RalphiusMaximus

The Hawks are my sliders for this season. They surprised everybody this year, but now teams know what they are about and will be digging into their gameplan. They won't get the unexpected wins against teams that underestimated them again. I expect them to drop out of the 8. 2026 will tell us whether their team and gameplan are the real deal or not. Also, I can't see us missing the 8 unless we suffer more major injuries. The media pile-on fails to acknowledge that we were essentially playing without three of our best mids. Trac was gone for half the season, Oliver was a shadow of his usual self without a real pre-season, plus playing injured, and of course the loss of Gus not only cost us on-field, but was a massive psychological hit to the team. While we don't get Gus back, the other two are in full flight and training well. Having them both fit and firing, plus natural improvement from the young mids, we'll see a different team next year.

Sounds like depression to me mate. You need more sugary treats to cheer you up.

So it's going to be a [censored] game then?

What did they do to him?

That sidestep of his is something special. He's going to break some ankles.

Moore leads with the knee deliberately. He ended the seasons of two players this year with that action. As Macca says, the other one suffered fractured vertebrae, which could have left him paralysed. He's a dog of the highest order. As for Maynard, you will never convince me that an athlete capable of catching and moving on a ball in a fraction of a second didn't have time to register the contact (especially given he was the one who caused it) and react. You can clearly see that Brayshaw saw him coming and tried to catch him. In the same time, Maynard chose to turn and lead with his shoulder. That wasn't bracing for impact, it was a choice to hurt someone. So yes I would be thrilled if they both had opponents jumping knee-first into their backs all day. Maybe that would prompt the AFL to do something about players leading with the knee.

Looking at the gallery for today. There are some very fit looking lads in there. It loos like the entire squad has come back in sensational shape. I think the reports of our demise are somewhat premature.

Pretty sure the best way would be for Moore and Maynard's seasons to end on Queens Birthday.

Obviously most of us had a moment of "Who the [censored] is Aidan?" when this was announced, but looking at the footage we have, I'm kind of encouraged. He's got great pace for a bigger guy and looks to have a really good vertical leap. I think he'd be a really handy extra mid when he's rucking on top of being able to crash packs and take marks. Obviously there are no guarantees, but what we've seen so far is pretty encouraging.

van den Berg will forever have my admiration for his stunning hit on Pendlebury. A classic example of how to deal with a player dropping at the knees to milk a free.

It's simple. He was fourth last in the 20m sprint rankings at the combine. That indicates a serious weakness in his game that could have a massive impact on his ability to adjust to the top level. I've said all along that this worries me, and I stand by that. I really hope they have a plan to improve his acceleration.

Well, it's no secret that I have concerns about this pick, but he does look like a powerful bugger and a competitive beast. I just hope they have a plan to work on his explosiveness. He needs to add a burst of acceleration to his repertoire.

Fantastic pickup with our second pick. I'm thrilled with this one.

Happy with this pick. We always want good ball-users.

Well, hope I'm wrong...