Mega Thread Josh Kennedy Hindsight Thread aka 'We sold Manhattan for a bunch of trinkets and a blunt hatchet'

[Simon_Nesbit]

Sewell to Kennedy.

"PS Brad...we chose you over him. Prove us right."

...

In all seriousness, he's adding plenty to their clearances as we know (without him there's generally only blind kicks forward from the pack, he actually distributes and gives them space to work in). Where he could cause us significant issues is in moving forward and presenting as a genuine marking target.

He doesn't cover huge territory, and I wonder if it might end up being a more like-for-like opponent if Hodge went with him all over the ground. Certainly Luke would be more comfortable down back than Lewis, Sewell or any of our other midfielders.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

If some arsehat would do that to me I'd call him out and demand my 1 million. F***ing clown.

He's a so-called media "personality" and I won't lower myself to his level.

Why do they call them "personalities" when they don't have one?

 

[halfback dasher]

I

Yes, I was sent a message saying some raving lunatic that calls himself Mark Fine thinks I'm his personal troll and has offered $1million if I ring him and tell him my real name. Is this guy for real? What a tosser

I've only listened to his show for 15 minutes, didn't like what I heard, commented on it on Big Footy, and won't be listening again. This guy is flattering himself if he thinks I have some personal vendetta against him. The footy media's pathetic, and Mark Fine appears to be comfortable in his surrounds.i

In the words of Maxwell Smart, "If only the football media used their limited brain cells for good instead of bullshit".

In truth AH you know very little about Mark do you...for me he's a breath of fresh air , both on and off air .

 

[Paul007]

I remember they use to carry on about McGlynn like he was a superstar who we gave to Sydney. How about we take Sydney's salary cap concessions off them which will slow down their player poaching activities. But yeah, we screwed up and I would like to see Kennedy back in the family club where he belongs. Let's get in the GF, beat the Swans and stick it up dickhead journalists. Go Hawks!

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I
In truth AH you know very little about Mark do you...for me he's a breath of fresh air , both on and off air .

I based my post on 15 minutes I had to listen to, and in that 15 minutes he was a raving lunatic, he was rude to the callers, etc .. if that's a breath of fresh air, I'd rather close the windows.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

dickhead journalists.

Tautology.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I turn the radio off as soon as Mark Fine comes on. He's up there with KB.

 

[Pessimistic]

Some pretty good delivery by sam and co tonight = can Joey do that ?

 

[Membling]

Some pretty good delivery by sam and co tonight = can Joey do that ?

Yup, can also kick clutch goals.

 

[Pessimistic]

Are you KB ?

 

[halfback dasher]

I turn the radio off as soon as Mark Fine comes on. He's up there with KB.

Good points , I do the same these days when I see threads and posts by certain posters on BF.

 

[Membling]

Are you KB ?

 

[Pessimistic]

Just on Finey and his mate Robert shaw whos getting stupider by association.

They were inevitably discussing Joey when shaw 'pronounced' with finay type self importance "How could all the other clubs overlook joey and how did hawthorn let him go.

father son you tosspots !! do some research instead of just spewing up though bubbles

 

[Themeanmachine]

Josh didn't have a choice. He asked Clarco where he sat in his plans and the answer was that he was well down the order. Just wasn't rated at the time.
He always had the tallent, just lacked belief as he did not have the confidence of the coaching staff.
Josh is now one of the most damaging and prolific mids in the game, he is a very strong overhead mark capable of kicking multiple goals per game and is very solid defensively.

Those that argue that he could not get a game ahead of some of our other mids are delusional. We just needed to add him
to the midfield rotation and clear a place for him on the list.

188cm 90 kg ball extracting, goal kicking, bulldozers don't come along that often and our recruiters and coaching staff are paid big bucks to spot and develope talent.

He will not come back to Hawthorn.

This will go down as one of, if not the worst list management blunder we have ever made that we could have managed if we had the belief in the kid that we should have.

 

[beta_condition]

Josh didn't have a choice. He asked Clarco where he sat in his plans and the answer was that he was well down the order. Just wasn't rated at the time.
He always had the tallent, just lacked belief as he did not have the confidence of the coaching staff.
Josh is now one of the most damaging and prolific mids in the game, he is a very strong overhead mark capable of kicking multiple goals per game and is very solid defensively.

Those that argue that he could not get a game ahead of some of our other mids are delusional. We just needed to add him
to the midfield rotation and clear a place for him on the list.

188cm 90 kg ball extracting, goal kicking, bulldozers don't come along that often and our recruiters and coaching staff are paid big bucks to spot and develope talent.

He will not come back to Hawthorn.

This will go down as one of, if not the worst list management blunder we have ever made that we could have managed if we had the belief in the kid that we should have.

Its not like we ever gave him game time or offered him a contract extension or anything.

 

[Prudster]

Those that argue that he could not get a game ahead of some of our other mids are delusional. We just needed to add him
to the midfield rotation and clear a place for him on the list.

This is the exact reason this thread should be closed now. Kennedy was not best 22. How can you argue we should gift someone a spot when we are in a premiership window? Until this year, Kennedy had never averaged more than 22 disposals per game. In his first two years at Sydney, he played 48 games at Sydney for just 3 brownlow votes. Until this year, he was just a middle of the road player. Should we have been gifting him games for 3 years?

Seriously, nothing more can be said on this topic. Do we all wish we still had him? Yes. Can we do anything to change the past? No. So stop complaining about it and just move on.

 

[bongobreakfast]

We got Gibson, Burgoyne, Stratton and Suckling the year Kennedy was traded. I'd say we still ended up stronger.

 

[Messenger]

We'll leave this open for GF week lest I get all sorts of handwringing messages about censorship blah blah blah.

But **** me the guy left THREE YEARS AGO. Every decision is clear in hindsight. Win some, lose some.

 

[HawkGirl9]

I say just force him onto his wrong side- only got one foot

 

[db swannie]

I say just force him onto his wrong side- only got one foot

The one that's kicked all those goals this year?

Seriously though, it was a long time ago now, and you've done well and we've done well.

Looking forward to an awesome GF against a very tough opponent. It will also be my first GF at the G. Excited isn't the word.

 

[Themeanmachine]

Its not like we ever gave him game time or offered him a contract extension or anything.

Yeah, game time when injuries allowed and a one year contract extention???

Thats what you offer a bloke who is 30+ and on the way out......Cam Bruce?

The point is, this about list management.

Blind freddy could see that Josh had all the tools and an exceptional atttitude (not to mention his bloodline). KPP and Mids are gold, flankers are a dime-a-dozen in comparison. All this talk of players being ahead of him is just BS. You try to build your midfield as deep as possible and Josh offered something that we just dont have on our list (big inside mid that kicks goals under 25 years of age).

The similarity of Jobe Watson and Josh's path is uncanny. Both from father son picks, lacked confidence and faith early in their careers, big powerful inside extractor, distributor, goal kicking mids....only diference, JW was given time and oportunity. These two will have very similar careers and Josh could very well end up being captain of Sydney.

Now all the talk is whether we can draft suitable mids to replace our current aging champions without early draft picks??

Whichever way you look at it, it makes me ill seeing him run around and dominate sides the way he does in Swans colours. It has been a monumental blunder which I hope we learn from.

End of rant.

 

[Pessimistic]

We tried him forward and he sprayed too many

At the time our main problem was being too slow would have been kept at the expense of someone

 

[eldorado]

Blind freddy could see that Josh had all the tools and an exceptional atttitude (not to mention his bloodline). KPP and Mids are gold, flankers are a dime-a-dozen in comparison. All this talk of players being ahead of him is just BS. You try to build your midfield as deep as possible and Josh offered something that we just dont have on our list (big inside mid that kicks goals under 25 years of age).

Blind freddie could also see that Kennedy was another strong inside mid, without pace.

We already had a midfield of talented mids in this area, unfortunately, for Joey, at THAT STAGE, he showed considerably less than Hodge, Mitchell, Sewell, Lewis, etc

We were already being shown up as a 'one paced midfield'.

We had to prioritize a list that had deficiencies elsewhere, and Joey was a casualty.

The salary cap, and the playing list of 38, is not just a passing number to the people at the club. It is the real, everyday yardstick that decides everything that they do. You just can't keep every player that you value, you just can't pay them what they all want, and you just can't give them all the contracts they want. Joe was made an offer of what we could afford, was told the truth about the fact that he behind all those other players, and made HIS OWN CHOICE.

Sydney wanted a big body right then and there, and their offer reflected this. We were strong in this area.

Now, three years later, after 2 reasonable but unexceptional years (did someone say 3 Brownlow votes in 2010, 2011?), he has really turned into an A-Grader, and apparently the club should have KNOWN this would happen, and given him a 3 year deal back at the time.

Did you know Kennedy would turn out like this? If you didn't, don't expect the same miracle of foresight from those people at the club who have to make cut-throat decisions every day, and at the end of every year, with the already mentioned pressures of the list, and the salary cap.

The great thing about hindsight is not only that it is never wrong, but also that it completely neglects the fact that all real decisions are made without it. Move on.

 

[Pessimistic]

maybe He is so prolific now because the rest of the swans arent that good - the Watson effect.

Get used to it folks because ite THE story of the week, and the truth will be lost, we already had robert shaw saying all the other club missed him in the draft when he was father son FFS
Even more so if he gets the Brownlow

otherwise I wish the guy all the best, I was a bit upset when he left and you could see he might make a very good player given #1 extractor duties

 

[Nomore4s]

The is also no guarantee he would be the player he is now if he stayed at the Hawks. Sydney have an exceptional record of getting players and developing them in to great players to suit their system. Just look at Richards and Pyke. Richards went from a dud to one of the best backman in the league.

We also need to remember back in 2008 the game was slightly different, slow contested mids were considered a liability not a asset. Look at the resurgence of players like Luke Ball, Shane Tuck and even Brock Mclean (this year). As others have already said he was behind players like Sewell, Mitchell and Lewis and at that time rightfully so, what were the club meant to do? Guarantee match time even though he wasn't an automatic selection at the time.

Look at the players we've picked up since he left, would we be the same team now and in a GF without players like Gibbo, Stratton, Burgoyne and Suckling? We might not have got Stratton or Burgoyne if Kennedy stayed, which means we probably don't make the GF this week. I personally think it has truly been a win win for both clubs. Sydney needed a big body inside mid and we needed some more defenders like Stratton and ended up with Gibbo and Burgoyne to boot.

Easy to say we should have kept him but let's be honest we couldn't match Sydney's offer at the time and for what he was at the time we shouldn't have tried.