Wiseblood

What do we do with our small forwards? Outside of Garlett it just isn't working. JKH has been quiet for 3 weeks, Hannan pops in and out of games, Trac doesn't really play a traditional small forward role and others, like Kent asnd Kennedy, just can't get a look in. So who do we go with? Do we change it up a little and give Kent and Kennedy another crack, or do we look to others like Stretch and possibly Trengove to fill the role? Our small forwards aren't putting on enough pressure, nor are they kicking enough goals, and it really hurts with all the forward entries. Too often the Hawks ran it out with ease and we didn't put on enough pressure. Something needs to change.

I highly doubt that, Rusty. Even Saty was disappointed at half time. He would be his only defender and even he couldn't do it. No surer thing than him being dropped this week.

Yep. What they also did, which annoyed me, was they would chip it around the back half, hold on to it and then bomb it long where one of their talls would fly in from the side and mark it uncontested. O'Brien did this to us all day. He would be 10 metres off the contest and as soon as the ball was kicked he would run to the contest and jump over the top for the mark. Clever play, but horribly frustrating to watch.

Blame the players for that. We had first hands on the footy more often than not, yet we just turned it over. Goodwin wasn't kicking it poorly or making the bad decisions.

Of course we can. We're in average form but with the how even the competition is we can certainly still play in September. It will take a little luck and some changes from the boys in the way they go about it, but we aren't out of it yet.

I know you're trolling, but at least put some quality in it. His changes after half time changed the game and showed he is a forward thinking coach and one who isn't stubborn and stuck in his ways.

I think this gets lost in amongst the negatives. Their talls can dominate us and, even if we win some, inevitably they'll take some strong marks or repel our forward entries. It really hurts and the fact we are battling on so well is a credit to our boys.

Sigh. Another close loss, one we could have avoided. It hurts. I don't think we were undone by a lack of effort in the first half as we had more disposals, more clearances and more tackles as well. We just played into their hands and allowed them to pressure us into mistakes. They sat off us, allowed us to stuff it up and pounced. It was vintage Hawthorn. The third term was when we changed tact, and credit goes to Goodwin for that. His changes made a huge difference and we played some of our best footy all season. Then we once again allowed the Hawks to dictate terms and we lacked the composure to stop it. They chipped it around and then kicked long to contest where one of their talls jumped in from the side and marked it. We are a better side than last year but we still lack that killer instinct and ability to make changes on field to rectify a bad situation. Credit to our leaders in the third term as they willed us back into the contest. Frost was great, even if Roughy got some cheap ones, while I thought Hogan made a positive return and Pedersen battled manfully against McEvoy. On the flip side we had some passengers, with JKH standing out. He has to be dropped. Hannan did a few good things but was quiet, while Salem was also quiet today as well. Bugg is another player who I can't recall doing anything positive. Changes will be made. I have zero expectations next week as the Crows will come out firing. I'm worried about that game but hopeful we can stand up.

We played right into their hands and didn't do anything about it.

They have totally slowed this game down, we need to find a way to get that run back in the legs. We can't keep playing into their hands.

Amen to that. Willed us back into the contest in the first part of that term, and the rest soon followed his lead. Thought Hogan was terrific in that term as well, really made an impact and not just by kicking goals. His quick kick to Garlett on the lead was a ripper.

We got two mate, plus no goal conceded, so I think we'll take that!

Is it too greedy to want one more before three quarter time? \ Well done Frosty!

How good is Frosty out of the back half? Inspirational stuff.

5 minutes.

Another sneaky one here would be very handy.

There is the current difference - Burgoyne pulls one out of his back pocket from 50, Hannan can't make the distance from 40.

How many of those [censored] [censored] goals have they kicked today? Get [censored].

What a soft free kick, gee I hate Hawthorn.

Jeffy!! Where the hell has this been? Hunt forward and Trac into the middle have been great moves so far.

Never even looked like going through. At least he got himself in a position to kick it.

You better kick this, Jay!

Hunty on FIYAH! C'mon Dees!

Hunt replies, so let's pretend the first minute didn't happen and we start again.

Goodwin just said we are putting Trac and Salem into the midfield with Hunt also going forward to change things up a bit. Pretty happy to see Goodwin realise that we can't keep going the way we are and that something needed to be done. Will it work? No idea, but it's a start.