Autopsy Round 13, 2013 - Hawthorn v Eagles

[Hawkas1988]

I really think we would lose nothing by playing Grimley ahead of Hale now. In fact we would gain pace.

I know you love your younger players but Hale is still contributing solidly and even though Grimley looks good and will be his eventual replacement he wouldn't compete well enough in the ruck atm. Hale is slow but performs better in the ruck against bigger bodies compared to Grimley. I know in finals which player I would rather have in the team and Clarko and co clearly agree.

Grimley's time will come, either next year or the year after he will take over from Hale. He is very exciting, I just don't think he is better for our line up than Hale atm.

 

[eldorado]

love reading all your posts looking after the kids dinner bal bal the played well tonight go hawks

I laughed out loud for 30 seconds after reading this

 

[hawk3000]

Laying back listening to 6pr sports central and loving the whinging about the umpires - two weeks in a row umpires have cost teams the game

Same here in South Perth, my mate and I have bets each week about how many callers will get through on 6PR before the first weagle comes on and starts bleating about the umpires (we have to rock/paper/scissors for pick of 1st call). The really amazing thing is, they winge about the umpires even after a win.

 

[Brishawk]

Does anyone know why we are playing Bailey and Hale in the same side and if/when this will stop?

In part I think it is to protect Roughy. What it does for us structurally is it allows us to play 3 talls in the forward line all game and by doing this stretch defences. We have shown an ability to isolate each of our tall forwards. We kick to them more evenly rather than focus on Buddy. Buddy and Gunston often lead up at the ball leaving Hale and Roughy isolated. Teams have really struggled to double team our key forwards this year and given the even goal return from our three key forwards plus Hale is still scoring at about 1 goal per game, you would have to say it is working. Suspect in the long term we will prefer a Grimely type over a Hale type but you can't argue with Hale's record at this time.

 

[LuvMyHawks]

They probably are the best team at the moment
Why does it matter what other people say?

They are N O T the best team! The best game they won was against Crows,who are nowhere near a top team,who they beat. Wow. How can they brag about a team that beat the Crows. The Crows only beat 5 teams, all of them out of 8.They shouldn't feel proud of themselves beating a team 11 th on the ladder.FGS I wonder what excuse the BEST team lost today,when the 2 stooges Healy and Roos have their say about the loss. It has made my day.Shove that where it fits stooges. PA were only 8th on the ladder today,now 7th and beat the Swans who were 3rd now 4th..yay. Now we are 10 pts ahead of them, and 13% up on them. Don't tell me they are the best at the moment.They never were.When they hit the top of the ladder I will concede they are the BEST, and until then, they aren't..One good game make them the best!? BS

 

[Hawkas1988]

They are N O T the best team! The best game they won was against Crows,who are nowhere near a top team,who they beat. Wow. How can they brag about a team that beat the Crows. The Crows only beat 5 teams, all of them out of 8.They shouldn't feel proud of themselves beating a team 11 th on the ladder.FGS I wonder what excuse the BEST team lost today,when the 2 stooges Healy and Roos have their say about the loss. It has made my day.Shove that where it fits stooges. PA were only 8th on the ladder today,now 7th and beat the Swans who were 3rd now 4th..yay. Now we are 10 pts ahead of them, and 13% up on them. Don't tell me they are the best at the moment.They never were.When they hit the top of the ladder I will concede they are the BEST, and until then, they aren't..One good game make them the best!? BS

Who cares who the media think are the best team, it shouldn't worry us. We aren't the best team until we prove it by winning the GF. Sydney are the reigning premiers and were the best team when it mattered last year even if we blew it with our kicking. The media can gush all over whoever they want, 1 week it's us the next week it's geelong, then it's sydney etc.

Let's just hope we prove that we are the best team at the end of the season!

 

[JoeHawk]

Really solid win by the boys tonight. Roughead in particular was superb, easily one of the best games I've seen him play for us. It's awesome to watch him step out of Franklin's shadow.
Hodge & Lake also great, as was Gunston and Bruest.

Smashed in the middle (especailly center clearances) for second week running though, that's a concern. Rioli's absence very telling, and I think we also missed Puopolo's toughness quite a bit tonight.

Great to see Savage play his best game in ages. Simpkin wasn't bad either.


The bad news is that if we get over Brisbane we'll have won 12 on the trot going into the Geelong game which will make me even more nervous!

I think it was after the game Clarko mentioned how they have been playing Shiels and others in the centre. It seems Clarko is giving others exposure in the centre which is perhaps the reason why we have been getting smashed in patches of play.

Makes some sense because last naight, as well as against Carlton, it seems that we seemed to be able to "flick a switch" then kick a quick few goals to create a buffer, then ease off. Would be interested to know if that coincides with who has been placed in the centre.

 

[LindaCresLove]

They will make sure Buddy gets more frees at GWS

If he goes to the GWS.
The AFL will make sure he gets, "more frees than Mathew Loyd"

 

[hfc70]

Second Quarter :
Sewell lines up 40m out on 45 degree angle
Eagles supporter yells 'Sewell can't kick for shit !'
Him & his mates all crack up laughing as his kick is off target , falls short & Cox marks on the line.
Cox kick short to the pocket straight down Gunstons throat.
Hawks supporter yells out 'Sewell can't kick ! **** me !
Everyone burst out laughing, very funny.
BTWGunston nailed the goal !

 

[LuvMyHawks]

Disappointing crowd at PA. Only 16,000 there..I thought we had a disappointing crowd..32,500 last night..

 

[Roger Rogerson]

Didn't really like what I saw last night and thought it was individuals who got us over the line rather than team units.

Midfield still vulnerable on the spread and backline still undersized. We get pushed into the contest at stoppages under the ball way too easily for what is well known as our Achilles heel.

I thought we got Lake to add another KP defender in addition to Schoey to push Stratts or Gibbo onto 4th and 5th fwds but all that has happened is Lake has replaced Schoey and Gibbo is still undersized on a tall. Lake is a MAJOR upgrade on Schoey but the ability to expose Gibbo is still there.

But it is bloody fantastic to have two genuine topline ball readers in Hodge and Lake in the same back 6 at times. Makes it very hard for opposition sides.

 

[TAITA]

Does anyone know why we are playing Bailey and Hale in the same side and if/when this will stop?

Does anyone know why we give you oxygen on this board?

Seriously - you are a tosser son - you have not a ****teenth of an idea about footy and are only here to steal the valid thoughts of true footy aficionados so you can claim them as your own amongst a myriad of bullshit statistics on the Bay.

Either start actually watching footy and get an original idea of your own (apart from just pulling the random name of a Box Hill player and pushing them) or **** off back to the Bay where you will be treated like the bum fodder that you truly are.

 

[H2F]

Does anyone know why we are playing Bailey and Hale in the same side and if/when this will stop?

Does anybody know when/if you might say something that has any merit/accuracy or makes any sense at all.

Roughead is starring because he does not have to bat out of his league in the ruck and can roam around dominating the forwardline and wherever else we need him.

You seriously have no idea whatsoever ...

 

[H2F]

Hale gets a goal a game and Bails is coming along in leaps and bounds ...

These two playing well are so important ...

One of the reasons we lost the Grand final last year was that Roughy was cooked by then and Bailey didn't play.

 

[willoblue]

after NicNat's amazing first quarter, I thought Bailey fought back and was influential. I really liked his game.

 

[Davo23]

after NicNat's amazing first quarter, I thought Bailey fought back and was influential. I really liked his game.

Why do Freo supporters love their West Coast players?

Strange!

 

[willoblue]

Why do Freo supporters love their West Coast players?

Strange!

??
I hate west coast almost as much as I love my club.
Naitanui included, but I had to admit that he was excellent in the first quarter, but that Bailey outplayed him after that.
It was meant as a compliment to your player as he won the battle & helped your team to win the game.

 

[bradleyferrier]

The last two weeks, for mine, have been the best two wins of the year. Both Carlton and WC threw everything they had at us but the Hawks stood up. We know what it takes to win
I remember a journo in the '80s writing "You can stop some of Hawthorn all of the time, you can stop all of Hawthorn some of the time but you can't stop all of Hawthorn all of the time" There is a bit of that with how we're traveling at the moment I reckon
And while I'm in the '80s I recall Yabby on World of Sport when being questioned about getting beaten on the stats sheet but still winning the game, as it MUST be a problem. His (famous?) deadpan reply was "Well, usually the team with the highest score wins the game"

God I love Hawthorn, I've got about 26 man-crushes going on at the moment!

 

[Hawkas1988]

Why do Freo supporters love their West Coast players?

Strange!

Look at the Freo board and see how much they despise some players like Cox, Glass, Shuey etc. They hate them just about as much as Geelong fans hate Hawks players.

It's hard to hate Naitanui, he does some freakish things and will only get better and more influential.

 

[Steven Tyler]

They are N O T the best team! The best game they won was against Crows,who are nowhere near a top team,who they beat. Wow. How can they brag about a team that beat the Crows. The Crows only beat 5 teams, all of them out of 8.They shouldn't feel proud of themselves beating a team 11 th on the ladder.FGS I wonder what excuse the BEST team lost today,when the 2 stooges Healy and Roos have their say about the loss. It has made my day.Shove that where it fits stooges. PA were only 8th on the ladder today,now 7th and beat the Swans who were 3rd now 4th..yay. Now we are 10 pts ahead of them, and 13% up on them. Don't tell me they are the best at the moment.They never were.When they hit the top of the ladder I will concede they are the BEST, and until then, they aren't..One good game make them the best!? BS

We are sitting on top of the ladder and virtually flying under the radar
Let the media gush over Sydney and Geelong, I'm wrapped they re doing it
We are winning games of football, but because we aren't playing champagne footy every week, not many people are pumping us up, perfect!
That's my point!
Lets hope we continue to hear how good the Swans, Cats Freo etc are

 

[Brant]

Hale gets a goal a game and Bails is coming along in leaps and bounds ...

These two playing well are so important ...

One of the reasons we lost the Grand final last year was that Roughy was cooked by then and Bailey didn't play.

On top of this, Bailey is taking marks around the ground, especially on the wings when we go long from HB. Not 5 contested marks per game perhaps, but he's growing. I can't understand why we'd wind it back now when it's clearly growing legs.

 

[Steven Tyler]

In Clarko's presser on Thursday he was asked about our ruck combo.
He said Max and Hale are the preferred combo, and will be unless an injury occurs
Anyone who doesn't like or agree had just better get used to it, that's what we will see every chance Clarko gets

Clarko prefers it because its working!

 

[Hawkas1988]

In Clarko's presser on Thursday he was asked about our ruck combo.
He said Max and Hale are the preferred combo, and will be unless an injury occurs
Anyone who doesn't like or agree had just better get used to it, that's what we will see every chance Clarko gets

Clarko prefers it because its working!

Was happy to hear him say that, it's working brilliantly IMO. Roughy has taken his game to another level and no doubt playing predominantly forward and being used in the middle as a big bodied midfielder has helped this. Bailey has been really good this year as our first ruck and given us a better chance in the middle to compete. Hale has been his usual pretty solid self. We should've gone with this for last years finals series but it was a little too late to experiment given Bailey's long injury layoff.

 

[driftyhunter]

Was far worse than Barry Hall's hit on Staker imo because at least Staker could, or should be able to defend himself.

Stratton could not.

This silly should never play the game again at any level.

Bit over the top. Bit of rough n tumble. Barely have felt that.

 

[Brant]

Bit over the top. Bit of rough n tumble. Barely have felt that.

Not the issue though mate.

The AFL is sanitising the game by removing all kinds of contact & this was completely off the ball; to a defenceless player; &, with absolute intent. It was a 3-pronged attack in that there was the knee-drop, the shin to the face & then the head-push to the ground; and, it was plain ugly.

If the AFL wants to rub out guys for bumps which 5 years ago were acceptable then it has to look at acts like this as the single, biggest/ugliest plight on our game & deal with it with the severity it (IMO) deserves.

This is without doubt the worst thing I've seen all year (Goodes' slide on Sewell is 2nd) & I'd expect this to get the full penalty from the AFL; Embley's saving grace being that there was next to zero impact.