AFL site rumour file

[Pessimistic]

Some intersting Hawthorn rumours there:

Hawthorn to move to tassie in 3 years - Even the AFL agrees it's not ready for a full time AFL team - but we could play 6 away games there -like the kangaroos deal in sydney

Crawf to relinquish captaincy to focus on footy - If it's his decision OK by me. Dutchy becoming captain might lock him in - But what about Harfs
(And perhaps crawf should just relinqush the ch9 stuff (especially 'diskhead and fatman') -they really are playing him for the idiot - - and he's no idiot. It demeans the whole team.

Hawthorn interested in Mark West - I'd love fit Mark West adding some bite to our midfield

Thoughts anybody ?

[Bloodstained Angel]

Crawford on that new Channel Nine show is pretty stupid, why does he have to act like such a clown all the time ?

... and his tips are pretty jack-shit too !

[Lionsrock_15_26]

i'm not a hawks fan but i think shane enjoys acting like a fool, and i don't think it demeans the whole team at all. We all know that Shane isn't untelligent - he obviousely has brains.
Anyhow; just giving you a view from an outsider.

[dutchy_rules]

I would doubt very much if the move to tassie would go ahead in 3 years, especially after the merger debate of 96... but if we could get a couple of away games and make a little money out of it, then that would be good.....

on crawfs, i dont think we could get a better captain than him when he's playing at his best... i certainly think that there were many factors in his poor form, eg injuries and adjusting to the brownlow pressure... i think you will find that crawfs will be back stronger than ever...
even last season he put in some memorable performances.... and with wren feeding him at the centre bounces who knows brownlow no. 2 could be on the cards.....

as for mark west, i think he would make a great addition.... remember just a couple of years ago we made a play for him but he decided to stay at the bulldogs... we really need to strengthen our midfield and he would add a bit of bite to it....

[Grendel]

After the Young debacle i am not to keen to be honest Pess on going after any more 'hard midfielders' from outside the club. Id much prefer to keep faith in blokes like Nicholls,Bateman,Johnson and co plus getting some more good ones in the draft. Dont forget Clarkes killing EVERYONE at the club,Cindy included in the fitness tests too!

Re the Tassie bit, maybe two or three games a year tops, but relocation would only happen only if we looked like folding. Thankfully that doesnt appear to be the case now. I wouldnt put to much stock in the rumours appearing on the AFL site anyway, Hays supposed to leave at the end of next year, funny thought he had a four year contract that last until 2003!

[Pessimistic]

Yeah the tassie one was a bit stupid.

Perhaps crawf has been considering relinquishing the captaincy.

I don't think there's any chance of the Hawks moving to Tassie, at least in the next 10 years - who knows after that.

Crawford should quit being a moron on TV and concentrate on being the best player he can.

[Tracker]

The advantages of the tassie game as I see it are:

- Should be a good money earner ($350,000 against an interstate club is pretty darn good as far as I know)

- Not completely giving away the home ground advantage (as is the case with melb in brisbane and foots/nth in sydney)

- No real fear of vic member uncertainty over future. Tassie is not seen as viable for an afl team, with lack of population/business to back it. (On top of this the ground (which has recently been upgraded) holds just 16,000). Vic members getting a free MCG away game is also a good trade off.

- Opportunity to sign up tassie supporters as members as our support down there is supposed to be good.

The main disadvantage as I see it is the fact that the main motivator for the tassie game would (I guess) be money. (I know footy is now a business but that just doesn't sit well with me).