10 minutes ago, Pipefitter said:

Needed another tall if we are just going to play a bomb it on their heads game plan. 

Maybe we could swap Lever for Watts the Port player.....?

Whatever problems we have with the gameplan and wet weather football, its so disappointing that we just plain turned it up in the last quarter. First time since the last game in 2016, which at least was a meaningless game.

Going in with only one key forward when you've also got only one ruckman is just stupid beyond belief.

Just now, Wadda We Sing said:

Maybe we could swap Lever for Watts the Port player.....?

and get 2 first rounders back!!

What a disaster.

We play a slow chipping ball tempo game plan and an aggressive (mindless) backline. If we don't win the ball and get it going forward we'll be exposed at the back.

Mindset is one thing, they dropped away in the second half. But I can hardly blame some of the players too much when nothing they were trying to do was going to work in the wet.

Really good players can withstand hot opposition pressure but apart from that it's team mates. Clarry today would win a super tough hard ball get and just have no one to give it to. Facing away from goal he can't put it on the boot and we're at the mercy of the Hawks.

This is this team under pressure and the changes can't be as simple as playing harder or better.

 

Are the rumours true that halfway through the final term our players contacted the AFLPA about how Hawthorn were treating them?

34 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

We have all the talent in the world

That's where the problems start. We don't, we really don't.

We have a lot of potential talent, but that's about it at the moment. If we end up with even a single AA player this year, I'll be surprised. For me, I think we're a couple of years away from being a really solid side that can push into finals, and I think today showed it. I thought Salem was decent today - it's his 50th game. If you take away the 3 senior citizens, we only have 5 players who've played over 100 games. Five. The meat and potatoes of our list is in the 30 - 60  game bracket, and no matter how much talent you have, it's experience that counts (if not, GWS would have started winning flags years ago).

I do think though that we're missing Viney and Tom Mac much more than we realise.

We are our own worst ememies. Well said. Lets not expect the players to turn up on the day and blame the supporters. Accountability is a key to all successful sporting organisations and someone needs to stand up and say, "this is not good enough". Well today, as a paid up supporter this was was not an acceptable performance. 54 years is not ACCEPTABLE. Hopefully the football department and board acknowledges this through action.

I bloody hate Hawthorn. This brought back all the worst memories of playing them over the years, 1 goal in 3 quarters in miserable conditions. Yuck

The Hawks were the better side blah, blah, blah, but I couldn't believe the number of times that hacks off the ground, or fluky bounces, or wild punches out of packs landed in a Hawthorn lap. Incredible.

Gone backwards, to get pants by 10 goals in wet weather in atrocious. 

Worst part is we could see all the boys trying there hearts out to play a dumb as [censored] game plan 

Just now, Demonised said:

The Hawks were the better side blah, blah, blah, but I couldn't believe the number of times that hacks off the ground, or fluky bounces, or wild punches out of packs landed in a Hawthorn lap. Incredible.

It’s called having structures. Players standing in the right positions which gives them the best % to get these. It’s something our coaching staff are unable to setup. 

Gee, wasn't  the private training session a masterstroke!

15 goals to ONE after quarter time

Dropped FROM 4th to 11th on the ladder!

I need more capitals in my life....where's @WERRIDEE when you need him/her?

[censored] I hate supporting this team. How long until this torture ends?!

41 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Well... anyone do anything interesting today ??  ?

Best part of today was my 5yo son made us leave at half time as he saw the Hawks mascot sitting near us in the crowd and it freaked him right out. So I missed most of the 2nd half debacle.

Playing a handball game on wet weather day is like bringing a sword to a gun fight.  

- with similar results, we got slaughtered!

 

Like everyone else very disappointed. This, unfortunately, is a big statement on what we can achieve this year.

1 minute ago, bing181 said:

That's where the problems start. We don't, we really don't.

We have a lot of potential talent, but that's about it at the moment. If we end up with even a single AA player this year, I'll be surprised. For me, I think we're a couple of years away from being a really solid side that can push into finals, and I think today showed it. I thought Salem was decent today - it's his 50th game. If you take away the 3 senior citizens, we only have 5 players who've played over 100 games. Five. The meat and potatoes of our list is in the 30 - 60  game bracket, and no matter how much talent you have, it's experience that counts (if not, GWS would have started winning flags years ago).

I do think though that we're missing Viney and Tom Mac much more than we realise.

That's the thing - when you bring up age people will point to the average games team stats. But our top-end talent is concentrated in the younger players and we're forced to rely on them. It's part of a rebuild after being poor for so long. Petracca has a stinker and our centre-line suddenly looks impotent. What do you do? Bring old legs like Lewis and Vince back in for the breakdowns? Hawthorn are the opposite.

1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Best part of today was my 5yo son made us leave at half time as he saw the Hawks mascot sitting near us in the crowd and it freaked him right out. So I missed most of the 2nd half debacle.

You missed one goal

4 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Best part of today was my 5yo son made us leave at half time as he saw the Hawks mascot sitting near us in the crowd and it freaked him right out. So I missed most of the 2nd half debacle.

Hawks mascot must have been in our huddle at quarter time and freaked our players out 

Clarkson expects his players to play hard uncompromising football.  

We don't play hard, uncompromising football, we have a bunch of milksops who run off to the AFLPA instead of confronting the FD about a camp they'd rather not do.   

I once said the hawks are not special, no different to any other club, all superpower clubs come to a end, that over time the bottom go up and top go down, I was wrong, about everything and this will make pickers happy, and all the so called supporters.

Just face it this club will never go anywhere, collingwood, essendon will all go past as, West coast had their bad year with the hawks Last year, now both are back, the hawks will be better this year then in 2016, and Melbourne will fall straight back down, the place will fall apart

No point getting angry with the club, a loser club will always be losers, we will never play finals, for another 10 years, they showed no fight today, the season is over.

Can't see as beating Richmond or essendon, lose the next 2 and the season will be over

That loss against Collingwood in the final  round last year had nothing to do with our mental application ,Collingwood are simply better than us, so are Geelong, even with out Danger, and Hawthorn.

We have done nothing to prove we are a good side, beside beat mediocre teams.

Our coach is as wooden as they come, and for some reason ditched our backline coach in Rawlings, for a rookie in Chaplin.

6 minutes ago, jumbo returns said:

15 goals to ONE after quarter time

Dropped FROM 4th to 11th on the ladder!

I need more capitals in my life....where's @WERRIDEE when you need him/her?

Busy with the magnets.

I’m not going to read the thread, I know how bad we were. I’ll be seeing two games this year, today and next week. 

Today reminded me of what we were like under Neeld. We looked like training dummies. 

At half time the game was there in the balance, we’d had one good quarter and an average quarter where we didn’t take our chances and they did. Still very much 50/50. To roll over like that was gut wrenching and hard to watch. 

I’ve got one more game, against Richmond. Send me to London with hope that last year wasn’t another false dawn.