philhawk
5 May 2007, 11:00
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/robert-walls/spreading-their-wings/2007/05/04/1177788401352.html
Spreading their wings
Robert Walls | May 4, 2007
TODAY at the MCG the Hawks will take on the Bombers. It will be a small but significant milestone for Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson.
The little man with the big job of resurrecting the Hawthorn Football Club will officiate in his 50th game at the controls. His success rate is around 34 per cent. At this stage that matters little.
What does matter is that Clarkson was strong and decisive in setting a course of action for his club, and he has stuck to it.
The Hawks are not dismissed as the easybeats they were just three years ago, when they finished 15th, winning just four games, with overpaid players putting in half-hearted efforts.
Today's team will be young, fit, enthusiastic, determined, and will not at all be intimidated by the "stars" in the Essendon line-up. In fact, if any team is likely to play with strong aggression and cheek, it will be the Hawks.
What I liked about Clarkson when he took the job was that he was prepared to back himself and do things his way. He hand-picked his own team of assistants and football managers and didn't allow himself to be
seduced by older players with big reputations.
He insisted that draft choices would not be traded and he introduced a game plan that had to be adhered to. And, as the new boy on the coaching block, he looked the demanding media directly in the eye and told it as
he saw it.
I'm not convinced that his game plan and some of his tactics and reasonings are spot-on, but I admire the fact that he puts his jaw out there and shows that he stands for something.
The Hawks have the youngest list in the AFL. The average age is just over 22, and the average number of senior games played is 48, which is the lowest. Fremantle, with 76, comes in tops. The Dockers also have
16 players with more than 100games' experience. The Hawks have seven players with 100games behind them, and four of those players - Trent
Croad, Joel Smith, Danny Jacobs and Richie Vandenberg - have contributed just six games this season.
This is one seriously young team.
When Clarkson arrived, the Hawks were the second-highest paying club in the competition. It was ridiculous for a team that had just finished 15th. This year they will pay their young players the second-lowest amount in player payments.
Credit for much of the turn around has to go to the general manager for player personnel and strategy, Chris Pelchen. It was Pelchen who performed a similar role at Port Adelaide. After the Power won the flag in 2004, when Clarkson was an assistant to Mark Williams, Pelchen decided to join the young coach at Hawthorn to get the Hawks' new house in order.
A ruthlessness was also shown. Veteran and popular clubman Mark Graham was delisted soon after Clarkson walked in the door. Nathan Thompson was traded to the Kangaroos and 12 months later Jonathan Hay went the same way.
In effect, costly, ageing footballers who had seen their best were released for valuable early draft picks. It was excellent management by the backroom boys at Glenferrie.
Another good move was to release 'Spida' Everitt to Sydney. The big man cost plenty and didn't have his heart in wearing the brown and gold. So Spida went, early draft picks were accepted, and more opportunity
has come for two young ruckmen, Robert Campbell and Simon Taylor, to develop their craft.
Because of astute trading, the Hawks under Clarkson have had 13 first- and second-round selections in the past three national drafts. Clarkson has also introduced 16 players to senior football in just over two seasons.
Last year in the club's best and fairest voting, eight of the top 10 had played fewer than 100games. That means the upside for improvement and development is huge.
So the off-field work done by Clarkson and co. has been outstanding in giving this team a chance to prosper. They now have the challenge and responsibility to turn that talent into something special on the field.
The big question is, is Clarkson capable of doing that? Just how is this young Hawks team being taught to play? And will the approach give it a chance in three or four years, when a dozen or more come into their prime, to win a flag?
With a young, bold team at his disposal, Clarkson has his team playing hard-running, keepings-off football. It doesn't want the opposition to get their hands on the footy, so you will often see indirect, high-possession football being played.
This season, the team rates second for short kicks, uncontested marks and uncontested possession. That mean it plays a lot of outside football.
The Hawks also rank 15th for tackles and hard-ball gets, 14th for contested possessions and eighth for clearances. That means they need to get better at the in-close, nitty-gritty aspects of the game that make Sydney and West Coast so good.
The coach is also realising that Mark Williams, as talented as he is, just can't be the sole target up forward. This season a forward structure involving four players inside the arc has been developed. It includes Tim Boyle, Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead. They block and screen for each other with telling effect. Long term, this has real potential. There is a certain obstinacy, too, that the coach has to be careful about. If he makes a blue with match-ups, he has to be prepared to make quicker changes. It's no good trying to prove a point and in the process seeing four points washed away.
If Clarkson survives another 50 games, and I hope he does, this team should be cherry ripe to launch a serious assault on a premiership flag.
Spreading their wings
Robert Walls | May 4, 2007
TODAY at the MCG the Hawks will take on the Bombers. It will be a small but significant milestone for Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson.
The little man with the big job of resurrecting the Hawthorn Football Club will officiate in his 50th game at the controls. His success rate is around 34 per cent. At this stage that matters little.
What does matter is that Clarkson was strong and decisive in setting a course of action for his club, and he has stuck to it.
The Hawks are not dismissed as the easybeats they were just three years ago, when they finished 15th, winning just four games, with overpaid players putting in half-hearted efforts.
Today's team will be young, fit, enthusiastic, determined, and will not at all be intimidated by the "stars" in the Essendon line-up. In fact, if any team is likely to play with strong aggression and cheek, it will be the Hawks.
What I liked about Clarkson when he took the job was that he was prepared to back himself and do things his way. He hand-picked his own team of assistants and football managers and didn't allow himself to be
seduced by older players with big reputations.
He insisted that draft choices would not be traded and he introduced a game plan that had to be adhered to. And, as the new boy on the coaching block, he looked the demanding media directly in the eye and told it as
he saw it.
I'm not convinced that his game plan and some of his tactics and reasonings are spot-on, but I admire the fact that he puts his jaw out there and shows that he stands for something.
The Hawks have the youngest list in the AFL. The average age is just over 22, and the average number of senior games played is 48, which is the lowest. Fremantle, with 76, comes in tops. The Dockers also have
16 players with more than 100games' experience. The Hawks have seven players with 100games behind them, and four of those players - Trent
Croad, Joel Smith, Danny Jacobs and Richie Vandenberg - have contributed just six games this season.
This is one seriously young team.
When Clarkson arrived, the Hawks were the second-highest paying club in the competition. It was ridiculous for a team that had just finished 15th. This year they will pay their young players the second-lowest amount in player payments.
Credit for much of the turn around has to go to the general manager for player personnel and strategy, Chris Pelchen. It was Pelchen who performed a similar role at Port Adelaide. After the Power won the flag in 2004, when Clarkson was an assistant to Mark Williams, Pelchen decided to join the young coach at Hawthorn to get the Hawks' new house in order.
A ruthlessness was also shown. Veteran and popular clubman Mark Graham was delisted soon after Clarkson walked in the door. Nathan Thompson was traded to the Kangaroos and 12 months later Jonathan Hay went the same way.
In effect, costly, ageing footballers who had seen their best were released for valuable early draft picks. It was excellent management by the backroom boys at Glenferrie.
Another good move was to release 'Spida' Everitt to Sydney. The big man cost plenty and didn't have his heart in wearing the brown and gold. So Spida went, early draft picks were accepted, and more opportunity
has come for two young ruckmen, Robert Campbell and Simon Taylor, to develop their craft.
Because of astute trading, the Hawks under Clarkson have had 13 first- and second-round selections in the past three national drafts. Clarkson has also introduced 16 players to senior football in just over two seasons.
Last year in the club's best and fairest voting, eight of the top 10 had played fewer than 100games. That means the upside for improvement and development is huge.
So the off-field work done by Clarkson and co. has been outstanding in giving this team a chance to prosper. They now have the challenge and responsibility to turn that talent into something special on the field.
The big question is, is Clarkson capable of doing that? Just how is this young Hawks team being taught to play? And will the approach give it a chance in three or four years, when a dozen or more come into their prime, to win a flag?
With a young, bold team at his disposal, Clarkson has his team playing hard-running, keepings-off football. It doesn't want the opposition to get their hands on the footy, so you will often see indirect, high-possession football being played.
This season, the team rates second for short kicks, uncontested marks and uncontested possession. That mean it plays a lot of outside football.
The Hawks also rank 15th for tackles and hard-ball gets, 14th for contested possessions and eighth for clearances. That means they need to get better at the in-close, nitty-gritty aspects of the game that make Sydney and West Coast so good.
The coach is also realising that Mark Williams, as talented as he is, just can't be the sole target up forward. This season a forward structure involving four players inside the arc has been developed. It includes Tim Boyle, Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead. They block and screen for each other with telling effect. Long term, this has real potential. There is a certain obstinacy, too, that the coach has to be careful about. If he makes a blue with match-ups, he has to be prepared to make quicker changes. It's no good trying to prove a point and in the process seeing four points washed away.
If Clarkson survives another 50 games, and I hope he does, this team should be cherry ripe to launch a serious assault on a premiership flag.