7. Michael Osborne

[philhawk]

According to the My Man Thread, it looks like FatBoy's Wombats will be one of the posters responsible for looking after Murph for us this season.

Take it away, FatBoy's Wombats!

[FatBoy's Wombats]

Well my man Ozzie needs to get his body right and play some good footy. I doubt at this stage he will play round 1 after missing so much footy. So hopefully someone can give me a report on him round 1 from boxhill

[philhawk]

http://www.gcbulletin.com.au/article/2007/03/30/4183_sports.html

Osborne ready for take-off

Nick Smart

30Mar07

GOLD Coast product Michael Osborne's long and frustrating 10-month absence from the game is finally over.

The Hawthorn utility was last night named on the half-forward flank for tomorrow night's clash with the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.

It has been a long time coming for the former Labrador Tiger, and the match will be a dream homecoming for the Queenslander.

He will be hungry to make up for lost time in his first game since Round 4 last year.

The former Helensvale High School student has endured three operations to correct a break in a tiny sesamoid bone in his foot. He sustained the injury against Carlton and first had surgery in June last year.

But the problem persisted and, after another operation in November, Osborne finally had his problems solved when surgeons removed the offending bone in further surgery in December.

It is believed former Gold Coaster Brent Renouf, taken in last year's national draft at pick No.24, was very close to making his debut for the Hawks.

But the versatile ruckman, who starred during the NAB Cup, just missed out.

The Lions decided to go with experience over youth.

Last year, it was unusual to see a Brisbane side named without a player making his debut.

But the Lions have enjoyed a better run with injury so far in 2007, and the coaching staff has decided not to debut any youngsters tomorrow night.

All five co-captains -- Jonathan Brown, Simon Black, Chris Johnson, Luke Power and Nigel Lappin -- have been named and will play.

Brown will be the first of the Lions' skippers to toss the coin. Johnson will lead the team on to the field and Lappin deliver the pre-game rev-up.

As expected, elevated Irish rookie Colm Begley was named on the interchange bench.

Joel Patfull (knee) and Tim Notting (shoulder) have been passed fit. Notting, who dislocated his shoulder in the NAB Cup Grand Final against Carlton only two weeks ago, has been selected to play his 40th consecutive AFL match.

The man known as "Possum" was a revelation in the backline last year, and he is a good chance to pick up the dangerous Lance Franklin.

The Hawks will be without the suspended Shane Crawford and Campbell Brown, while captain Richie Vandenberg will miss with a hamstring injury.

The Hawks had hoped to play Joel Smith, but he has swelling around his injured knee.

Trent Croad, who has had wrist surgery, will play.

Highly rated Hawks youngster Xavier Ellis, who was taken at pick No.3 in the 2005 national draft, will make his long-awaited debut in brown and gold.

[Roddy]

Ozzie's been around for a bit, and I know he was out for quite some time, but I feel the jury's still out on him. What do people think? Is he ever going to make the grade, and be a regular?

[Hawk0373]

He's handy with a touch of mongrel, always has been - Clarko would love this. Averaging 16 disposals, 5 marks and almost a goal a game in 2007...not bad for a bloke coming off 10 months on the sidelines.

[FatBoy's Wombats]

My thoughts so far are all positive! You would have to say he is on the mild angry pills and going just nicely! He has played a couple of super little games, defended well, rebounded well and got his hands on the footy. It's not superstar stuff at the moment but together with sewelly and brown these three could form a pretty formidable defense around some quality big men.

[rumblah]

i do love this guy. His attack on the ball is generally first rate, and love his little soccer goal against the kangas.

[RustyHawk]

Osborne: in the mix
5:06 PM Wed 5 September, 2007 | Back


for hawthornfc.com.au

News
Hawthorn utility. Michael Osborne, is in the mix for selection for Saturday’s first elimination final against Adelaide.

Osborne was cleared on Tuesday by the VFL tribunal, following a heavy collision with an opposition player in the fourth quarter of last weekend’s Box Hill Hawks reserves elimination final loss to Williamstown.

Osborne was on the comeback trail having suffered internal bleeding following the Hawthorn’s round 13 win over Collingwood, a match in which the plucky midfielder was instrumental in the win, kicking the goal that sealed victory for the Hawks.

Speaking with hawthornfc.com.au, Hawks General Manager Football Operations, Mark Evans, was delighted with the outcome of the tribunal hearing, and believes Osborne will put real pressure on for selection.

“We were pleased that the VFL tribunal saw that it was two players going for the ball and neither of the players were in the right or wrong. It was just that some contact was made in the challenge and both players were playing the ball, not the man.

“The Club felt that he needed the run to be able to be in the mix for this weekend and he showed enough on the weekend to suggest he will be absolutely in the mix for selection.”

[The Cryptkeeper]

Well it looks as though I drew the tough little bastard.

Ossie, in my opinion needs to have a big year. He had a solid 2007 but will be back in the pack with any number of others in 2008 and will be pushing to retain his spot in the best 22. In his favour is the fact that AC loves the way he goes about things, indeed Osborne is cut in footballing terms, very much from the mould of his coach. His hardness will also have won him many admirers within the Hawthorn coaching ranks.

I look forward to keeping you all updated as to his progress.

[lfctorres9]

has started the 2008 season very nicely

[Hawk0373]

He's coming off a full pre season for the first time in a while I think. He always had the tools, just needed to play some consistent footy and develop some more run into his game.
He's definitely added the run and is kicking a lot more on his left side making him more versatile - hats off to Ossie, keep it up.:thumbsu:

[lfctorres9]

will he continue to get time in the middle when crawf and lewis come back into the side???

[Hawk0373]

will he continue to get time in the middle when crawf and lewis come back into the side???

Yep, he'll continue to be rotated through there. The more players you can rotate through the midfield the more options the coach has, eg playing Hodge up fwd.

[noosa hawk mad]

http://www.hawthornfc.com.au/tabid/4742/Default.aspx?newsid=57199
Pre-season the difference: Osborne

Author: Sebastian Hassett 6:28 PM Tue 01 April, 2008
http://mm.afl.com.au/Portals/0/images/AFL/AFL%20F-J/M_Osborne_Hawks_Rd_1_2008.jpg
Michael Osborne racks up a possession against the Dees

HAWTHORN'S Michael Osborne has been one of footy’s ‘nearly men’ for, well, nearly a decade, but 2008 could be the year that the tenacious forward finally establishes himself as a permanent fixture in the Hawks’ line-up.

In just two rounds so far, he’s averaged better than 23 possessions – almost double his career standard – and has made a huge impression in the Hawks’ wins over Melbourne and Fremantle.

While Osborne is confident he’s had it in him all along, he concedes that missing out on summer after summer had stifled his ability to play his best footy.

“I actually did a pre-season this year,” Osborne quipped when asked if there was anything different or unusual about his preparation for 2008.

“The last couple of years I’ve been hampered by some injuries which haven’t really allowed me to get on the track much.

“Last year, my fitness base wasn’t anywhere near where it needed to be to play at this level so, this year, to get a good solid pre-season in is what’s helped me so far.”

Elevated off the rookie list in 2001, Osborne has managed to put together 78 games in his time on the senior list after starting his football career with Labrador in the QAFL.

Offered a one-year deal at the conclusion of the 2007 season, Osborne is doing all the right things to remain in the brown and gold in 2009.

Indeed, while many Hawthorn fans feared what would become of their suspension-hit side early in the year, Osborne has stepped into the breach as a ball-winning forward and remains confident of keeping his spot.

“I’ve been playing the same sort of role as last year, so hopefully when those guys come back from suspension, they’ll add something to our make-up and we’ll be able to go from there,” he said.

On Saturday afternoon at Telstra Dome, Osborne, his teammates and their 2-0 record will face a new challenge from the outfit that eliminated the Hawks from the 2007 finals series - North Melbourne.

“It was a big blow losing to the Kangaroos in the semi-finals last year and every time we play them it’s a really hard hit-out,” he said.

“We’re not focusing on (last year’s final) too much, but it’s still in the back of our minds that we’ve got to improve a bit more when we come up against them again.”

[noosa hawk mad]

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/spo...-19742,00.html (http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,23896002-19742,00.html)Hawk Michael Osborne plays "unsociable brand" of footy

Jon Ralph | June 21, 2008 12:00am

(http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,23896002-19742,00.html#latest-comments)





MICHAEL Osborne is well aware he has been typecast as yet another angry young Hawthorn man in a hurry.

Not so long ago what little we knew of the fair-haired Hawk was this - Osborne was a back-pocket specialist whose penchant for the rough stuff overshadowed any potential he might have possessed.
Halfway through a season that has a special type of aura for Alastair Clarkson's Hawks, Osborne has emerged as a very different package.

Finally freed of the shackles of three years of serious injury, Osborne has not only learnt to harness that white-line fever, but has emerged as a midfield-forward with serious tricks.
He can run with the likes of Brent Harvey, play a forward defensive role on players of the calibre of Heath Shaw, or free-wheel as another dangerous onballer.

Goals such as his crucial final-quarter effort against Adelaide last Saturday say as much about his improvement as his career-high average of 17 possessions.
And while Osborne's body language can still ooze repressed anger, it turns out he is a well-spoken, considered thinker determined to improve himself as a person, and footballer.

Another rookie-list success story - this time from Labrador in Queensland's AFLQ - Osborne has had to fight for every gain he has made in his 88 games in the AFL.
Osteitis pubis, a broken foot that effectively wiped out his 2006 season, and serious internal bleeding last year after a collision with teammate Luke Hodge: Osborne has had it all.

"I spent a few years down back from 2003-5, and then the next few years I was injured and didn't play a lot of footy and was unfit, and didn't really have much of an impact in games," Osborne admits.

"Last year I missed plenty of games with the internal bleeding and the year before it was my broken foot, so this year I have finally had a full pre-season, and am really confident with my fitness, so with the extra workrate I have I can get around and get a bit more of the ball."

A star junior who was overlooked in the draft despite being an AIS-AFL Academy graduate, he was offered rookie list spots at Brisbane and Hawthorn.
Junior and state coaches advised him he would develop more effectively through the VFL, but by 2005 osteitis pubis had dulled his potential despite regular games.
It was to get much worse.

"The broken foot happened in Round 4 (2006) and it started off with a six-week break, then giving it a couple more weeks, then surgery, then the season was over and I ended up having more surgery in December and that ruined the next pre-season and while I played in Round 1 last year, I didn't have the fitness behind me to have a consistent season," he says.

The problem was a small bone called the sesamoid, which surgeons would eventually remove from his foot.
Just when he was finding some form last year, internal bleeding around his intestine caused by a heavy knock sidelined him for another two months from Round 13.

He fought back to be a late inclusion in Hawthorn's winning final against Adelaide, and while he again relied on a late change to win selection in Round 1 this season, he hasn't missed a beat since.

Even late last season his discipline issues were holding him back.
He beat a rough conduct charge as he returned from injury through the Box Hill reserves as the finals loomed, then the following week was suspended for Box Hill anyway.

He says that like most of the Hawthorn list, he has worked hard to find the line between hard football and needless aggression.
"I have done a fair bit of work to channel it and be more disciplined with it, to use it to win the ball rather than give away free kicks, so that was tied in with that inconsistency over the past few years."

At 24, he has completed a real estate course and is working his way through a diploma of finance as he looks for a path to follow when his career closes.
This year he has ditched housemate of six years Chance Bateman to move in with partner Brooklyn Edwards in Elwood.

"He (Bateman) is a bit devastated I moved out. He certainly doesn't eat as well any more," Osborne laughs.
Edwards runs Brazen Talent, an event-hosting and promotional modelling agency, and says Osborne deserves all he is now achieving after so many setbacks.

"Seeing him at the bottom after his injuries, working his way back up, it's been a real inspiration. He is my role model, and he has been a real rock," she says.

The pair are comfortably ensconced in Elwood, and Osborne says he is happy to have settled down.
"Since I have matured as a football player and also as a person, it's great to have found some stability on the field and also with my personal life," he says.
"We have been living together for three months, and it's all going really well."



In career best form & has been very disaplined this year well done OZZIE!:thumbsu:

[ViperV10]

Really loved that article. It is great to see a player so hurt by injury get back on the horse and try again. He does seem like an intelligent guy - and it is even better to see his aggression is now a lot more on the ball.

[HAWKS HEROES]

http://www.afl.com.au/competitions/markgoal/index.html

HE IS IN MARK OF THE COMP

[lethalselbow]

Post game interview with Michael Osborne

http://bigpondvideo.com/AFL/66093

Outstanding game and season by the champ. :thumbsu:

P.S. How about a bit of respect to the man and get his name correct in the thread title :)

[HAWKS HEROES]

http://www.afl.com.au/competitions/markgoal/index.html

HE IS IN MARK OF THE COMP
ugly daisy won :(

[HAWKS HEROES]

NJURIES
Hawthorn: Osborne (corked buttock)

[rumblah]

Happy 26th Bday Ozzy!

[noosa hawk mad]

http://www.hawthornfc.com.au/tabid/4742/Default.aspx?newsid=67415Osborne leaps into the studio


Hawks Interactive 11:38 AM Wed 10 September, 2008
http://mm.afl.com.au/Portals/0/article_images_hawks/080910_hawksradio246b.jpgThis week's Hawks Interactive guest Michael Osborne


There may be a week's break in footy but there is no rest for HawksRadio's most popular radio show Hawks Interactive.

High flying fan favourite Michael Osborne is this week's studio guest, 'Ossie' reveals his role models at the Club and talks finals footy.

James Nicolas shares his dream of a 2008 Hawthorn premiership and asks listeners to share theirs for this week's blog topic 'I have a dream (http://www.hawthornfc.com.au/Season2008/News/BlogArticle/tabid/10850/Default.aspx?newsId=67520)'. The best post judged by the panel will win a signed Michael Osborne 2008 team poster.

The regular match review, Club news, rants and raves are there, all with added finals pep! Don't miss it.
PODCAST
Check out our feedburner page - subscription couldn't be easier!
http://hawthornfc.com.au/Portals/0/images_hawks/web_icon_article.jpg (http://feeds.feedburner.com/Hawksradio2008)http://feeds.feedburner.com/Hawksradio2008

STREAM
http://hawthornfc.com.au/Portals/0/images_hawks/web_icon_play.jpg Finals Wk2 Hawks Interactive (http://bigpondvideo.com/afl/77044)

[noosa hawk mad]

Grand Final week Press Confernce: Osborne, Gilham. (http://bigpondvideo.com/HawthornTV/78629)



http://bigpondvideo.com/HawthornTV/78629 :thumbsu:

[HAWKS HEROES]

That mark was awesome

[RustyHawk]

2008 Brownlow medal votes: 1

[noosa hawk mad]

2008 Best and Fairest!

HAWTHORN
(Peter Crimmins Medal)
Lance Franklin216
Sam Mitchell 177
Luke Hodge 175
Jarryd Roughead 172
Michael Osborne 154
Cyril Rioli 151
Chance Bateman 149
Brad Sewell 148
Grant Birchall 148
Campbell Brown 136

Best year of footy I have seen him play controlled & harnessed his aggression well done Ozzie!:thumbsu:

[RustyHawk]

October 2008

Michael Osborne was named in The Melbourne Herald Sun's chief football writer Mike Sheahan's top 50 players of 2008.

Osborne came in at 48.

Recognition for the great season and all the hard work he put in. Thankfully lost that stupidity factor that had crept into his game of doing something in retaliation for something. This year made the ball his sole focus and it worked.

[noosa hawk mad]

Aussies go quick and young





AUSTRALIA has named a 25-man squad packed with pace and youth for this month's two-match International Rules series against Ireland.

Only six members of the squad have previously played at international level. The matches will be played in Perth on October 24 and in Melbourne on October 31.


It is a revival of the concept after it was shelved because of Irish anger over on-field violence when it was last played two years ago.
Coach Mick Malthouse said he had not shied away from selecting aggressive players, but had also picked out those who had a reputation for sportsmanship.


"Don't misinterpret the fact that we're out there to win this game of football and we will play absolutely within the rules, but those rules are quite broad," Malthouse said.


"We will play the physical game that's required, or the running game, or the possession game, whichever's required at the time.
"Let's not underestimate the fact we don't want to be playing timid, but also each player, when we've looked at his credentials, we've looked at his sportsmanship."



Squad: Nathan Bock (Adelaide), Matthew Boyd (Western Bulldogs), Jared Brennan (Brisbane), Campbell Brown (Hawthorn), Shaun Burgoyne (Port Adelaide), Matt Campbell (North Melbourne), Ryan Crowley (Fremantle), Michael Firrito (North Melbourne), Nathan Foley (Richmond), Brent Harvey (North Melbourne), Roger Hayden (Fremantle), Leigh Montagna (St Kilda), Daniel Motlop (Port Adelaide), Marc Murphy (Carlton), Michael Osborne (Hawthorn), Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood), Drew Petrie (North Melbourne), David Rodan (Port Adelaide), Max Rooke (Geelong), Brad Sewell (Hawthorn), Kade Simpson (Carlton), Adam Selwood (West Coast), Dale Thomas (Collingwood), Scott Thompson (Adelaide), Daniel Wells (North Melbourne).

[Hawkamania!]

Could we please change the title to reflect his surname correctly as "Osborne"? I know I'm being picky, but he deserves to have his name spelt correctly.