Autopsy Hawthorn v Geelong - "they weren't trying"

[Faraway Hawk]

Bank the 4 points and move on..nothing to see here folks.

 

[Hodgey 15]

I don't know if anybody has mention this yet but we're a pretty good footy club !!
GO HAWKERS!!!!!!!!! F##K YEAHHH!!!!!

 

[Davo23]

SHAKESPEARE 's prophecy came true!

What, Birnum Wood removed to Dunsinane?


#toohighbrow

 

[Hodgey 15]

Roughie: "...grass doesn't grow on a busy street"

Love the Rough!!

 

[Bumpswithagrin]

Certainly was tonight - but umps have never liked him.

Yep, more likely to report him than give him Brownlow votes.

 

[Gunstall19]

I got a semi.

 

[Max Powers]

What, Birnum Wood removed to Dunsinane?


#toohighbrow

Good old Macbeth!

 

[Boot Studder]

Can we just build a statue of Langford early. We may as well get it over and done with rather than waiting 20 inevitable years.

Perhaps bookended with one of his Daddy. Two chiseled jaws; two fine Hawks!!!

That and the fact he has to wake up for each review.

Fair dinkum you can hear say, 'What, the which, ahhh!!! review under way'.

Puts his teeth back in, glasses on, makes something up and goes back to sleep.

I think that score review ump was at his best in the early 1960s when a Project Mercury chimp candidate. Back then at least he could see light, hit light.

 

[Garf]

How friggin good was that boys and girls?

On a scale of nought to friggin good, it was up there.

 

[macdaddio]

What happened to Jack?

 

[badgrill]

lol Scott you tool

 

[macdaddio]

What happened to Jack?

 

[Max Powers]

lol Scott you tool

He really is, his whole it was mission accomplished as the Hawks showed their hand tonight comment made me laugh in the presser.

 

[badgrill]

Basically "We let them play so well in 2nd half" 'I'm not gonna say we put the queue in the rack" but we put the queue in the rack. Knob

 

[Max Powers]

What happened to Jack?

Looked like a hyper-extension of the knee

 

[seysearles]

So what's everyone doing during the bye next round?

 

[Dixie Flatline]

There was a definite change in tactics after half-time. Pretty sure that Clarko would have said something along the lines of "if you prop and stop after taking a mark, I'm dragging you". It was play on at all costs in the third quarter; they stopped playing scared football (it's not quite the term I'm looking for but I'm exhausted after a long day and not really thinking straight) and started taking risks. It forced Geelong back into their collective shells and Hawthorn took confidence with each goal kicked.

Thought Hale had a huge impact after half-time. He started pulling down marks left right and centre and then kicked goals. Ceglar did the same. Thought McEvoy played some good football from the half I watched of Box Hill, but he won't be playing against Collingwood after the efforts of both Hale and Ceglar tonight.

I'm pretty sure Hawthorn has found one of its key inside midfielders in the post-Mitchell era. Langford was magnificent tonight. Kicked goals; took courageous marks and hunted the ball with tenacity and intensity. His disposal still needs polish but for a kid who has less than 20 senior games under his belt, he is a really influential player.

Lewis continued a great season with another terrific four-quarter effort tonight. He was one of the few Hawks who made a difference in the first half and he was the oil that kept the Hawthorn midfield engine running on all cylinders after half-time. If he isn't All-Australian this season, he never will be.

Another key change was that when Suckling was subbed out, Spangher stopped trying to tag Harry Taylor (it was a dismal failure) and went into defence to help out Lake and Gibson. Geelong have traditionally done really well to subtly block for their forwards, but after half-time, whenever Geelong got the ball into their attacking zone, Spangher and Lake did well together to make it difficult for Hawkins to have an impact. Hawkins kicked two reasonably cheap goals but he was never going to be the difference-maker tonight.

Geelong played their best when they were running and carrying, using quick handballs to keep Hawthorn off-balance. After half-time, Hawthorn managed to negate that tactic and in fact used it against Geelong. After a (in my view) horrible first half, Hodge, Mitchell and Burgoyne lifted their work-rate and helped out Langford and Lewis, while Shiels also accumulated possessions. I'm not sure how many Simpkin ended up with for the game, but he had nine touches in the third quarter and made an impact when he came on for Suckling.

Gunston was reasonably quiet and if he's paid a free kick for being held onto in a marking contest, it'll probably be his first. The umpires are seemingly blind to the holding to which he is subjected each and every week, and Geelong get away with it so often. Roughead too had problems with Taylor, but his versatility of being able to go into the midfield helped Hawthorn; he was often at the foot of the ruckmen taking possession and feeding a Mitchell or a Lewis to clear the congestion.

Hill and Smith started the game very poorly; there will be a couple of "efforts" executed by Hill in the first half that will be pointed out to him in the post-match review but to their credit, they bounced back and played key roles in Hawthorn's stunning revival after half-time. Punky also failed to really impact the game in the first half but he found a way to become involved in the second. The cream rises to the top.

 

[Leather Poisoning]

Why did they stop showing the live ladder after hawthorn got on top?

 

[Bumpswithagrin]

Give it a rest - they were appalling in the first half and clarko's reaction in the box saw the same thing

Edit: and bugger me dead straight from burgers mouth: "we couldn't play any worse than we did in the first half"

And

"Clarko wasn't composed at all at half time, he gave it to us between the eyes - he wasn't composed at all"

I don't think anyone disagrees that we played really poorly in the first half, it's the fact that people were writing us of that tendon was referring to. Never ceases to amaze me that some of our supporters write us off so quickly; we are a good team and a good club that has shown time and again we have the capacity to turn things around if they are not going well, doesn't make sense that to me that people are so pessimistic when we still have another whole half to play.

 

[SSSSSS]

Hale plays like he did in the second quarter and he's in the side. Plays like the first and he's gone. It's a fine line but I thought he was fantastic in tandem with Ceglar. I heard from someone close that Big Boy was seething that he got dropped but looks like he's got his work cut out for him to get back in.

 

[Max Powers]

Big call if it is based on just one match!

Yeh probably is a stupid call, bit delirious from the win

 

[Bumpswithagrin]

Why did they stop showing the live ladder after hawthorn got on top?

They can't handle the truth!

 

[WWSD]

How good is it to get guys like Langford, Ceglar and Spangher basically for free?

- Spangher was picked up as a depth player and so far has proven to be more then valuable down back and during times in which we've had injuries he's come in and played a role when we've needed him.

- Langford was drafted as a rookie and was an unknown at the time but over the last 12 months or so he's coming along better then anyone would've expected.

- I can't speak highly enough of Ceglar. We got him in the rookie draft as ruck depth for last year but his rapid improvement over the last 18 months has suprised many of us as to how good he's becoming. Looking more and more likely to be our number one ruckman for the finals. I don't think anyone would've predicted that during the pre-season.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Hale plays like he did in the second quarter and he's in the side. Plays like the first and he's gone. It's a fine line but I thought he was fantastic in tandem with Ceglar. I heard from someone close that Big Boy was seething that he got dropped but looks like he's got his work cut out for him to get back in.

He can seethe all he likes - but this isn't a minnow like St Kilda and being a name player won't get you in our side alone. Play as hard as Ceglar does then maybe you'll get picked. McEvoy is in the big league now - time to step up.

 

[Todman]

We had 18 of the 19 remaining 2013 premiership players playing tonight for the first time this year. Only Rioli was missing.