Autopsy Hawthorn pipped at the post by Port Adelaide

[Maybloomer]

I always thought 2024 was a dress rehearsal for 2025. The more finals we were in, the better rehearsed we will be. We will be hungrier from losing than winning. They’ve had a taste and want more. As well as Port stifled the Hawks, they were a few inches from being clueless and coachless in 2025. Hinkley shouldn’t abuse Hawthorn players, he should thank them.

 

[Makedonija]

Forgot to mention it in my previous post, but this fairytale run isn’t for nothing. We’ve become a destination club in the span of a few months, and no doubt we’ll get some prime time slots next year and more free to air time.

The fact we won a final and were extremely competitive tonight is a huge bonus. If we got smashed, then that may have slightly dampened the mood heading into next season. Hawthorn are well placed for years to come, we just need to make the most of it while it lasts. The hunger is there with this young group, I honestly can’t wait.

 

[Since 2001]

So proud of our team. Love that ginni is living in that flog hinkleys head rent free.

Hope Ginni goes to Sydney to see Grundy and power hold the L

 

[The Jet From Poowong]

Buckley is still a Port man, always has been.

Yes he is but he isn’t employed to give that sort of crap view. Hence Lewy went full Hawk on him.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

With arrival of Battle and Barrass, that man is Sicily. Scrim the interceptor at large, Sic up forward reading the flight

Sicily is our best backman and one of the best players in the league. Battle and Barrass cannot replicate what he does, so we need him back there.

 

[MitchHomieQuan]

These moments make me so grateful I gave up the grog a few seasons back, so much easier to process!

Well, what an unbelievable ride this season was. You couldn't be much more proud of the boys for what they gave us this year.

We will reload and assault the top 4 ruthlessly next year. That's a gaurantee.

Ken Hinkley, you are an embarrassing man child. I've seen teenagers with better emotional intelligence. Put down the can of Pepsi and go see a therapist.

Go Hawks.

 

[Hawkforce]

So what you are trying to make us believe is it was totally Ginnivan's fault we lost? Ridiculous.

I didn't say that did I?

All I said was that Ginnivan's post sounded complacent. I was assured it wasn't and that he was a "character" etc etc...
Well he, like Hawthorn, seemed shocked when Port came out to play. Like they didn't expect a contest. They got one.

We stablisied and should have won (we had a much better side out than Port let's be honest) but we didn't. The one player whose performance did not improve as the game went on was Ginni's. He had an absolute stinker.

SO, if its okay with you, I'll state my preference that from now on, Jack doesn't post social media where he appears complacent about a finals game. Never ends well.

 

[The Golden Glenferrie]

Sicily is our best backman and one of the players in the league. Battle and Barrass cannot replicate what he does, so we need him back there.

Lucky Battle can play Fwd

 

[Harper_Hawk]

So what you are trying to make us believe is it was totally Ginnivan's fault we lost? Ridiculous.

I think they are. Forgetting that Port lost by 80pts the week before.. and surely wouldn’t put in another embarrassing performance again on home turf.
Sydney will belt them next week and they’ll wish they hadn’t of flown up.


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[Hrvat Hawks]

Dynasty engaged.

So many story lines.

Enjoy the ride.

 

[DogDaySonny]

Heck of a game. It was great fun to be there cheering my face off. A shame the boys couldn’t snatch it.

Hinkley is a dick.

 

[Bedi]

We could've – and prob should've – snatched it tonight but in reality i thought we were outplayed by Port. Esp given a lot of our goals came from pretty iffy free kicks. Only second time this year (post Syd game) i thought we were outplayed, but the fact we almost pinched it shows just how close we are. With that said, we really should've won tonight, so bitterly dissappointing. Exceptionally proud of the team and sad for it to end, but what a ride it's been!

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Sicily is our best backman and one of the players in the league. Battle and Barrass cannot replicate what he does, so we need him back there.

I agree that Sic is the best all round defender in the league but we will definitely benefit from being able to throw him forward for a quarter here and there knowing we have Battle and Barrass to cover his absence down back

We got smashed in the air down forward all night tonight apart from that last quarter when Sic went down there and could use his strength and guile to impact in the air.

 

[Cyril says]

By the end of the year our best players were Newk, Wiz and Scrim. That’s great for our future.

 

[marklar]

Well that was a less than optimal night, if you're all looking for an escape-goat that's me.

I managed to whack the crap out of the toes on my left foot on the very solid post of my bed on the way out to the pub. The 5 minute walk ended up taking more like 20, so I missed out on the optimal table for viewing the game and the local talent. Obviously my grand plan of impressing the cute waitress was off to a poor start and never really got going, at least I didn't end up spending too much and got some consolation cuddles, so that's at least one positive.

As far as the actual game goes we were second to the ball all night, and forgot to do the simple things like stick tackles and rely on teammates in a better position, or force a stoppage if the options are all bad. Port bought finals intensity and we just didn't.

A shit kick or 2 should not have been the difference, our inexperienced side was the difference. We'll take our learnings into next year and go on with it better.

My night ended early, hopefully the swelling will go down a bit overnight and I can walk back to the pub tomorrow to watch a meaningless game and ponder what the future could hold.

 

[The Jet From Poowong]

Some views on our players who showed a lot of heart despite not playing like the slick machine it has been for the last 4 months.

Our two fringe 22 players in Finn and Harry, deserve a lot of credit for coming into the side late and have performed admirably in both finals.

Wiz, he just wanted the ball. The glint in his eye was simply amazing. Sam, now following all his previous coaches and clearing out the 50. He is a seriously talented 19 year old.

People need to stop having a go at a Chol. He was serviceable and no worse than Moore in both finals

I am going to forgive Cmac for the shocker tonight. He has had a very good consistent season once the team improved.

Scrimshaw will finish in the top 5 in the Crimmins medal. I never thought I would say that. He was huge again tonight.

Jai, I love him. He is the beating heart of this team. That kick into the centre before half time. Gee that is going to hurt all summer.

Meek. Simply huge in every way. Wasn’t as dominant as in some previous games, but he has provided us with a lot of impetus all year since making the ruck his own. Well done big fella.

I thought Worpel had a downer tonight and just fumbled and made the wrong decisions too many times. Wasn’t his night. But a superb season otherwise.

From being a potential match winner, Sicily missed two opportunities that he would kick most times.

I could go on, but the whole squad should be proud of their year. They will be hurting tonight but they will be stronger for it.

 

[Tall Tales and True]

Folk may be right about the Ginnivan text - I note Hinkleys response post-match - but if that is how individuals interpret such things, how weak & dumb are we?. "Wreaked of complacency", I think someone said ... no, it bloody wasn't; it was a bit of banter between mates in an online 'forum'.

Loathsone & repugnant as the Power are, are we to believe they thought, "Oh, duh, he's makin' fun of us!?". Were they that stupid? Are we?

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[Leather Poisoning]

Folk may be right about the Ginnivan text - I note Hinkleys response post-match - but if that is how individuals interpret such things, how weak & dumb are we?. "Wreaked of complacency", I think someone said ... no, it bloody wasn't; it was a bit of banter between mates in an online 'forum'.

Loathsone & repugnant as the Power are, are we to believe they thought, "Oh, duh, he's makin' fun of us!?". Were they that stupid? Are we?

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Yeh I agree.

Would we have won if Ginni didn't post that?

I reckon if Ginni didn't post it Hinkley might have acutally focused on his own shortcomings that led to an 80 point thrashing at home from Geelong.

 

[Hrvat Hawks]

If we lost because of Ginni's social media post on a mates page.....well. Pack it up. We are officially done as a species.

Ps. Fwark Ken. Lowlife.

 

[5ammy]

The main board game thread is both funny and frustrating reading but I’m trying not to get sucked into that. Reality is Port played their absolute best and I believe that they deserved the win in the end… but it was only by 3 points on their home deck… I’m mighty mighty proud of our boys. The rest of the comp are just enjoying their moment for now.

 

[skwunk]

Pretty happy that since that Geelong game, when we haven't been able to play at our best, we've still really pushed opponents. Never looked great against GWS but managed to stay in front for the majority of that game, never had the game on our terms against Freo but scraped out a gutsy win, and here despite playing our worst game for about 9 weeks, we were only a couple of posters away from winning.

 

[Leather Poisoning]

The main board game thread is both funny and frustrating reading but I’m trying not to get sucked into that. Reality is Port played their absolute best and I believe that they deserved the win in the end… but it was only by 3 points on their home deck… I’m mighty mighty proud of our boys. The rest of the comp are just enjoying their moment for now.

Yep - they deserved the win. Their pressure was the best they've delivered all season.
We couldn't get our game going. Good on them

Close isn't good enough - but shit I'm proud

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

What a season from our boys.

It mustn’t be lost that we are the second youngest list in the comp.

They gave us a great ride.


We will only get better, and have a summer to burn on the missed opportunity tonight.


Onwards and upwards.

 

[toomanysquibs]

To see our guys play almost as badly as they could, and fall just a kick short isn't the end of the world.

Want to thank Ken Hinkley for going out of his way to embarrass himself, and make sure our boys don't forget the missed opportunity so that it pisses them off just that little bit more than it otherwise might have.

They will have known their best would have won, and would have likely won the next two games as well.

Ken could be out of a job before his plane touches down if he loses next week. You'd think he'd want to not be remembered as nuff nuff puffing his chest out like they'd just threepeated.

Lucky Battle can play Fwd

He's our Jack Gunston, defensive forward replacement. We're going to get better as he transitions into that role. Can be a swingman like Sic too obviously.

 

[MasterSamurai]

Do you not understand that this comment in itself shows disrespect to the opposition? Although a supporter from another club, I understand that no disrespect was intended by Ginni. And yes, the coach should have been a better person. Port played out of their skins and were the better team even though the result could have been different. I admire the culture at your club and wish that it was as good at mine. Will also be envious of the improvement that seems to be on the cards. And yes, Will Day is your number 1 player and would likely have meant a different outcome. Stay positive as seems to be the case with most of your fellow supporters. Good times await.

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Yea all good, but ken did the same thing in his pre presser and WAS called out for it beautifully by the journo. So, yea, 60 year gong should worry about his job for the time been and leave young stuff to young people. Sorry, but I completely disagree with you. Thanks anyway.