Wiseblood

Hawks on the bottom of the ladder?

Losing Gawn isn't great. There is no denying that. But our midfield is strong, Spencer can at least hold his own at the stoppages and sides have gone deep into September without a decent ruckman. I'm not saying we'll do that, and of course we would rather have Max, but we can certainly overcome this set back. As chook says above me, it's time for Spencer to grow a pair, take the bull by the horns and make the most of this terrific opportunity.

Mitchell has been one of their only consistent players so far this year. Not a mistake to get him, but could be a mistake with O'Meara. He has time on his side but the injuries seemed to have taken away that 'X-factor' that he had a few years ago.

So @Rusty Nails has gone and lost his marbles over the injury. Am I close... ?

Anyone who isn't enjoying seeing the Hawks get absolutely smashed right now isn't a true supporter of AFL football. I'm loving every minute of it!

I stand slightly corrected. Hopefully it's not too many more weeks than the 4 they first suggested it would be.

If the club weren't sure then they would say 'we need to wait on the scans' or something like that. They wouldn't be talking about a timelines if they needed to check it out. You can tell if it's a strain or a tear without needing a scan.

He'll miss a month. I'll believe the club, you can believe a 12 year old yanking your chain on FB.

Don't believe anything you read on FB. It's already been confirmed he'll miss a month.

If we are to chase someone like Shiel, then I hope we do it as quietly as possible. I cringe each time I see how North go about their business by basically throwing huge bucks and contracts at anyone who will listen. It's pathetic, really. If we are looking to chase a big fish then I hope we don't allow it to be played out in the media.

Forward pressure was good, but you can't select a side based on that. Weideman, for example, had just 4 touches and 1 mark for the entire game. That's just not good enough. I can forgive Tim Smith for being quiet, and the same goes for Hannan to a lesser extent, but we can't have a tall forward in the side who can't impact the game in the way that he should. Goodwin may not drop any of them, but there are valid reasons to suggest that he should.

Have you got any changes of your own to contribute, or are you sticking with your usual fare of critcising others? At least he put his opinion forward without feeling the need to sink the boots into someone else by saying they have 'no idea'.

We did it in one game. Not much of a sample size, and it was also a game where Hogan didn't play which therefore meant we weren't too tall in the forward line. Watch the game again from yesterday and see how important forward pressure is. There were many times yesterday when the ball hit the deck and our manic pressure forced turnovers and allowed us to pepper the goals for extended lengths of time. If you take a small out for a tall then it stands to reason that we lose that pressure and teams are able to run the ball out with greater confidence and ease. As I said, I'm happy for Spencer to fill the void - he is big, strong, decent with his hit outs and will have a real crack. But we aren't a better side with both of them in the same team/

Any time he marks the footy I pray to the football gods that he just runs around and plays on. His kicking for goal on the run is terrific.

Spot on, Freak. As a younger side we need to learn how to kill off quarters and not allow the goals we did. Menzel did pull one out of his backside at the end of that quarter which won't happen every week, but it's another good learning experience for our side. You could argue, in that situation, that someone like Lewis across half back might be able to direct traffic and help us to keep a little calmer in the situation.

Dogs ran around with an air of arrogance tonight. No way they should have lost this game. Freo have a good midfield with Fyfe, Neale, Mundy and the Hill brothers. Should be a good battle in there, but if we break even then we win as they have little else in terms of quality around the ground.

He made one error though, so he needs to be dropped. #justpicketthings

No he wasn't. And of course he isn't in the same class as Jones, he's only been captain for 3 matches. Well done on starting a new thread when this could have just been part of the post match discussion. I'm glad you still think your opinions are more important than others.

That's good to hear. I've got no problem with Jake filling in for Max over the next 3-4 weeks - he will have a dip, especially around the stoppages and he has the tank to run all day. He just doesn't work with Max in the same side. Hopefully he can carry that form across for the next month or so.

Viney was better today. No doubt he's taken a few weeks to get going, but he still had 25 touches and 8 tackles today. Not exactly a bad day out. It's easy to be harsh on his performances though as he's set the bar rather high. He will continue to get better as the season goes on.

That just shows the narrow mindedness of the poster. Can't see the bigger picture and only wants to focus on one error out of his 28 possessions.

It has all the hallmarks of a tough game to watch - we will be the better side but Freo will look to choke the game and go defensive, much like Carlton did, and it will make things difficult for us. Not looking forward to that at all. It's because they make the odd mistake. ANB made a pretty bad error in the last, yet he was sensational prior to that... but some will focus on that one mistake, as if it erases all of the good work he had done prior.

Hamstring strain. Goodwin said in his presser it will probably be a 4 week injury.

I didn't say that. They may bring him in as the third tall, but whatever happens, it won't be at the expense of OMac.