Hawthorn game day thread

[Nico]

Pretty much all positive last night.

Bird just keeps improving.
Moore played a much improved game and worked really hard.
Malceski found form off the wing, although that looked like where he played.
White is a genuine ruckman and has the agility, second efforts developing around the ground work in the mould of Teasdale.
Meredith is very good and I doubt he will ever be dropped. Someone said he reminds him/her of a young Jude Bolton. Skills are better, more pace, accurate disposal, thinks about his game and plays instinctively.
How good were those ops on the groins of Goodes and Bolton. I wonder if Bazza is off to Germany already.
Shaw had 81% efficiency and I thought his disposal was very good.
Mattner, Shaw LRT, Bolton, Grundy; very good backline - Kennelly who?

BIG PLUS - that was our best centre clearance work that I can remember. They got the right group combos with Bird, Goodes, Kirk and McVeigh and Jesse White's work hardly missed a clearance. I reckon is centre bounce work is better than Jolly's. What they did was go for the footy instead of blocking. Even Kirk got clearances while negating Mitchell. I should add Jude did get a clean clearance.

On Hawthorn; I thought the 2 blokes they missed badly were Sewell and Lewis, 2 of their real workhorses.

[hammo]

Hard to say whether ROK's effort is there or not but he may be suffering from the lack of O'Loughlin (or White when Currie is ready to debut in the ruck, or Grundy if and when Leo is back in defence). He has been stationed much closer to goal than normal in both games so far this year, and his best asset is his ability to run, run, run and mark on strong leads.

And at least he is nailing his shots at goal (based on these two games plus the pre-season game at Rouse Hill). That has been a big let down in his game in recent years so if he is converting a couple of shots a game, even if he's not giving us his normal run, he is still contributing.

Agree, Roos has said he had ROK lined up for more of a midfield role this year but injuries to our forwards have meant he's needed closer to goal.

As a contested mark he's still one of the best in the AFL though so hopefully he's just a slow starter this year. I don't think his effort is in doubt though.

[Nico]

Both seem to be much fitter and in much, much better form than '08, esp. LRT.

Bolton had the groin op and LRT took an eternity to get over his 2006 foot injury that cost him 2007 and a part of 2008. LRT adds the tall we were so badly missing in defence in 2007 and 2008.


Also think Grundy's game last night was that of a much improved player. Another who if he continues in this vein will be another valuable tall, forward or back.

[hammo]

Shaw had 81% efficiency and I thought his disposal was very good.
Mattner, Shaw LRT, Bolton, Grundy; very good backline - Kennelly who?

Nico, I mentioned Shaw's disposal earlier. I'm surprised efficiency was that high and happy to be wrong. He had 5 clangers but with 26 disposals his was a great game.

I agree with what you have said about Ablett.

[Nico]

Another thing: our emerging midfield of Bird, Meredith, McVeigh and Moore and throw in a battler in Goodes will hopefully continue to dominate more in the future.

[liz]

Another thing: our emerging midfield of Bird, Meredith, McVeigh and Moore and throw in a battler in Goodes will hopefully continue to dominate more in the future.

Not sure I have ever heard Goodes described as a "battler" before.

[liz]

BIG PLUS - that was our best centre clearance work that I can remember. They got the right group combos with Bird, Goodes, Kirk and McVeigh and Jesse White's work hardly missed a clearance. I reckon is centre bounce work is better than Jolly's. What they did was go for the footy instead of blocking. Even Kirk got clearances while negating Mitchell. I should add Jude did get a clean clearance.

On Hawthorn; I thought the 2 blokes they missed badly were Sewell and Lewis, 2 of their real workhorses.

I liked White's game - especially his work off the ground from his own taps - but we do need to bear in mind who he was rucking against. I think Thorp was the poor sod who got to relieve Renouf when he was exhausted. Campbell was a huge "out" for the Hawks last night.

While on the subject of rucks (and notwithstanding the lack of opposition) I just watched bits of a replay and the commentators made mention that we set a record last night for the most number of hit-outs from a team since they started keeping records. 72 I think it was. (Sorry if this has already been mentioned on the thread - I haven't read through the whole thing.)

[FootyontheBrain]

Finally, it would be nice if our friends in the Melbourne media who, even this morning, still refer to the Swans' old list, pay some attention to the performances of McVeigh, Malceski, Bird, Moore, Meredith, White. It's not all about Kirk and Hall any more.

Excellent point. I've been very impressed with young Bird. His work in the phone booths has been reminiscent of a snake charmer. Not lightening pace, but just the way he positions himself to wrong foot his defender time and again. I don't remember seeing any of that last season.

Jesse White has definitely solidified himself in the side, and frees Jolly up for moves into the forwards.

We can really use Meredith's class on the wings. I think it was the third quarter where the game was still in the balance and we were struglling to clear our defensive end and he pinpointed a pass to Bevo. I think we ended up kicking a goal from it.

Looking forward to Round 3. Can we expect any new inclusions for the round?

[Bas]

Late in on a very late bus and the Hawks were 19 to 1.

Everyone nearly stayed there.

Magic night and a great birthday present.

I noticed at the end, all the SWans gathered in a tight huddle on the centre bounce area. I couldn't see who was talking but I hope it has a major impact on the future.

[ScottH]

Late in on a very late bus and the Hawks were 19 to 1.

Everyone nearly stayed there.

Magic night and a great birthday present.

I noticed at the end, all the SWans gathered in a tight huddle on the centre bounce area. I couldn't see who was talking but I hope it has a major impact on the future.

The Captain.

[top40]

They were missing eight of their best 22, including their best two ruckmen, which made a big difference on the night.

Who are Sydney missing? O'Loughlin, who is hot and cold, Barry who struggled last season, Vezpremi who has shown a few good signs but is by no means a certain starter...anyone else who would have been in the side if fit?

Not saying it was a certain win or anything like that, but it was nowhere near the wins against the Brisbane premiership side like the Herald Sun was saying today.



I think Bevan was at least as bad as Crouch. Not only was he easily outpaced by Stokes and Rioli, he has a habit of crashing onto the ground while his opponents are still standing - meaning that if he misses the ball (as he did last night), they can just run away from him.

I get really tired to hear this well used excuse everything Sydney beats a more fancied Victorian team. It is simply wrong to say that the Hawks were missing their 'best 8'. They were missing 8 players (including retiree Shane Crawford) from last years' GF. They had on board at Stadium Australia: players such as Buddy, Roughhead, Sammy Mitchell, Mark Williams, Rioli, Campbell Brown and Stuart Dew. They still had that Rolls Royce forward line.

And Sydney missing O'Loughlin and Vezpremi clearly was a handicap.

I acknowledge that the big differences was the one sided rucks on Sydney's side, and a small sized defence for Hawthorn. Still, champion teams usually can overcome such differences in playing a team perceived to be a bad as Sydney, (who were $50 to win the flag, and $7 to get the spoon).

[eggbeater]

If the Swan's win was perceived to be because the Hawks fielded a second string team, why didn't the 'experts' tip us to win then

[jono2707]

We can really use Meredith's class on the wings. I think it was the third quarter where the game was still in the balance and we were struglling to clear our defensive end and he pinpointed a pass to Bevo. I think we ended up kicking a goal from it.

Yes we kicked a goal from the resulting play - it was a super pass - I was right in line with it and he really threaded the needle. It was a good sign from a first gamer. Although I wouldnt place great expectations on him too soon, he looked to have a bit of poise and class and I reckon he could be a keeper..

[Jeffers1984]

Yes we kicked a goal from the resulting play - it was a super pass - I was right in line with it and he really threaded the needle. It was a good sign from a first gamer. Although I wouldnt place great expectations on him too soon, he looked to have a bit of poise and class and I reckon he could be a keeper..

it was an awesome pass. I was right behind it as well at 106. Great vision from young Meredith!

A smooth mover and natural natural footballer like him will compliment our grunt very well.

[Triple B]

There is no doubt Hawthorn were undermanned.

However, Sydney didn't just fall over the line against this weakened outfit, they smacked them by more than 6 goals.

If Sydney won by a point, the Hawks could feel unlucky, but if they're hanging there hat on a 38 point loss on injuries, they are kidding themselves.