Welcome Welcome to Hawthorn, Chad Wingard. 200 games! Announces retirement (2 Sept 2024)

[tommyk72]

This is what Chad averaged in the last 12 rounds.
24.25 disposals .91 goals 5 tackles .5 goal assists 4.9 clearances

Overpaid.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

When mulling over Shiel and Wingard early in the trade period I said that Wingard was the one I wanted. Versatile, gamebreaker, POISE.

Will take a lot of pressure of Breust or can run through the midfield if Mitchell is getting tagged out of it.

Same with me, for Wingard is better value given those reasons IMO. Not to say that Shiel isn't a gun, but Wingard can offer this team more.

 

[MasterSamurai]

80% forward, please. That’s where our biggest weakness was obvious throughout the year.

 

[GoHawkas]

Second home, new chapter, you’ve got this Chad! His already talking about helping the HFC win premierships.


Hawk Premierships 1961, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015 and there’s many more to come yet!

 

[dipper86]

80% forward, please. That’s where our biggest weakness was obvious throughout the year.

He is the perfect player as a midfielder with the last kick inside 50 to our forwards and or as a forward on the recieving end finishing it off. He's polish.

He'll be another midfield rotation of quality, throw in Scully along with Smith and we have multiple players providing overlap.......

I have banged on about this, the forward line wasn't the issue, it was our midfield being shut down in games, void of movement/overlap then a long kick into a crowded forward line.
We have one of the most, versatile mobile forward lines in the league, imagine what they could do if they were one out or having the pill kicked to advantage.

I'm moist.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Prior to trade period I was all about Hawthorn landing Wingard over Shiel (refer to post history to confirm), if it ever came down to that. IMO Wingard is obviously a more versatile player than Shiel, who is strictly a midfielder. Whereas Wingard can play as a crumbling forward, leading forward, high half forward and a midfielder. It's just better value for our money IMO and allows for greater flexibility with our squad.

As trivial as it sounds - I've had him in my SC Draft side three years running (always picking him with my 3rd or 4th pick), so I've watched him quite a lot over the last few years as we take our league seriously.

In short; Wingard has that magic ability that very few have.

When he's up and running in the forward line he's very hard to defend against, as he does unorthodox things. He's strong in one v ones, has elite skills and is evasive.

When he's played in the midfield he's a quality clearance player, despite his size and perceived stereotype. He's got lightning hands and is extremely instinctive with his stoppage work. He tends to rush his kicks out of stoppages situations, or at least bombs it forward quickly, which again I feel is just instinctive play on his part. So that's something he can work on IMO, and I think he will be able to with Mitchell taking the brunt of the clearance work. He also tackles hard and works very hard around the stoppages - again it's something that I think gets missed due to the stereotype of what kind of player he is (that elusive small forward).

Last season he started off very slowly and it seemed like there were some issues - which seemingly was the case given what has been posted on here, re: Chad Cornes, etc. He was apparently disappointed at not being moved to the midfield.

However halfway through the year he seemingly pulled his finger out, or was moved into the midfield at least, and his form skyrocketed. He was Port's best midfielder from that point on.

Honestly he's a top 10 player in the comp when he's on, he's got it all to offer.

Superbly summated. Can you do us all a favour and write this up in crayons so the morons across our social media channels can figure this shit out. Saw someone today refer to Wingard as second rate and said he’d ‘never accomplished anything’. I swear some don’t watch any footy outside Hawks games.

 

[MasterSamurai]

Don’t get the negativity re-Chad from some of our supporters. I understand everyone is entitled to their opinion but Chad Wingard is a Bona Fide Star!!!
Think about it, will opposition tighten down he or Breust? Arguably the two best half frwds in the game (along with Greene)!
Now, my disappointment had nothing to do with us getting the Chad, i was extremely disappointed giving up pick 35 to those Grubs!!!
But that doesn’t change the fact that we ended up with not one but TWO absolute A grade rolled Gold talents on our list. Can’t wait for 2019!!!!

 

[moistie]

I'm moist.

So am I.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[OnceKicked50]

http://www.afl.com.au/video/2018-10-17/hawks-get-their-chad-the-best-of-wingard

Pumped.

 

[Kingfish73]

Hinkley squashed his pure football talent. Clarkson will rekindle it. Pure class and first 4 years i rated him at Wanganeen level. You will get plenty of enjoyment watching him play...

 

[dermott]

Chad will transform our midfield rotations and forward line. I always bang on about how Cyril created panic in opposition defenders and I believe Wingard will do likewise. He is a different player to Cyril but at his best is equally as capable of doing the impossible. He is a match winner and I am absolutely thrilled he is at Hawthorn.

He will also add more class and clearance capability to our midfield freeing up attention from Mitchell and O'Meara.

I can hardly wait for the season to start.

 

[Gralin]

80% forward, please. That’s where our biggest weakness was obvious throughout the year.

I think he should spend more time up the ground we need his speed and creativity around the ball as much as possible

play him forward for rests and what not but get him in the guts more than 20% of the time

if we are getting the ball into our forward half quickly a lot of our problems will sort themselves out, especially if we are less worried about getting burnt the other way

 

[KermitJagger]

Wingard, like Burgoyne, has massive potential as an impact player. We can manage his tank being "below average" because we now have the best winger in terms of TOG% and the best inside midfielder in terms of TOG%, as well as a bevy of other players who use less rotations than the average. Workrate is huge in this game and being able to manage the workrate of guys like Wingard is an extremely underrated aspect of playing good footy.

I'm very excited.

 

[MrPremiership]

Wonder what his midfield / forward time split will be.
Looked good as an attacking midfielder, but has tricks in the F50

 

[Slick]

Incredibly excited by the addition of Wingard - can't help but think that GW and Clarko see him as a 60-70% midfielder who rests in the forward line for the remainder of the time. Almost rotating with Bruest.

I believe the Port fans, I genuinely think he could be a top 10 player in the competition under Clarko. Kane Cornes said that Wingard hasn't yet scratched the surface of his potential. He rates him as one of the most talented players he's ever seen. Could he be our Gary Ablett Jnr 'type' player? Goal kicking midfielder/half forward.

 

[HawksFanGal]

Welcome to the Hawks Chad. Hoping Clarko will guide you to many years of excellence with our club. Bring on the footy already

 

[Hodgey 15]

http://www.afl.com.au/video/2018-10-17/hawks-get-their-chad-the-best-of-wingard

Pumped.

What a freak of a player.
And now...he's all ours.

 

[The Chadinator]

They call him the Genius for a reason. Check out these trick shots.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Port fans have (had) been saying for a while that Hinkley's game plan really stifled Wingard. I think Clarko will be able to get another level out of him, maybe two if he's willing to work for it.

That interview makes it seem like that he is willing to work for it.

Also having Robbie Gray (what a player) in the side made things a little harder as they are very similar players, that both can play the exact same role. Gray one of the true elites of the competition and the team was geared more around him (or at least I thought).

 

[Mr39]

You have picked up an absolute jet. He will dominate for the hawks for a long time and bring fans to the footy.

 

[Gralin]

Port fans have (had) been saying for a while that Hinkley's game plan really stifled Wingard. I think Clarko will be able to get another level out of him, maybe two if he's willing to work for it.

That interview makes it seem like that he is willing to work for it.

Also having Robbie Gray (what a player) in the side made things a little harder as they are very similar players, that both can play the exact same role. Gray one of the true elites of the competition and the team was geared more around him (or at least I thought).

yes one thing with Clarko is he give some players quite a bit of license to do things their own way

Not all players and not all the time, you still need your predictibility

For example Breust was told he can go for more pack style marks this year with Cyril and Poppy missing large chunks, and he took some really good marks in that period, when Poppy came back he went back to crumbing more because the team is better with Breust doing that and Poppy jumping than the other way around.

But the point is players are given some freedom to make choices and play their own way, something that Hinkley doesn't seem to be able to do

 

[RedmanWasHere]

147 games.
232 goals.

Huge chance of finishing with 400+ goals.

 

[Fridge16]

What's the theory on Burton? You just gave up a 10 year star for an inconsistent, flaky forward / mid. Why on earth would Wright do that? Is Burton injured? Attitude? what is it, I'm at a loss.

 

[Xtreme]

He better be running laps at Waverley right now!!

 

[Gralin]

What's the theory on Burton? You just gave up a 10 year star for an inconsistent, flaky forward / mid. Why on earth would Wright do that? Is Burton injured? Attitude? what is it, I'm at a loss.

I'm guessing Clarko doesn't agree with your assessment of the two players