Hmmm....they got lucky in 2001 with hodge and 2004 with ruffy, franklin and lewis (all pick 7 or less!). They made plenty of blunders though - eg thorpe, dowler, ellis, brennan, ries.

What they have done is get good picks in round 2 and 3 eg hill, mitchell, etc.

Luck?? More than that... Yes all clubs have early picks which fail... But good clubs get the good ones right! Along with good culture & development...

I'm frustrated to see posters say they wr lucky getting stars drafted etc ... You dont win 3 flags in 7 yrs inc back to back thru luck!

Edited September 27, 201411 yr by Hogan2014

Luck?? More than that... Yes all clubs have early picks which fail... But good clubs get the good ones right! Along with good culture & development...

I'm frustrated to see posters say they wr lucky getting stars drafted etc ... You done win 3 flags in 7 yrs inc back to back thru luck!

Spot on you make your own luck

having been there yesterday watching the hawks dominate sydney they way they did was just awesome to watch. To watch them tackle and pressure the way they did and making sure each time they tackled they'd crunch the swans player I was just in awe and realise how far we have to come to get to that standard. It was nice to watch a team just dominate like that. Sydney couldnt even kick out properly, because the hawks pressure was to good.

even late in the last quarter when it was all over stratton jsut ran back into a pack to spoil a ball. They never took there foot off the gas.

To watch a captain just set the standard for his team and dominate the way he did was awesome and I walked away with a new respect for them.

sydney never got a look in and it just shows you can buy the best players but it doesnt always work on the big day.

Luck?? More than that... Yes all clubs have early picks which fail... But good clubs get the good ones right! Along with good culture & development...

I'm frustrated to see posters say they wr lucky getting stars drafted etc ... You dont win 3 flags in 7 yrs inc back to back thru luck!

Correct?

Since we won our last flag in 1964, Hawthorn has won 11. And if there is any luck involved, it results from getting things right, that is "you make your own luck"!

A few years ago the football world talked of the big three, Collingwood, Essendon and Carlton.

Collingwood by dint of membership clout is still there, the other two are struggling big time and Hawthorn has jumped them, Carlton at least.

My kids live in Brunswick and I'm amazed to see so many children in what is a traditional Carlton area wearing wee and poo footy jumpers!

(and if they only had better colours even more people would jump on board)!!!

If the GF was played today we could have had a different result. The strong gusty winds would have played havoc with the Hawks cute kicking game. Would have degenerated into a scrap which may have suited the Swans better.

If the GF was played today we could have had a different result. The strong gusty winds would have played havoc with the Hawks cute kicking game. Would have degenerated into a scrap which may have suited the Swans better.

And if my aunt had ..........................................

Beyond all of the pressure, the kicking of the Hawks was brilliant all day, particularly when entering the forward line.

Game is over.. roll on 2015

Luck?? More than that... Yes all clubs have early picks which fail... But good clubs get the good ones right! Along with good culture & development...

I'm frustrated to see posters say they wr lucky getting stars drafted etc ... You dont win 3 flags in 7 yrs inc back to back thru luck!

And you don't win 3 in 7 without your fair share of luck. Even the Hawks hierarchy I think would admit that, along with bucket loads of hard work and great management over a long period. To have Hodge and Mitchell still playing great football after 13 years requires some luck on two fronts. One you can't manage a Hodge type pick, you hope with number one you get a great player but you can't be sure. Two if the pick is great you can't manage that they will still be playing their best footy 13 years later. Ball and Judge are shot or all but shot but the Hawks have two 2001 draftees still going strong. Add Lewis to the list who goes at it like a battering ram but keeps fit somehow after 10 years.

You can manage Hale, Burgoyne, Lake because you know what you are drafting in. But did they or Adelaide realise how good Gunston would get so quickly?

Yesterday's win owes a lot to the three musketeers Hodge, Mitchell and Lewis, 120 possessions amongst them. That is a cup that is 13 years in the making! Can you manage that I am not sure. I think that part of the winning equation is about 40 percent management and 60 percent good fortune when measured over such an extended time

If the GF was played today we could have had a different result. The strong gusty winds would have played havoc with the Hawks cute kicking game. Would have degenerated into a scrap which may have suited the Swans better.

The swans shat themselves & couldn't handle the persistent pressure. Hawthorns attack on the player & at the ball was the difference. That's how they were able to open sydney up with their skills, the war was won on the inside & hawthorn could then control the game. Once hawthorn had control of the inside game the swans had no answer. The result may have been closer if there was more wind but it wouldn't have changed the fact that hawthorn had 22 contributors throughout the whole game who were willing to play their role & the swans only had 5-7.

If the GF was played today we could have had a different result. The strong gusty winds would have played havoc with the Hawks cute kicking game. Would have degenerated into a scrap which may have suited the Swans better.

Rubbish. When you only lay 24 tackles in a GF you're stuffed. The conditions are irrelevant when a team like the Swans squibbed it,

Hey I was only making an observation on the weather and the effect it could have had. That wind was ferocious. The Hawks are undefeated when they have kicked over a 100 points this season and lost all games when they kicked under a 100 points. The Swans were intimidated because they could not stop the Hawks uncontested possesion game and they could not do it earlier in the season also. Key indicators like clearances, stoppages, contested ball were about even. The Swans won the contested marks easily 21 to 6 despite losing the total marks by a huge margin.. The Hawks won the tackles well and had an incredible 130 plus more uncontested possessions. The AFL stats shows over the game the Hawks had 14 more tackles. The point I make is that it would have been difficult if the weather gods delivered howling winds a day early to maintain an unstoppable possesion game. A scrappy unstructured game would have suited the Swans better and they could have restricted the Hawks free scoring. They play the keepings off game better than anyone else, shatter the oppositions confidence and make them look inept.

Edited September 28, 201411 yr by america de cali