Jump to content

Featured Replies

Posted

From the 2018 finals, the past 5-6 years rebuild has been built on the combination on many things 

Development from the existing core group & youth:  Sicily Worpel Impey Nash Moore Hardwick Morrison Lewis*

wiser heads to guide: Gunston Breust

early draft picks: Ward Watson. Weddle  Macdonald Day*Mckenzie* 

smart recruiting from other clubs: Frost  Chol Scrimshaw Meek Amon Ginnuvan D’Ambrosio  

smart mature bodies:  Newcombe  

Father sons:   McGuinness. Dear.  

NGA zoning Jiath* 

———————————————-

* didn’t play last night … Day, McKenzie , Jiath and Lewis to add to that team that smashed the bulldogs 

also have Seamus Mitchell, Butler, Grainger-Baras and Ryan as other youngsters who had excellent years at box hill and could come in. 
 

though it’s probably also due to Sam Mitchell drive and smart footy IQ and connection.  Let them play attitude!! 

Edited by spirit of norm smith
B

 
2 minutes ago, adonski said:

Mostly B graders playing above themselves

… or playing exciting disciplined team oriented footy perhaps?

 
Just now, monoccular said:

… or playing exciting disciplined team oriented footy perhaps?

Yes that's what I said

7 minutes ago, adonski said:

Mostly B graders playing above themselves

Agreed. Sometimes the B-graders revert back to their level. Sometimes we find out they actually are A-graders. The Hawks are flying right now, we will get a better handle on the players and the team overall next season I suspect.

Edited by No. 31


They looked very competent, aggressive, team oriented, brash, tough ish and talented SONS. Their rebuild has taken a bit of time but the payoff is coming, I’m not fond of Mitchell but they looked the goods last night. Bevo made the mistake of leaving Sicily off the leash, he carved them up.

4 minutes ago, monoccular said:

… or playing exciting disciplined team oriented footy perhaps?

Yeah it’s all about the coaching and development I think. The players they brought in last year are all playing their role very well. But mostly they only ended up at the Hawks because nobody else really wanted them. They missed out on all the bigger trades they tried to get done over the last 2/3 year. 
 

 

i know there's a lot of comparisons to us in 2018 but the Hawks are much more skilled than us. 

the old Hawks hatred than has laid dormant for a while is back with a vengeance. I can't handle the thoughts of another period of the Hawks challenging. It's too depressing.

I'm putting this thread on ignore

16 minutes ago, adonski said:

Mostly B graders playing above themselves

Give me a team full of B-graders giving their best over a team with a couple of A-graders and mostly C or D-graders anyday.


Their disposal, particularly by foot, is exceptional.

The complete opposite of bulldogs

They could very well win the flag this year

Mitchell is the ace in the pack. He’s going to win multiple flags as coach and the Hawks knew this when they got rid of Clarko.

and have developed the art of 'handballing' backwards over their head

They are a strong group of players, playing a very team oriented style and they show great discipline, which has surprised me given their captain has previously been one of the most undisciplined players in the competition. Credit to Mitchell and his coaching team, as well as the recruiting and list management group.  They have done an exceptional job. With Day to hopefully return for them, they are a real chance of winning the whole thing.

Great admiration for the way young Dear approaches the ball in the air.  Those sorts of players are hard to find. Lucky we have one in JVR. 

49 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:


 

though it’s probably also due to Sam Mitchell drive and smart footy IQ and connection.  Let them play attitude!! 

This ^^^


  • Author
10 minutes ago, Fritta and Turner said:

and have developed the art of 'handballing' backwards over their head

Actually Cats and Hawks are the masters of the NRL pass.  Clearly throwing the footy but not getting caught.  Libba did it once last night and somehow was called for throwing the ball. He might have said something but remembered the dissent rules!!!

Hmmm, if our 11 wins this season is equivalent to their 11 wins in 2019, after they went out in straight sets in two finals series (with a non-finals year in between), then I take it that everyone being impressed by how quickly Hawthorn have rebuilt will be satisfied with seven wins and a bottom four finish every year until 2029ish.

I don't mean to take away from the Hawks' achievement - going into this season, and certainly by round 5, it looked like Hawthorn were just going to sit at the bottom for the forseeable future.

Personally, if I were looking to steal one feature from the Hawks' operation it would be their conditioning of mature players - all but one (Wingard) of their players 26 and older have played a full or close to full season.

It speaks volumes about not only conditioning and luck, but also the commitment to slicing away the less-than-excellent mature players (I'm trying not to say list cloggers) and giving the club permission to have flaws while it gave kids a run.

The contrast of course is with Billlings, McAdam, Hunter, Smith and Schache, who were acquired or retained in the hope that they would provide immediate 'adequate' cover, where bringing in another late draft pick could only offer the possibility of being good in a few years. Of course, prior to that the strategy was a key part of winning a premiership because it took us to having a complete team.

We also haven't sacrificed a huge amount of draft value to do this, but at this stage I'm sure there would be general agreement that it would be nice to have, say five more kids running around of which even one or two might develop into quality players, than the list space being filled the way it is.

Anyway, to return to my starting point - the Hawks 'amazing' list rebuild is literally the worst-case scenario for our own future, so I'm glad to hear so many people enthusiastic about going through that and not grinding axes at the club along the way!

I posted some my thoughts on them in the finals thread which is mostly that they’re super fit, super organised and crack in hard. Skilled but not afraid to play contested footy.

Especially with Day out their midfield has a big defensive tilt with Worpel, Nash and Ward all defensively focussed.

Because they aren’t afraid to spread the ground they can use wings and flankers to do most of their ball movement.

They have good kicks but they’re so rarely trying any high risk stuff, the speed of ball movement and running creates easy options and they take them. 

Aside from getting fit and training up ball movement patterns I think our list focus has to be on finding guys who run to receive and are confident kicking on the run. 

You could see the impact Langdon has on our side and hopefully Windsor (and Judd, Nibbler, others) and how we need that by in from 22.

I think their main asset last night was the pressure they applied which had many normally composed Bulldogs players including the Bont fumbling and making bad decisions.

Compare and contrast to the way we played against the Bulldogs in Round 21. Had we been capable of doing the same thing in the last month or so of the home and away season, we would be playing finals this weekend.


  • Author
11 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

I think their main asset last night was the pressure they applied which had many normally composed Bulldogs players including the Bont fumbling and making bad decisions.

Compare and contrast to the way we played against the Bulldogs in Round 21. Had we been capable of doing the same thing in the last month or so of the home and away season, we would be playing finals this weekend.

Dees were guarding grass and hoped their zone would cause turnovers.  Hawks applied pressure to the man at the contest and tackled to cause turnovers.  Simple game footy.  Wish Goody sat next to me so I could point it out.  The zone defence style is dead.  Watch the Freo games x2!!!! 

1 hour ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Libba did it once last night and somehow was called for throwing the ball. He might have said something but remembered the dissent rules!!!

The dissent rule that has been applied maybe one or twice this season??

Is the rebuild too good?  North Melbourne is on the bottom picking up a lot very high draft picks and will probably end up with a better list 

Edited by greenwaves

 

Something very Melbourne 1987 about them. Would not be surprised if they make the Grand Final

 

The MFC must recruit speed into the game plan. 
The Hawks are playing with run and dare


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

Featured Content

  • GAMEDAY: Brisbane

    It’s Game Day, and the Demons are back on the road with a massive challenge ahead — facing the reigning premiers, the Brisbane Lions, at their Gabba fortress. The Lions are licking their wounds after a shock draw in Tasmania last week, while Melbourne’s season hangs in the balance. Can the Dees defy the odds and pull off a miracle to keep their razor thin finals hopes alive?

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 16 replies
    Demonland
  • NON-MFC: Round 10

    The Sir Doug Nicholls Round kicks off in Darwin with a Top 4 clash between the Suns and the Hawks. On Friday night the Swans will be seeking to rebound from a challenging start to the season, while the Blues have the Top 8 in their sights after their sluggish start. Saturdays matches kick off with a blockbuster between the Collingwood and Kuwarna with the Magpies looking to maintain their strong form and the Crows aiming to make a statement on the road. The Power face a difficult task to revive their season against a resilient Cats side looking to make amends for their narrow loss last week. The Giants aim to reinforce their top-eight status, while the Dockers will be looking to break the travel hoodoo. The sole Saturday game is a critical matchup for both teams, as the Bulldogs strive to cemet their spot in the top six and the Bombers desperately want break into the 8. Sundays start with a bottom 3 clash between the Tigers and Kangaroos with both teams wanting to avoid the being in wooden spoon contention. The Round concludes with the Eagles still searching for their first win of the season, while the Saints look to keep their finals hopes alive with a crucial away victory. Who are you tipping and what are the best results for the Demons?

      • Thanks
    • 165 replies
    Demonland
  • PREVIEW: Brisbane

    And just like that, we’re Narrm again. Even though the annual AFL Sir Doug Nicholls Round which commemorates the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture to our game has been a welcome addition to our calendar for ten years, more lately it has been a portent of tough times ahead for we beleaguered Narrm supporters. Ever since the club broke through for its historic 2021 premiership, this has become a troubling time of the year for the club. For example, it all began when Melbourne rebranded itself as Narrm across the two rounds of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round to become the first club to adopt an Indigenous club name especially for the occasion. It won its first outing under the brand against lowly North Melbourne to go to 10 wins and no losses but not without a struggle or a major injury to  star winger Ed Langdon who broke his ribs and missed several weeks. In the following week, still as Narrm, the team’s 17 game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Dockers. That came along with more injuries, a plague that remained with them for the remainder of the season until, beset by injuries, the Dees were eliminated from the finals in straight sets. It was even worse last year, when Narrm inexplicably lowered its colours in Perth to the Waalit Marawar Eagles. Oh, the shame of it all! At least this year, if there is a corner to turn around, it has to be in the direction of something better. To that end, I produced a special pre-game chant in the local Narrm language - “nam mi:wi winnamun katjil prolin ambi ngamar thamelin amb” which roughly translated is “every heart beats true for the red and the blue.” >y belief is that if all of the Narrm faithful recite it long enough, then it might prove to be the only way to beat the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Sunday. The Lions are coming off a disappointing draw at Marvel Stadium against a North Melbourne team that lacks the ability and know how to win games (except when playing Melbourne). Brisbane are, however, a different kettle of fish at home and have very few positional weaknesses. They are a midfield powerhouse, strong in defence and have plenty of forward options, particularly their small and medium sized players, to kick a winning score this week after the sting of last week’s below par performance.

      • Clap
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 11 replies
    Demonland
  • REPORT: Hawthorn

    There was a time during the current Melbourne cycle that goes back to before the premiership when the club was the toughest to beat in the fourth quarter. The Demons were not only hard to beat at any time but it was virtually impossible to get the better them when scores were close at three quarter time. It was only three or four years ago but they were fit, strong and resilient in body and mind. Sadly, those days are over. This has been the case since the club fell off its pedestal about 12 months ago after it beat Geelong and then lost to Carlton. In both instances, Melbourne put together strong, stirring final quarters, one that resulted in victory, the other, in defeat. Since then, the drop off has been dramatic to the point where it can neither pull off victory in close matches, nor can it even go down in defeat  gallantly.

      • Clap
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 1 reply
    Demonland
  • CASEY: Footscray

    At twenty-four minutes into the third term of the game between the Casey Demons and Footscray VFL at Whitten Oval, the visitors were coasting. They were winning all over the ground, had the ascendancy in the ruck battles and held a 26 point lead on a day perfect for football. What could go wrong? Everything. The Bulldogs moved into overdrive in the last five minutes of the term and booted three straight goals to reduce the margin to a highly retrievable eight points at the last break. Bouyed by that effort, their confidence was on a high level during the interval and they ran all over the despondent Demons and kicked another five goals to lead by a comfortable margin of four goals deep into the final term before Paddy Cross kicked a couple of too late goals for a despondent Casey. A testament to their lack of pressure in the latter stages of the game was the fact that Footscray’s last ten scoring shots were nine goals and one rushed behind. Things might have been different for the Demons who went into the game after last week’s bye with 12 AFL listed players. Blake Howes was held over for the AFL game but two others, Jack Billings and Taj Woewodin (not officially listed as injured) were also missing and they could have been handy at the end. Another mystery of the current VFL system.

      • Thanks
    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • PREGAME: Brisbane

    The Demons head back out on the road in Round 10 when they travel to Queensland to take on the reigning Premiers and the top of the table Lions who look very formidable. Can the Dees cause a massive upset? Who comes in and who goes out?

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 284 replies
    Demonland