Review Rd 21 Cats stone Crows by 5 points

[Hinkley29]

I would love to hear the AFLs justification for that no free to Cameron. It was a 12 point swing and changed the momentum of the game.

Umpires have simply got to be better, it’s just not good enough.

The umpire made a mistake.

It is annoying when it happens to us.

It happens. Move on

 

[Hinkley29]

Totally agree - regardless of which team benefits - if many of us were as incompetent at our jobs as some of the umpiring we're seeing, we wouldn't be gainfully employed for long...

Most of us are far less competent at our jobs than afl umpires. Most of us just aren’t as heavily scrutinised in our jobs as afl umpires.

 

[Hinkley29]

Could just play both instead of ollie henry. 7 touches, 2 marks and 1 goal. Does hawkins offer more then that?

That would be an absolute disaster. It is sad to say but Hawk cannot play in a final.

 

[Finknottle]

Could just play both instead of ollie henry. 7 touches, 2 marks and 1 goal. Does hawkins offer more then that?

The problem with Hawkins is total lack of defensive pressure. I think swapping out Ollie Henry for Rohan is the answer.

 

[Seeds]

The problem with Hawkins is total lack of defensive pressure. I think swapping out Ollie Henry for Rohan is the answer.

Agree. If they play 3 marking fowards thats probably the 3 i go for. But if they are intent on playing four then i dont see why a fit hawkins wouldnt be substitutable for henry. Henry also offers nothing defensively.

 

[allrighty]

I am still yet to be convinced. Has time on his side and you'd hope a decent 2025 is around the corner. But he is sitting at 7 goals from the 5 games Hawkins has missed injured.

He has opened up the forward line by his play so more others are getting the goals, eg Cameron, TS, Close.

 

[Seeds]

That would be an absolute disaster. It is sad to say but Hawk cannot play in a final.

Hawkins offers less then 7 possesions, 1 goal, 2 marks? Hawkins is terrible defensively but so is henry.

 

[Generalissimo]

Does hawkins offer more then that?

Yes. He'd get his 7 touches and a goal, as well as F50 ruckwork that allows Blics and Stanley to set up behind the ball for those panicky dump kicks out of defence if the oppo win the footy.

 

[allrighty]

Yep if we kicked straight we win by 5 goals or so and maybe the Crows heads drop and we pull even further away

And/or if Cameron could manage to get a free kick occassionally

 

[Hinkley29]

Hawkins offers less then 7 possesions, 1 goal, 2 marks? Hawkins is terrible defensively but so is henry.

Have you watched how much better the forward line functions since Hawk dropped out?

 

[Hinkley29]

Yes. He'd get his 7 touches and a goal, as well as F50 ruckwork that allows Blics and Stanley to set up behind the ball for those panicky dump kicks out of defence if the oppo win the footy.

If it was still 2022 that would be great.

In 2024 it is sure fire recipe for a 7 goal loss.

 

[Seeds]

No.

Hawkins is as mobile as a garage slab now, and the lay off won't do him any good. Not a criticism - Father Time has caught up with him big time is all.

Ollie is still learning and has potential.

Sure, Hawkins has experience, but his body can't do what his mind tells it to do anymore.

Henry has potential i agree. But not in the role he is playing. And they wont change that role this year.

And while time has slowed down hawkins we also dont know if niggling injuries were also a major contributor to his poor form from round 4 onwards.

When he would of been fresh at the start of the year hawkins kicked 9 goals in his first 3 games. That early year form would be awfully handy in the finals.

 

[Seeds]

Have you watched how much better the forward line functions since Hawk dropped out?

could that be because they put cameron back in the foward line and rohan came back in to give them defensive pressure both on the ground and in the air? Mannagh has also helped.

Neale has also improved.

 

[Cataholic]

Henry has potential i agree. But not in the role he is playing. And they wont change that role this year.

And while time has slowed down hawkins we also dont know if niggling injuries were also a major contributor to his poor form from round 4 onwards.

When he would of been fresh at the start of the year hawkins kicked 9 goals in his first 3 games. That early year form would be awfully handy in the finals.

It would, for sure.

I'm just not confident he can reproduce that form though. It was a microburst that very quickly dried up......

He can't run, and can barely move..... I fear he'd stagnate the forward line and make it far more predictable than it is now, which would make it far easier for opposition defenders.

 

[Seeds]

It would, for sure.

I'm just not confident he can reproduce that form though. It was a microburst that very quickly dried up......

He can't run, and can barely move..... I fear he'd stagnate the forward line and make it far more predictable than it is now, which would make it far easier for opposition defenders.

I just dont know either. What was the cause of his form from round 4 onwards. Simply time or both time and niggling issues. And if the latter, have those niggling issues eased off with a rest? Only the club will know.

 

[Cataholic]

I just dont know either. What was the cause of his form from round 4 onwards. Simply time or both time and niggling issues. And if the latter, have those niggling issues eased off with a rest? Only the club will know.

As always, the club knows much more than us. We're speculating through binoculars.

But, for mine, there was a look of inevitable decline in Hawkins this year. We all know it's coming, and to me it looks like its hit harder and faster than even we expected.

His niggles wouldn't have helped, for sure, but to me he suddenly looked too old.

I hope I'm wrong, I love the big fella, and would love to see him have one last, strong finals campaign, but I fear the tank is empty and he has no more to give.

 

[Hinkley29]

could that be because they put cameron back in the foward line and rohan came back in to give them defensive pressure both on the ground and in the air? Mannagh has also helped.

Neale has also improved.

No - it is because Hawk dropping out cleared some room for Neale to function better and our small forwards have space to create or win the ball at neales feet.

Cameron and Rohan are not really doing anything different.

Neale and hawk cannot play together.

It is one or the other.

 

[Commando]

The tricky thing with Hawkins is you have to keep him motivated incase Neale goes down...
but also prepared to have the conversation that he won't be included

Deep down he probably knows, his whole journey has been serendipitous in that Mooney made way for him

 

[Hinkley29]

The tricky thing with Hawkins is you have to keep him motivated incase Neale goes down...
but also prepared to have the conversation that he won't be included

Deep down he probably knows, his whole journey has been serendipitous in that Mooney made way for him

Hawk is a proud guy but he is also the ultimate team/club man. I think he realises what we all see.

He will get a game at home against WC to finish up, and we will get to give him the send off he absolutely deserves.

And then we should revert to our current forward set up in the finals.

And Hawk will accept it with grace.

 

[RegHickeyStand]

It's a fair point, but as shocking as tonight's PA/Syd result was in terms of the margin, the Swans haven't really been the best or performing to their ladder position for about a month now. Form for a lot of sides has fluctuated, including ourselves, but this is now the point when you want to be on the upwards trend. Adelaide have been fairly consistently poor for the whole year, which is why they've never been in the frame for a finals berth, unlike the majority of the competition, so the close shave with them was a bit disappointing. If we were serious, this kind of encounter should have been checked off as an easy win. But I don't think we're in that conversation.

Lose to Fremantle and St. Kilda and we might not even make finals.

I'd say the true top 4 in terms of performance and likelihood of doing anything in September would be Lions, Bulldogs, Freo and Power. Hawks could slip into that 4th spot of true contenders, depending on their next two performances.

Agree with most of that. I think the Adelaide win was encouraging. The Crows are capable of playing good footy. Beat the Lions Rd 17, and recently took care of the Saints. I think they turned up to play against us, and I think we could improve massively on that performance. Except, like every other team this season, we are bloody inconsistent. It’s a raffle this year. Every couple of weeks the premiership favored teams swap out.

The only inform team Freo have played in the past month is the Hawks and they got beat. I want Freo to thrash an out of form Essendon today, so they come to us fresh from a lot of soft wins.

 

[Commando]

Hawk is a proud guy but he is also the ultimate team/club man. I think he realises what we all see.

He will get a game at home against WC to finish up, and we will get to give him the send off he absolutely deserves.

And then we should revert to our current forward set up in the finals.

And Hawk will accept it with grace.

Thats what I expect too but is there a world where he is required in finals should injury strike?
At that stage we are probably cactus anyway

 

[Cataholic]

Thats what I expect too but is there a world where he is required in finals should injury strike?
At that stage we are probably cactus anyway

Play like we did yesterday and we are indeed cactus. We can't rely on the ineptitude of others.

Then again, if ever there was a year for a Bradbury flag this is it.

 

[Gyno79]

NOT looking forward to finals. I hate seeing our boys get smashed the last time I see them for the year...

 

[Hinkley29]

NOT looking forward to finals. I hate seeing our boys get smashed the last time I see them for the year...

It will happen to 7 out of the 8 clubs who make finals every year

Best way to avoid it is to miss finals

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Results yesterday mean finishing top 4 in entirely in our hands, which is good. Not sure we’re playing well enough to beat Freo.

I don't know that we're playing well enough to beat the saints. At least we don't have to play them at Kardinia Park