I'm worried. Come finals time will we be back in the same situation we're in now?

[worthy]

We've been playing poor footy for about 4 weeks, injuries are taking their toll, the break can't come quick enough for some, but all that is obvious, what concerns me is, is our hard running style of play taking a huge toll on our players? sure the break will freshen a few players up, but, come finals time we will have endured a tough run home, will we be back in the same situation we're in now?

Thoughts?

[RustyHawk]

If only we could pin point the common denominator over the last 4 weeks......thinking...thinking...... yep...I think I will blame... Andrew Russell and his crew.

Well done Hawks to go 3 -1 during that period, excellent to all involved and enjoy the break, you certainly earned it.

Dont we worried Worthy, its all good and Round 15 the boys will have the shackles off and be ready to go.

[The Cryptkeeper]

If only we could pin point the common denominator over the last 4 weeks......thinking...thinking...... yep...I think I will blame... Andrew Russell and his crew.

Well done Hawks to go 3 -1 during that period, excellent to all involved and enjoy the break, you certainly earned it.

Dont we worried Worthy, its all good and Round 15 the boys will have the shackles off and be ready to go.

Rusty, you are indeed wise.

[borgo]

I take it we've been doing some intense training over the past month?

[RustyHawk]

I take it we've been doing some intense training over the past month?

Correct.

As we did around this time last year.

Its all good. Which is why I dont understand some posters and their attitude... the sky is falling, the sky is falling. For ____ sake, we have just secured our place in the 2008 finals. Two years in a row. 2 more wins and we secure TOP 4 place. 2 more wins.... forgive me but the attitude of some on this board is we just LOST a game? We won. We did it hard BUT we (the club) made it hard by what they expected the guys to do during the week.

Once securing top 4 as long as an interstate club doesnt grab 1st or 2nd then it really doesnt matter where we finish.

Hopefully that will allow us to rest up a few players in the last couple of games and blood some new guys like Whitecross and see what their like at the elite level.

If your not happy, or your not happy playing finals then go and join Richmond... they seem to like coming 9th and you fit in beautifully whinging and carrying on about missing September action again.

We won. We are 12-2 Coach Clarkson's at the helm, it is ALL GOOD.

[noosa hawk mad]

Wasn't pretty but stoked with 12 wins know & i can smell september!:thumbsu:
After a grueling training block the players can refresh & come out flying for the last 8 games!

[Goldhawk]

I'll take 12-2 anytime,even though we have been playing poorly for the last few weeks the Hawks will come good again as we near the finals. The team will welcome back players soon and give us back that missing link,in the mean time lets just enjoy our wonderful start to the season with this weeks break,i'm looking forward now to our next encounter with Sydney to see how we've come along and hopefully we can turn it on with Septmber not too far away now.
Go Hawks

[rdhopkins2]

When you think about it, the way we win games isn't that important at the minute.

Our main concern is having the points for September action and a ready and roaring list fit to decimate whoever it is that stands between us and the holy grail. As long as we get to the finals and play our best footy then, that is all we can ask for!

[macdaddio]

If only we could pin point the common denominator over the last 4 weeks......thinking...thinking...... yep...I think I will blame... Andrew Russell and his crew.

Well done Hawks to go 3 -1 during that period, excellent to all involved and enjoy the break, you certainly earned it.

Dont we worried Worthy, its all good and Round 15 the boys will have the shackles off and be ready to go.


I hope you are right rusty, becuase if we played soft, undesperate footy with no intensity and no hunger like last night then the swans will run wild..

a 57 point win is still good but i dont know what happend were did our unsocialable hard footy go?

[frankc]

OMG will people get a grip. Yes we were not that impressive tonight and yet we could have won by so much more.

Teams will go through down periods during the season.

[macdaddio]

When you think about it, the way we win games isn't that important at the minute.

Our main concern is having the points for September action and a ready and roaring list fit to decimate whoever it is that stands between us and the holy grail. As long as we get to the finals and play our best footy then, that is all we can ask for!


Thats our problem we are playing for september now, were did our hardnes go, our hard running, our intensity our hunger pur desperation..

We are thinking finals now when we should be thinking about playing hard footy again...

57 points is great but those 1st 3 quarters was like watching the hawks of 05/06....

[Roger Rogerson]

Correct.

As we did around this time last year.

Its all good. Which is why I dont understand some posters and their attitude... the sky is falling, the sky is falling. For ____ sake, we have just secured our place in the 2008 finals. Two years in a row. 2 more wins and we secure TOP 4 place. 2 more wins.... forgive me but the attitude of some on this board is we just LOST a game? We won. We did it hard BUT we (the club) made it hard by what they expected the guys to do during the week.

Once securing top 4 as long as an interstate club doesnt grab 1st or 2nd then it really doesnt matter where we finish.

Hopefully that will allow us to rest up a few players in the last couple of games and blood some new guys like Whitecross and see what their like at the elite level.

If your not happy, or your not happy playing finals then go and join Richmond... they seem to like coming 9th and you fit in beautifully whinging and carrying on about missing September action again.

We won. We are 12-2 Coach Clarkson's at the helm, it is ALL GOOD.


Great post Rusty.

All our efforts from here on can be concentrated on our September campaign as a reward for our 12-2 effort to date. Train the f... out of us knowing that we might drop a few games but in the bigger picture it doesnt matter - they dont hand out premierships in July or August, just September and we are guaranteed to be there, more than likely with a double chance.

Had a chuckle to myself after the game last night as had been frustrated with our performance but then thought over the last 5 or 6 years how many times have we played like crap and won by 10 goals!! We have set very high standards for ourselves this season.

[worthy]

If only we could pin point the common denominator over the last 4 weeks......thinking...thinking...... yep...I think I will blame... Andrew Russell and his crew.

Well done Hawks to go 3 -1 during that period, excellent to all involved and enjoy the break, you certainly earned it.

Dont we worried Worthy, its all good and Round 15 the boys will have the shackles off and be ready to go.

Soooo......you completely misunderstood my point...nevermind, rant on.

[The Cryptkeeper]

Soooo......you completely misunderstood my point...nevermind, rant on.


I actually think that you misunderstood Rusty's reply mate.

Our guys have been as flat as a biscuit for a month because their current training block is super heavy. The Thursday moring session is as hard as I have ever seen them train the day before a game. The edge has been knocked off them with the greater goal being getting them rock hard fit leading into the finals.

Think of it as training a racehorse and giving that horse a very hard session the day before a race. It doesn't matter how good your horse is, if they race the next day they will race tired and their performance will be sub par.

Hawthorn have been doing this for a month. No doubt over the next couple of weeks this training block will end and the Hawthorn of the first 8 weeks will return.

[flukeyluke]

If only we could pin point the common denominator over the last 4 weeks......thinking...thinking...... yep...I think I will blame... Andrew Russell and his crew.

.

See, Rusty knows whats going on.
They have been really training the boys hard so they can run out the rest of the year.

[Miss_Hawk_Fan]

We've been playing poor footy for about 4 weeks, injuries are taking their toll, the break can't come quick enough for some, but all that is obvious, what concerns me is, is our hard running style of play taking a huge toll on our players? sure the break will freshen a few players up, but, come finals time we will have endured a tough run home, will we be back in the same situation we're in now?

Thoughts?

No need to panic, doubtful our injuries will be as constant as the have been for the last five round. Besides even if they are, our rookies have stepped right in and have shown they can contirbute enough to keep the wins comming.

Beside our rookies now have a few games experince under their belts and thats always helpful come finals time.

Im not saying we can afford to 10 rookies come into our team and win, but two three and im still confident.


Look who's contributed this year and got a few games and may be still getting game; Rioli, Morton, Tuck, Kennedy and renouf.

Nothing majour to stress over

[bryan_1981]

Re rustys post: It seems were just suffering from the expectation of winning our first 9 games. As soon as we lose we as fans on here seem to panic and think oh no here we go again, back to the standards of years ago. We need to change our thinking and realise this is not the Hawthorn of years 2002 - 2006 this is Hawthorn of 2008 and only judge us on that :)

[worthy]

No need to panic, doubtful our injuries will be as constant as the have been for the last five round. Besides even if they are, our rookies have stepped right in and have shown they can contirbute enough to keep the wins comming.

Beside our rookies now have a few games experince under their belts and thats always helpful come finals time.

Im not saying we can afford to 10 rookies come into our team and win, but two three and im still confident.


Look who's contributed this year and got a few games and may be still getting game; Rioli, Morton, Tuck, Kennedy and renouf.

Nothing majour to stress over

See, there is no stress or panic, where is that coming from, it was a topic for discussion, which had merit, Rusty's info on training was enlightening, which was brought up due to this thread, so it partially did it's job. We do have a particularly hard running game plan and it hasn't worked as effectively during this high injury and hard training phase.

[Adelaide Hawk]

I'm not the least bit worried. I'm just rolling along this season, enjoying the improvement, and if we get a crack at the flag it's a bonus. It's the years 2009-2012 that I'm looking forward to. Hawthorn are going to be one awesome team.

[Goldhawk]

I'm not the least bit worried. I'm just rolling along this season, enjoying the improvement, and if we get a crack at the flag it's a bonus. It's the years 2009-2012 that I'm looking forward to. Hawthorn are going to be one awesome team.
Well said,fully agree with you.

[worthy]

EXPERIENCED Hawthorn defender Trent Croad says the mid-season break could not be more welcome as his young team prepares to test itself against some of the competition's best sides in forthcoming rounds.
Speaking after Friday night's 57-point thumping of West Coast, Croad said the players were mentally and physically exhausted after winning 12 matches in 14 rounds.

Interesting.

[badius]

Guys, calm the F___ down. Imagine you are an athlete at the olympics. Your entire training schedule is designed to have you peaking for the trials (to get you into the Olympics) and then peaking again for the Olympics itself.

It's called a training schedule. You can't possibly be at peak fitness for the entire season and we have a young group that needs to be managed.

Firstly, we need to make the finals (preferrably top 4) - check.
Then, we need to peak for the finals to give it a real crack - our performance over the past 4-5 weeks would suggest that this is being managed just fine.

That is all.

Carry on.

[macdaddio]

I,m more worried now than later on in the year..

We have been strugling the past month and a half but the next 8 games will show why we are the real deal i,m not worried about that...

[Vaders_1st]

I can't see us matching it with the cats, they are capable of going up 5 gears in no time. We can't. Given what the dogs did to us I would prefer we finished 5th or 6th, get a easy team in first week to build up our confidence, then prey on a defeated top four opponent the next week. I'm not suggesting we tank, but I'm sure the coach could find a way to shake things up and give others a chance, you know what I mean?

[macdaddio]

I can't see us matching it with the cats, they are capable of going up 5 gears in no time. We can't. Given what the dogs did to us I would prefer we finished 5th or 6th, get a easy team in first week to build up our confidence, then prey on a defeated top four opponent the next week. I'm not suggesting we tank, but I'm sure the coach could find a way to shake things up and give others a chance, you know what I mean?


So like last years finals when we played a defeated opponent in North..

And besides we did finish 5th last so if we finish 5th or 6th this year then we have not improved on last year...

If we are as good as we hope we are then we need to finish top4 to give us any chance of making the grand final...

[kirbatron]

Now dont be silly Vaders, i dont think we'll finish 1st but 2nd or 3rd will see us play in a Qualifying final and a chance to go straight into a Prelim.

I'll take that any day of the week over an Elimination Final.

[Vaders_1st]

I don't like what a heavy loss to the cats or dogs in a qualifying final could do to us. Just look at North last year. We should go easier in a few games toward the end of the 22.

[badius]

I don't like what a heavy loss to the cats or dogs in a qualifying final could do to us. Just look at North last year. We should go easier in a few games toward the end of the 22.

Are you really stupid, or is this just a clever act? North got thumped last year, then came out and beat us.

I feel sorry for you if you really believe your own dribble.

[Boyler_Room]

You can't call a premiership in June on the flip side you can't call the death of a side in June either.