Is it just paranoia or do the Hawks get every player who wants a change? Hale, Gibson , Burgoyne and now Gunston( didn't know who he was until last week.

They have a hard edge/culture and great membership and facilities but so do the other big clubs.

Just don't get it. We need to be as attractive as they are to compete with compromised drafts and free agency.

Is it just paranoia or do the Hawks get every player who wants a change? Hale, Gibson , Burgoyne and now Gunston( didn't know who he was until last week.

They have a hard edge/culture and great membership and facilities but so do the other big clubs.

Just don't get it. We need to be as attractive as they are to compete with compromised drafts and free agency.

Whitito it is not that hard.

Hawthorn have been a top 4 team for the last 30 years, they have won flags and seldom been poor.

The are tough and succesfull.

Right now they are top 4 and were 1 goal away from a GF.

The Dees are 13th with a average list and a poor reputation.

Which team would you choice to play for?

Until the dees get into a similar positon we will always run second to clubs like Hawthorn.

Success breeds success and attracts the best.

We would've had Hale - it's just that the Hawks put a better offer on the table for him.

We would've had Hale - it's just that the Hawks put a better offer on the table for him.

Ron with the same deal I believe Hale would have gone to the Hawks

Is it just paranoia or do the Hawks get every player who wants a change? Hale, Gibson , Burgoyne and now Gunston( didn't know who he was until last week.

They have a hard edge/culture and great membership and facilities but so do the other big clubs.

Just don't get it. We need to be as attractive as they are to compete with compromised drafts and free agency.

The Hawks are a team that plays, and the Club behaves like Men. In a Manly manner. They play bruising & unsociable footy and the supporters largely are similar.

They are roundly Admired by all AFL people, players etc. They started this in this '60's with Kennedy and have carried their brand of Pride and togetherness & Hardness ever since and have made good decisions around their clubs character. They have hired great men as Coaches and they Pay quietly to get the people they want & need.

The character has Fitted Well with the past 4 decades of modern Australia.

Players even wanted to go to the Hawks when they were based at the Glenferrie Oval. Because of the Culture.

Why Hawthorn ? Ahh, it might be tempting for some to get all maudlin or dramatically pessimistic about our circumstances and where we stand in the great scheme of things. If we pare it back however and just look at it mercilessly and see us as others might then we really have much to prove.

Weve been the perennial 'gunners' for a long while. Were the keeper of false dawns , the purveyors of football snake oil; Roll up Roll up , this is going to be the year...etc etc etc.

Compare that with the relative recent history of Hawthorn where theyve demonstrated success and the vigour to rebound. Theres an air of Can-Do about Hawthorn that we just cant lay claim to yet.

We , quite rightly ( ) cant understand why anyone would want to play for any other team but strangely not all see it that way. Hawthorn is a top 4 team. They will stil be up there next year. So as a young kid looking to go somewhere, and with no particualr allegiance then you might just overlook us , and they have.

We have much do do and prove and then we wil lbe a club players will choose, when choice is on offer.

As they say...we just need to suck it up and do something about it.......its called winning B)

Edited October 12, 201113 yr by belzebub59

Why Hawthorn ? Ahh, it might be tempting for some to get all maudlin or dramatically pessimistic about our circumstances and where we stand in the great scheme of things. If we pare it back however and just look at it mercilessly and see us as others might then we really have much to prove.

Weve been the perennial 'gunners' for a long while. Were the keeper of false dawns , the purveyors of football snake oil; Roll up Roll up , this is going to be the year...etc etc etc.

Compare that with the relative recent history of Hawthorn where theyve demonstrated success and the vigour to rebound. Theres an air of Can-Do about Hawthorn that we just cant lay claim to yet.

We , quite rightly ( ) cant understand why anyone would want to play for any other team but strangely not all see it that way. Hawthorn is a top 4 team. They will stil be up there next year. So as a young kid looking to go somewhere, and with no particualr allegiance then you might just overlook us , and they have.

We have much do do and prove and then we wil lbe a club players will choose, when choice is on offer.

As they say...we just need to suck it up and do something about it.......its called winning B)

You have my vote BB

If the Dees failed to exist tomorrow morning I would drive straight to Waverley to sign up just like the kid you mention above.

( that is actually a lie I would give AFL away but you get the drift )

Edited October 12, 201113 yr by old dee

You do have to give kudos to Hawthorn and their trading performance over the past few years. They have clearly led the way and have been a big destination for players who want a second chance elsewhere.

I think their luck may change come time with Free Agency. They will struggle to keep their salary cap in tact (Which is a re-occuring factor for most top 4-6 clubs) from clubs that have a bit of space in theirs and want to get a scalp.

Free Agency is going to be a real interesting change to the trade period I believe.

Gippy

Hawthorn have a potent group of stars and leaders who provide the core of a very high quality team.

They also have weaknesses here and there which they readily identify and make a major effort to correct, actively pursuing players they feel will meet the identified need.

When Hawthorn are interested in someone, they are able to clearly articulate why they will be more valued and have greater opportunities at Hawthorn.

So just in the recent period, Hawthorn's success at attracting players lies in the same process that built them a premiership team - a disciplined, systematic approach to list management.

The reason why is because they are looking for mature players while they are still in their window of opportunity. Hence they are chasing older players like Burgoyne, Hale, Bruce, Gibson etc.

They are more willing to give up their draft picks in the short term to pick up more experienced players that can help them push towards a flag. They are trading their early picks for them too. Hale was their 1st rounder, Burgoyne too (pick 9), Gunston 1st round and Gibson 2nd and 3rd round.

We'll start offering more, like Hawthorn, for these players because the worth of the draft picks we would be trading will be less to us than they would be to other clubs. When we start knocking on the door then we will start trading out our top picks too, and go much harder for these experienced players.

We have had a very different strategy than Hawthorn because we were bottoming out. When we get into a position where we are challenging for a flag I think you will find that we suddenly become a very attractive place to play.

Is it just paranoia or do the Hawks get every player who wants a change? Hale, Gibson , Burgoyne and now Gunston( didn't know who he was until last week.

They have a hard edge/culture and great membership and facilities but so do the other big clubs.

Just don't get it. We need to be as attractive as they are to compete with compromised drafts and free agency.

One word...Buddy.

As long as this man is in the squad they can win a flag of his own boot.

Seems like there's a few who feel the same way.

Ron with the same deal I believe Hale would have gone to the Hawks

My recollection is that Hale was happy to go to either the Dees or the Hawks. He's probably very happy he got to the Hawks in retrospect, but at the time he stated he was comfortable with either club.

The Hawks offered North a better draft pick than us. I think it was the pick they received for Campbell Brown. Ultimately it wasn't Hale's choice - North wanted to take the Hawks pick rather than ours.

Even though I wholly agree with the sentiment of this thread, things ARE changing.

Scully aside, we have recently landed Neeld, Misson and Craig - we shouldn't underestimate the importance of these signings. All of them could've gone to the so-called "bigger" clubs.

It seems we're not so smelly with sponsors either. And we've now got really good facilities. And a decent, albeit very young, list.

In short, I reckon some MFC momentum's finally starting to take place.

Whitito it is not that hard.

Hawthorn have been a top 4 team for the last 30 years, they have won flags and seldom been poor.

The are tough and succesfull.

Right now they are top 4 and were 1 goal away from a GF.

The Dees are 13th with a average list and a poor reputation.

Which team would you choice to play for?

Until the dees get into a similar positon we will always run second to clubs like Hawthorn.

Success breeds success and attracts the best.

Can't argue with that!

Maybe I should gave rephrased it.... Why hawthorn and not collingwood , Carlton, essendon and Geelong , all are big clubs with a premiership culture, the preferred destination is always hawthorn .

I was not wondering why them and not us.

It seems to me there's another obvious reason not stated here. Because they are a better performing team (on field) it's logical that their 20th best player is better than hours, as is their 25th, their 30th etc. So they have better discards to play with during trade week. Added to their willingness to trade away better draft picks, which they should do, because they are clearly close to winning another premiership, they are able to put together the better packages.

I imagine that having a coach with a clear strategy and gameplan also helps - they can identify exactly what they want and then concentrate their efforts in that direction rather than taking a scattergun approach - which I don't accuse MFC of doing (but I do think it has been the Richmond and Western Bulldogs way in recent years).

Even though I wholly agree with the sentiment of this thread, things ARE changing.

Scully aside, we have recently landed Neeld, Misson and Craig - we shouldn't underestimate the importance of these signings. All of them could've gone to the so-called "bigger" clubs.

It seems we're not so smelly with sponsors either. And we've now got really good facilities. And a decent, albeit very young, list.

In short, I reckon some MFC momentum's finally starting to take place.

I agree as it happens. But, and this is the kicker that counts, it aint happened yet. Hawthorns has and theres a distinct appeal for the many to be where its actually happening, not where it might.

This will change but for now we still a bridesmaid.