fed by an algorithm that is being gamed by people who understand how to jump on viral trends.

And it happens FAST.

Online celebrities are being created, platformed and then discarded in the matter of months.

But some things seem to be universal. Behind the scenes fun content is a huge tick. Authenticity is huge - if it was a bunch of thirty-something blokes trying to do the celebrations like Ginni or CJ, it'd come off as quite lame. And interactivity is also key - developing something that be replicated by fans and other creators.

Kids and teenagers are picking up on Hawks content much faster than adults and it's having a huge effect - not just on Hawthorn, but on the wider AFL. The AFL is now gathering young eyeballs thanks to the Hawks effect which may just have a significant effect in a few years. For example - one 11 second tiktok vid of the players having a fun wrestle at training now has 5.2 million views.

I know crusty old footy fans probably hate it, but it's where media is right now. We're still doing some cool 20 min videos on players days which include inner-sanctum footy-nerd content, which means we're not ignoring people (like me) who find that stuff interesting, but we obviously also understand where the real growth will be.

I bet there will be a few opposition club supporting parents out there utterly horrified that their kid wants a Ginni or Watto guernsey for xmas, but they'd better get used to it.

It would be incredible for the club if it could go viral overseas. To convert even just a small fraction of an international audience would be massive. The challenge would be keeping that audience engaged and invested.

 

[TheFourPillars]

Did he ever tell you about playing a game with a badly injured shoulder? The other team knew before hand he had an injured shoulder and Kanga went down into the rooms and told him he was playing and told the trainer to strap up that shoulder. The trainer started strapping up the injured shoulder and Kanga screamed at him not that shoulder the other one. The opposition team spent the game targeting the good shoulder with the strapping on it!!!

That story is all time favourite

Hodgey uses it in the 2008 Grand final against the Geelong players as he motions for them to punch him on the wrong side of his ribs

 

[offtherails9]

It's Showtime..

 

[MrBeefSeven]

It's Showtime..

Who is our Magic and Kareem?

 

[Pinoy Hawk]

 

[KermitJagger]

It would be incredible for the club if it could go viral overseas. To convert even just a small fraction of an international audience would be massive. The challenge would be keeping that audience engaged and invested.

The club itself hasn't, but they did have a YouTube Short / Tik Tok / Reel or whatever the F go mostly viral.

 

[DogDaySonny]

It seems Kane has gone away from being a shock jock / fluff media to being a serious one. Probably my favourite alongside Bucks.

I may be ungenerous, but I think it's us that has changed and not him. He always enjoys bucking the pack and he hit a winner with us. If we finish out this year strongly then everyone will be hyping the Hawks next year. I wonder if Kane will stay on that angle.

 

[mustang]

It would be incredible for the club if it could go viral overseas. To convert even just a small fraction of an international audience would be massive. The challenge would be keeping that audience engaged and invested.

Agree I follow other teams from other sports in different countries, and I’m sure other people on these forums follow sporting teams from different countries also, not just Hawthorn.

If Hawthorn can become as big as other sporting teams internationally some people could be walking the streets of the USA or the UK in a Hawthorn jumper, and we get bigger sponsors and lots more money as they can use Hawthorn as a brand to give exposure to their brand internationally.