Coach Sam Mitchell's direction for the club and 2024 news

[Strapping Young Lad]

If anyone wants to have a listen about what the data is saying in regards to whether we have actually gotten worse this year have a listen to this from the 9:15 mark.

I know a few people have already touched on it, but the data is also showing that our results this year have been slightly better despite actually putting out a younger team and dealing with some injuries.




And here.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

All the great new coaches have periods like this when they take over a shitty list. Has happened to Hardwick, Clarkson, Malthouse, (not Roos cos he knows when to swan in and take over a list, or leave before it gets gritty).

All the terrible new coaches have periods like this when they take over a shitty list. Neeld, Teague, Primus, etc.

It's way too early to tell. But this is a really good moment to see what Sam comes back with. He's rattled - that press conference was not from a guy who sees the big picture coming together while having a bad day at the office. This is when a coaching group earns their salary - when the media is storming at them, the players have lost confidence and aren't playing well, a third of the list is injured and we've had over a month of footy without a win.

As a fan, one who has gone through highs and lows of the 80s, then the 90s and early 2000s, and then the prime clarko era - THIS is the most interesting time we've had as a supporter group.

If you're freaking out and using the word putrid in every second post you are missing one of the most fascinating periods in the club's history. Stick around - the right and wrong paths both look very similar at this point of a rebuild.

To Sammy's credit he didn't name two 20 year olds as co-captains - so he's already a step ahead of Neeld.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

View attachment 1960173

Had to giggle at this username popping up given this morning's discussion.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Sounds like they didn't play to instructions on how to play in the perceived conditions.

Yes, amongst other things.

Didn’t play to the conditions, didn’t put our body over the ball, tried to play perfect football, tried to break tackles.

Suns are no slouch in the contest, and we were found very much wanting which is clearly something Sam takes great issue with in his sides.

 

[humid hawk]

View attachment 1960173

Had to giggle at this username popping up given this morning's discussion.

I'm based around SE Asia so I see your humidity discussion and just laugh indulgently

 

[Sixpence]

Every time I go back to Brisbane, I'm comfortable with the conditions, however my missus, a born and raised Victorian, complains how hot, humid and muggy it is. It absolutely would have affected the players. You could see they were sweating like crazy at quarter time.

No-one is using it as an excuse, we were poor at playing the conditions. We played like we were still in Melbourne. Other teams who come up clearly have done it better. But ultimately, the conditions still played a part in how bad we were.

 

[Suntory Boss Coffee]

There was a shot in the second quarter of Scrimmers on the bench absolutely drenched in sweat.

 

[matey]

Hope the new facilities out at Dingley includes a sauna the size of a footy ground.

 

[CHUBBSS]

SM played in a side where commitment was non-negotiable.

If it was your time to go - you went.

I really think he is struggling to understand - as am I - why all of a sudden we have a few blokes who seemingly pick and choose when to commit.

The list makes horrible reading.

Impey, Amon, Ward, Weddle, MacDonald, McKenzie, Ramsden - and against GCS Sicily and Newcombe.

All these blokes have in the last 5 games pulled out of challenges, ducked their heads, went up with one hand or just didn't do the hard stuff to avoid contact.

And now we hear from a trusted track watcher that training has been non-contact for the last 2 weeks.

I simply don't understand how the culture of Hawthorn FC has gotten to the point that multiple players can decide when or when not to take contact - and apparently get picked again next week.

IMHO there really does seem to be some thing seriously wrong behind the scenes.

The footage of Jai Newcombe with a couple of minutes to go ignoring SM on the bench when he tried to talk to him - preferring to ignore him, put on headphones and look away - was damning.

Are there no consequences for poor behaviours anymore at Hawthorn, or have we gone full CGS with an appeasement policy?

If that had happened in Mitchells playing days, I'm pretty sure Hodge Lewis etc would have had a chat about 'attitude'

SM needs to urgently instill some non-negotiable standards - you break them - off to Box Hill for 3 weeks - and enforce them religiously.

Newcombe needs to be pulled up on that sort of BS.

I’d be interested to know what our standards are because contested footy seems like a pick and choose.

Bad habits stick

 

[Newmo89]

There was a shot in the second quarter of Scrimmers on the bench absolutely drenched in sweat.

And he had spent a few years playing up on the Gold Coast too

 

[Blackhawk42]

I'm actually at the stage now where I won't be upset if we bottom out completely for the rest of the season, even if it resulted in an unexpected wooden spoon.

Worst start in 54 years. Players looked like they had nothing to play for at times on Saturday night, as well as in the first half against the Magpies a week ago.

I'll enjoy any wins along the way, but also won't lament holding up the entire ladder if it transpires.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Hope the new facilities out at Dingley includes a sauna the size of a footy ground.

Bikram yoga and sauna sessions. Bring your dehumidifiers to training boys.

 

[HedgeFund]

Can we get a separate weather thread?

Sticky hands thread

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I’d be interested to know what our standards are because contested footy seems like a pick and choose.

Bad habits stick

As of last week we were 8th in the comp for contested possessions, and 5th for contested possession rate.

Contested possession has actually been ok for us this year.
Bombers, we were +6(122 total)
Demons, -8(116)
Cats, +13(145)
Pies, +9(150)

Saturday night was a night we couldn’t afford to lapse.
We were -8, for a total of 127.

 

[CHUBBSS]

As of last week we were 8th in the comp for contested possessions, and 5th for contested possession rate.

Contested possession has actually been ok for us this year.
Bombers, we were +6(122 total)
Demons, -8(116)
Cats, +13(145)
Pies, +9(150)

Saturday night was a night we couldn’t afford to lapse.
We were -8, for a total of 127.

We’ve dropped off on 1% efforts since the first two games as well, to me it looks like we dropped our head after a winnable game against the dons and now we are here, Standards dropping, expectation of effort dropping.

I don’t like how the contested possession are recorded but that’s an argument in itself

are we just to slow a team and beaten to the ball every time? I think it’s more effort but this could be contributing

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

We’ve dropped off on 1% efforts since the first two games as well, to me it looks like we dropped our head after a winnable game against the dons and now we are here, Standards dropping, expectation of effort dropping.

I don’t like how the contested possession are recorded but that’s an argument in itself

are we just to slow a team and beaten to the ball every time? I think it’s more effort but this could be contributing

We are equal 16th for 1%ers.
5th for total clangers too.

handball efficiency also an issue, as we’re 15th.

 

[Phil McCreviss]

All the great new coaches have periods like this when they take over a shitty list. Has happened to Hardwick, Clarkson, Malthouse, (not Roos cos he knows when to swan in and take over a list, or leave before it gets gritty).

All the terrible new coaches have periods like this when they take over a shitty list. Neeld, Teague, Primus, etc.

It's way too early to tell. But this is a really good moment to see what Sam comes back with. He's rattled - that press conference was not from a guy who sees the big picture coming together while having a bad day at the office. This is when a coaching group earns their salary - when the media is storming at them, the players have lost confidence and aren't playing well, a third of the list is injured and we've had over a month of footy without a win.

As a fan, one who has gone through highs and lows of the 80s, then the 90s and early 2000s, and then the prime clarko era - THIS is the most interesting time we've had as a supporter group.

If you're freaking out and using the word putrid in every second post you are missing one of the most fascinating periods in the club's history. Stick around - the right and wrong paths both look very similar at this point of a rebuild.

Those 2 days were tough.

 

[HawthornHawk]

As of last week we were 8th in the comp for contested possessions, and 5th for contested possession rate.

Contested possession has actually been ok for us this year.
Bombers, we were +6(122 total)
Demons, -8(116)
Cats, +13(145)
Pies, +9(150)

Saturday night was a night we couldn’t afford to lapse.
We were -8, for a total of 127.

Every possession is contested when you wait to get tackled and handball it a metre forward to grass

 

[BobHawk]

I don't think the issues we are seeing are about the club bottoming out or looking for priority picks. This team isn't anywhere near as bad as it is performing. We cannot just flush away the improvements made last season plus the addition of players from both the 2023 draft and trade. We did well in both. The result should be further improvement this season. It is now a question of coaches and players being open and honest and figuring the issues out. If the players have issues with the coaching then the leadership group needs to be courageous enough to present that to coaches. If the coaches have issues with the playing group, be it attitude, effort, inability to execute to plan or whatever then they need to address this with the team and individual players. If we are allowing issues and problems to fester then this can have long term effects on culture and would obviously see people (players and coaches) being shown the door at the end of the season. Just fix it.

 

[TassieGrown]

Those who have attended games what is our forward set up from general play? Watching on TV when we go forward it appears our forwards are bunched up 25 metres out with no forward on lead which results in a high kick to the bunched forwards, which is easily defended.

Hoping this is not the case but does appear that way

 

[Buzz Hawk]

All the great new coaches have periods like this when they take over a shitty list. Has happened to Hardwick, Clarkson, Malthouse, (not Roos cos he knows when to swan in and take over a list, or leave before it gets gritty).

All the terrible new coaches have periods like this when they take over a shitty list. Neeld, Teague, Primus, etc.

It's way too early to tell. But this is a really good moment to see what Sam comes back with. He's rattled - that press conference was not from a guy who sees the big picture coming together while having a bad day at the office. This is when a coaching group earns their salary - when the media is storming at them, the players have lost confidence and aren't playing well, a third of the list is injured and we've had over a month of footy without a win.

As a fan, one who has gone through highs and lows of the 80s, then the 90s and early 2000s, and then the prime clarko era - THIS is the most interesting time we've had as a supporter group.

If you're freaking out and using the word putrid in every second post you are missing one of the most fascinating periods in the club's history. Stick around - the right and wrong paths both look very similar at this point of a rebuild.

Good post, agree with you LP.
We are at a bit of a fork in the road right now, and where we go from here will say a lot about Sam's coaching and management ability.
It is a very interesting time in our history. At the moment we are pretty close to rock bottom (we will be at rock bottom if we lose to the Roos next week imo).
We either continue to slowly implode and limp to the end of the year, where there would be a clean out of coaches and players (I think with this scenario Sam's job would be safe regardless) or we re-group, fight hard, get some players back and show some of the improvement we glimpsed last year.
I'm backing Sam in, he is intelligent guy, a pretty quick learner, who just wants to win. That game against GCS would have burned him, badly. Yeah we have a lot of players out (and that's the main reason for our shocker of a start this year imo, but it's more than that and Sammy would know it's not just the players who are out).
He will be burning the midnight oil for a response, both from the players and the coaching group.

 

[Denver Day Lewis]

Ha. David King on SEN saying we need a priority pick.

Did he say 68 priority picks?

Or was it 6 to 8 priority picks?

Can't recall...

 

[CaptainWorpedo]

Wow! So many supporters giving up already! It was a challenging start to the AFL season for us with top teams.

It is also why I believe there needs to be changes to the season. Every team plays once and home and away game are alternate and split evenly each year. Make finals top 9 once Tasmania enters the AFL.

The Hawks will pull together as a group and salvage 2024. Many important lessons will be learnt this year by players and coaches.

If Sam Mitchell’s playing career should tell you one thing about him, it is that he is determined to succeed and leaves no rock unturned in pursuit of success!

 

[Brishawk]

Do you think we spoke about training “in the conditions” the day before the game, and then about the instructions to “play to those conditions” when the conditions didn’t actually exist?

You think we just made it all up both pre and post game?

Mate, i was there. In no way were the conditions tough, nor did we need to make any material difference to how any team would play. As i posted above, I watched a very humid game two weeks ago and the pies reserves in real humidity and actual light rain at times had no problem handling the ball. Players vomited and cramped. Still no impact on the ball handling. If we are that concerned about playing in slightly different conditions to home then we have a big problem. The focus on the conditions is polar opposite to the mindset to play in any conditions, any time. You talk like they players never play in wet and greasy conditions in melbourne or tassie…

 

[Lickmesocks]

Mate, i was there. In no way were the conditions tough, nor did we need to make any material difference to how any team would play. As i posted above, I watched a very humid game two weeks ago and the pies reserves in real humidity and actual light rain at times had no problem handling the ball. Players vomited and cramped. Still no impact on the ball handling. If we are that concerned about playing in slightly different conditions to home then we have a big problem. The focus on the conditions is polar opposite to the mindset to play in any conditions, any time. You talk like they players never play in wet and greasy conditions in melbourne or tassie…

We bang on so much about the conditions it has our players cooked before they kick a ball.

Remember one season we made the players train with soapy balls in the lead up to prepare and we still lost by 10 goals.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

Somehow it was only a 50 point loss.

Seeing North get spanked before bringing it back to 65ish in the last quarter shows a difference.

Our backline, despite Sicily having his worst season in years, is holding up extremely well. Something is going right down there.

But with a midfield that can't fire none of the planning, preparation, game strategy, list management - none of it matters. Can't even get a look at any of that if our engine room players are miles off their best.

Both the north and the hawks games were blow outs before little bit of a fight back when the game was done