8 minutes ago, Salems Lot said:

Their fans...the worst in so many ways. arrogant, Family! Family!?Hah! Interested to see how all those rusted on fans drop away now.. Their fans.....

Half of them used to be Melbourne supporters, didn't they? In my experience a lot of them were and defected during the 80s and 90s. Will be very interesting to see their crowd numbers this year.

Edited April 17, 20178 yr by A F

Ahhh....what is it that Tyson Vickery brings to a side?  :-))

4 minutes ago, A F said:

Half of them used to be Melbourne supporters, didn't they? In my experience a lot of them were and defected during the 80s and 90s. Will be very interesting to see their crowd numbers this year.

But no doubt the AFL will reward them with the Easter Monday special again, just as they have the DrugCheats and the underperforming Magpies with Anzac Day.  This year's will be an absolute doozie, though no doubt there will be the usual tripe about their boys being like war heroes!

Edited April 17, 20178 yr by monoccular

1 minute ago, A F said:

Quickly becoming one of my least favourite posters. Congratulations. 

I wonder if he's any relation to our old mate 'Curry and Beer'...

8 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

I wonder if he's any relation to our old mate 'Curry and Beer'...

I liked C&B, but who knows.

And it will be Chip's leadership and loyalty that will make Hawthorn great again...

2 minutes ago, monoccular said:

But no doubt the AFL will reward them with the Easter Monday special again, just as they have the DrugCheats and the underperforming Magpies with Anzac Day.  This year's will be an absolute doozie, though no doubt there will be the usual tripe about their boys being like war heroes!

It's a good point you touch on.

If the Hawks win 5 or less games this year I'd expect prime time to be off the table.  I'll eagerly await next year's fixture.  

i would love melbourne to have the hawks success over the last 10 years,  we all know what its like to get belted week in week out 

but I do have a little smile seeing them like this too 

Their flags were all boring and against teams that hadn't played the G. This might sound absurd. But I genuinely think we've been robbed of some great grand finals over the years:

2013 = Freo v Geel would've been a belter had Varcoe kicked straight and Geelong didn't choke in the last quarter.

2014 = Sydney v Port if the umpire hadn't of called HTB on Hodges tackle and then not called HTB on Lake when Port were storming home. 

2015 = Hawthorn v Nth Melb would have been a great aggressive man on man all victorian grand final but the umpires destroyed the Kangas in the 2nd qtr of their prelim v WCE.

I sound so petty. But what the hell. Finally a dull chapter in AFL history is over.

Edited April 17, 20178 yr by DominatrixTyson

I have had to swallow hawk bile for years with an in law that would just rub everyone's nose in their success.  All of a sudden they are not even going to games.  Thank the lord for small mercies.  18th and about 50%.  Say goodbye to 2017!  One less team to fight against for a spot in the 8.

Nothing wrong with a bit a schadenfreude.

Their fans truly deserve it.

So happy for them.

1 minute ago, buck_nekkid said:

I have had to swallow hawk bile for years with an in law that would just rub everyone's nose in their success.  All of a sudden they are not even going to games.  Thank the lord for small mercies.  18th and about 50%.  Say goodbye to 2017!  One less team to fight against for a spot in the 8.

Yeah i have a couple of mates on facebook who really don't know what to write. 

Bloody Marvellous. 

Do they have a Demonland equivalent? (Hawk Talk was around years ago)

would be superb reading tonight

9 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

I have had to swallow hawk bile for years with an in law that would just rub everyone's nose in their success.  All of a sudden they are not even going to games.  Thank the lord for small mercies.  18th and about 50%.  Say goodbye to 2017!  One less team to fight against for a spot in the 8.

I hate people like that. Okay, so the footy might be expensive, but if you can afford it when you're up and about, you can afford it when you're at the foot of the ladder too. Yes, it's entertainment and not everyone has it in them, but in my experience, these people are the people who are the most arrogant when things are going well.

How's McEvoy having a teary?!

Someone not mentioned is Brad Hill.  He is a big loss to the Hawks.

He gave the Hawks speed thru the middle and with Burgoyne's speed was critical in moving the ball end to end.  Burgoyne has slowed down in recent years but Hill camouflaged that a bit.  They didn't replace Hill's speed.  Now they are as slow as snails. 

Edited April 17, 20178 yr by Lucifer's Hero

I have no qualms with Hawthorn. They had no leg-up and managed their list exceptionally well. The surprise is the potential misstep in trading away their future first (and second?) at the start of a foreseeable slide. Although, they had the chance to bag O'Mearer and Mitchell, and so took the option to kick-start the rebuild in the hope of avoiding too long at the bottom. Time will be the judge.

Hard to see either Hawthorn or Sydney making the finals, they still have to play each other twice.

Why are we caring one iota about the wees and poos.

Had their time in the sun.

 

Pick #1 to St Kilda?

8 minutes ago, Skuit said:

I have no qualms with Hawthorn. They had no leg-up and managed their list exceptionally well. The surprise is the potential misstep in trading away their future first (and second?) at the start of a foreseeable slide. Although, they had the chance to bag O'Mearer and Mitchell, and so took the option to kick-start the rebuild in the hope of avoiding too long at the bottom. Time will be the judge.

They did have the good fortune to be up when free agency came in.

 

But yes, no problems with the club.

The arrogant [censored] fair weather fans that werent there in 04 who spent the last 9 years mouthing off.... suffer in your jocks ya [censored]

2 hours ago, A F said:

The question should probably be did they overrate the guys they currently have on their list? Surely, O'Meara and Mitchell were never going to compensate for the loss in experience of Mitchell and Lewis.

You've gotta say Clarkson's either misread it massively or his arrogance got the better of him. Neither scenario looks upon him favourably, but I doubt he'll be at the Hawks much longer. I hope he doesn't make his way to Collingwood.

mitchell is quite a ball magnet but his disposal is schizen

11 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Why are we caring one iota about the wees and poos.

Had their time in the sun.

 

Don't really care about Hawthorn. I just think it's amusing where Frawley is. 

20 minutes ago, biggestred said:

They did have the good fortune to be up when free agency came in.

 

This is true - ditto the expansion teams. But the common factor with Geelong and Hawthorn's sustained success in recent times was pay-cuts - made possible on the back of building a certain culture and a taste of success. They also both got a small break with some absolute champions coming in through father-son and priorities. I'm hoping this all sounds very familiar in a couple years.

And I think PJ is very aware of it - why we have the core of the team signed up until 2019 but not beyond. Develop some serious young stars, have an early tilt, and see who wants to stick around below market value. If they leave, we probably get above-market currency in return. Formula for sustained success.

2 hours ago, Abe said:

Someone like poppy might hold some value to a team like the giants who don't really have a genuine small forward but is contending for a flag

Tony Green and Stevie J say "hello"

1 hour ago, markc said:

i would love melbourne to have the hawks success over the last 10 years,  we all know what its like to get belted week in week out 

but I do have a little smile seeing them like this too 

Hell yeah, but it would be very sweet icing on the cake for them to have the last 10 years we have just had as well - is that too much to ask?