Autopsy Round 9, 2023 : Hawks burnt by Demons

[Strapping Young Lad]

 

[H00t]

For mine the biggest difference between the two teams was their forwards ability to compete every time the ball went forward. And our inability to do the same.

Unless we get a near perfect entry forward we don’t look like scoring. Which good teams just don’t allow due to their defensive pressure.

Whereas the dees knew they just had to get the ball forward and their forwards would score or lock the ball in and give them time to set up for repeat entries.

It’s easy to look at the inside 50 numbers and assume our forwards didn’t get the chance to compete. But our inside 50 numbers are so low because our forwards don’t compete.

We often give them the first look at the ball by winning the centre clearances but they fail to win or neutralise the ball. Resulting in it going up the other end. As well as offering no targets to move the ball out of our d50 leading to many repeat entries and the lopsided inside 50 counts we are seeing.

 

[Jethro!]

Just my two cents on a few burning issues for me.

When you win a centre clearance get the ball into the forward line fast. It is why they bought in the 6-6-6. Don't overuse it and then turn it over.
Don't keep handballing when you've got yourself into trouble, better to kick it rather than turn it over.
When you have momentum and are putting on pressure don't try to kick the impossible, instead maintain the pressure by keeping the ball forward.

I thought Kosi did alright today. When we were pumping in the 3rd he made Lever accountable.
Harry needs to go back and find some kicking form. He was really reliable last year.
A few youngsters learnt the pace of the game. Butler with a couple of missed opportunities and Weddle waiting for the ball rather than going to where it will be. (But they will be better for it).

And Seamus' spoil running back with the flight in the last .....

Yeah I agree. They're not getting an extra number back. We maybe need to work harder on forward spread when we get the centre clearance.
Kosi played a good second half, as much as I was lamenting him in the first. He held body position well and gave a contest

 

[The Jet From Poowong]

You can add Hardwick to the list of experienced players who are turnover maestros.
Every week he tries ridiculously ambitious 50 meter bullet passes that miss the target or go straight to the opposition.
There were at least two today that resulted in Melbourne goals.
The other maestros have been named several times. Hardwick always seems to get a pass for some reason.
What hurts most is that these are our most experienced players who should be at their peak not making the same old mistakes week in week out.


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There is a lot of truth in this.

Here goes my rant.

People look at the stat sheet and they see he has had 20 odd possessions most weeks and he tends to get overlooked in any criticism. You could argue that if you kick that many times you are going to stuff a few up.

He is a good stopper. Of that there is no question. But when I read we need to release him, I question to do what?

I don’t agree that he (and Sicily) are our best options to bring the ball out of defence, repeatedly. Not the way we do at present anyway. There is a time and place for the long kick out of defence. But we leave this to Sicily and Hardwick too often (and I am not referring to kick outs).

If you think about the top teams, how many of them rely on their CHB or back pockets to repeatedly blast the ball out of defence with long kicking. I mean how easy is it to coach against that, knowing who the ball is going to end up with and where it is the likely to go.

You can’t develop traits of a top team if you don’t attempt them and dare to keep practicing them on game day. We need to flick the ball around by hand before running it out and then kicking over a defensive structure. But this method IMO is not a strength of either Hardwick or Sicily though.

IMO the less we have Hardwick kicking the ball from deep in our D50 the better. Same with Sicily. And I have a sneaky suspicion it’s why Scrimshaw isn’t a lock in the defensive structure because there is too much sameness. All strong by foot, but flat footed when it comes to using quick hands. Let’s not even consider what transpires in their mind when the ball hits the deck.

We require a less structured movement from defence with higher risk which is the way the game is nowadays. So therefore let’s practice and play on game day with the likes of Impey, CJ, Mitchell, Amon, Weddle, Bramble and BMac trying to run and overlap from our D50.

Otherwise, we will just continue to kick long from deep in defence despite knowing that we have a weakness in contested marking and hope to have a neutral outcome at best. The first quarter was a template of this frustration.

 

[Walshawk]

There were a couple of times we cleared the ball from half back on Bruest’s side and in previous years he would have lead up to the wing and been the link. There was no one to kick to as LB was stationary and out of position on the HFF. No movement at all.

 

[Nick the Pig]

Let Seamus take more kick-ins please

 

[Charchi]

It drives me nuts that we don’t
1) go right up to the mark, several times today we sagged back from OOF and gave them an extra 5-8m
2) when kicking forward, kick to the side our player is on so they can protect the drop of the ball

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Personally i feel we find our self a CHF and another goal sneak, an we will be winning a few more games.

I feel playing Wingard, koschitzke and Bramble is only getting us closer to the wooden spoon.

An i am sad to say this, but it truly hope Bruest contract is turned into a coaching role in 2024.

Get him to 500 goals than start to rotate him in and out of the team. Maybe with Punk there's a level of acceptance that no matter how he performs he plays. Likewise with Chad. Sending a message will either ignite past glories or will trigger a rethink of his future. A decision should be made soon though. We have seen enough evidence a change of setup needs to happen.

 

[tl92]

That turnover from Morrison on the 50 line. I’m sure a few posters in here were screaming at their TV.

 

[Hawksboy72]

Here's a novel idea instead of looking at 10m sprint times and beep test results and 3k time trial results at this year's draft I'd be looking at kicking efficiency as a key indicator.

Also this week should be Chad's last match. Tell him he either finishes up after this week or it's BH for the rest of the season.

 

[Lickmesocks]

There is a lot of truth in this.

Here goes my rant.

People look at the stat sheet and they see he has had 20 odd possessions most weeks and he tends to get overlooked in any criticism. You could argue that if you kick that many times you are going to stuff a few up.

He is a good stopper. Of that there is no question. But when I read we need to release him, I question to do what?

I don’t agree that he (and Sicily) are our best options to bring the ball out of defence, repeatedly. Not the way we do at present anyway. There is a time and place for the long kick out of defence. But we leave this to Sicily and Hardwick too often (and I am not referring to kick outs).

If you think about the top teams, how many of them rely on their CHB or back pockets to repeatedly blast the ball out of defence with long kicking. I mean how easy is it to coach against that, knowing who the ball is going to end up with and where it is the likely to go.

You can’t develop traits of a top team if you don’t attempt them and dare to keep practicing them on game day. We need to flick the ball around by hand before running it out and then kicking over a defensive structure. But this method IMO is not a strength of either Hardwick or Sicily though.

IMO the less we have Hardwick kicking the ball from deep in our D50 the better. Same with Sicily. And I have a sneaky suspicion it’s why Scrimshaw isn’t a lock in the defensive structure because there is too much sameness. All strong by foot, but flat footed when it comes to using quick hands. Let’s not even consider what transpires in their mind when the ball hits the deck.

We require a less structured movement from defence with higher risk which is the way the game is nowadays. So therefore let’s practice and play on game day with the likes of Impey, CJ, Mitchell, Amon, Weddle, Bramble and BMac trying to run and overlap from our D50.

Otherwise, we will just continue to kick long from deep in defence despite knowing that we have a weakness in contested marking and hope to have a neutral outcome at best. The first quarter was a template of this frustration.

Find us another Brent Guerra to kick in for us. What a weapon he was.

 

[burger09]

Days like today, we just look so far from a top 4 side. Is the talent really there?

One high level KKP. No game breaking mid forward. No pressure forwards. Just endless players with huge flaws in their game.

Weddle showed something. Big positive.
Likes to run himself into trouble though, without the smarts to get out.

We need superstar players asap. We really need to nail this draft and next.

Is Moore carrying. I hope so, he's well down. Can't afford for him to regress into another average player.

 

[Titch3Votes0MooreAA]

Seamus Mitchell should take our kick-ins from now on. He is a better kick of the ball than Hardwick. We should allow Hardwick to be the gun defender/back-pocket plugger that he is.

 

[tl92]

Seamus Mitchell should take our kick-ins from now on. He is a better kick of the ball than Hardwick. We should allow Hardwick to be the gun defender/back-pocket plugger that he is.

Allows Sicily to be a marking target from the kick also, which we sorely need.

 

[Hawksboy72]

Find us another Brent Guerra to kick in for us. What a weapon he was.

Issac Cumming (GWS)

 

[hamohawk1]

That first half was bad..really really bad.

Really liking Mckenzie, Meek, Mitchell and Weedle.

CJ and Chad need a spell and/ or a game at Box Hill, especially CJ. Might be worth Moore joining them too.

I'll also join in the umpire discussion, i know we are probably getting the second tier afl umps with our games but the interpretations and lack of calls is worse than it was 3-4 years ago. I gave them a bit of lenience in the cover years but now its inexcusable.

 

[tl92]

That first half was bad..really really bad.

Really liking Mckenzie, Meek, Mitchell and Weedle.

CJ and Chad need a spell and/ or a game at Box Hill, especially CJ. Might be worth Moore joining them too.

I'll also join in the umpire discussion, i know we are probably getting the second tier afl umps with our games but the interpretations and lack of calls is worse than it was 3-4 years ago. I gave them a bit of lenience in the cover years but now it’s inexcusable.

Cant say I noticed the umpiring being poor today, other than the Oliver tap from Newcombe. Last week was horrendous though

 

[westhawk]

People are quick to criticise Scrimshaw, yet give Jiath a pass mark. It doesn’t make any sense.

I don’t rate either of them. They are both soft, but if I had to pick one, then Scrim is in front of CJ for the simple fact that he doesn’t fumble everything that comes his way. CJ should be spending multiple weeks at Box Hill.

 

[CHUBBSS]

Don't know what's happening for Moore, it seems like he's struggling to find any space. Perhaps it's symptomatic of the team's lack of cohesion, but he's having a really bad year.

Unfortunately he lacks legs speed and the game is getting faster so teams know how much space they can give him now and also defend him, why ultimately I’m not sure his a forward first.

Play it out in 3 years, the game will only be faster

 

[The Jet From Poowong]

Cant say I noticed the umpiring being poor today, other than the Oliver tap from Newcombe. Last week was horrendous though

oh there was plenty

Eleni invented a push in the back while kicking is holding the ball

 

[Tomohawks]

Just got home from the footy, it was a long way to go to watch that rubbish in the first half. Obviously much better in the second but the whole time I was there I just couldn't get my head around Kozi being the late in instead of Rama especially after his huge confidence getting game last week at Box Hill. Lots of positives today against first class opposition. That was my first time seeing a few in the flesh and I've gotta say that Mitchell is super impressive, Mackenzie and Weddle will be seriously good and big Meeky is quite versatile for his mammoth build and certainly cracks in.

 

[Paul Kersey]

Cant say I noticed the umpiring being poor today, other than the Oliver tap from Newcombe. Last week was horrendous though

Same old same old imo. Umpiring across the board sucks arse but that’s due to the AFL directing them to ‘interpret’ it in such a way. Incorrect disposal and holding the ball are the two which really need to be adjudicated like the game intends.

 

[spudmaster]

A tough outing to sit through, particularly the first half, but great to be back at the G for our second home game of the year there and to see the regulars.
Mackenzie and Weddle getting their first goals in the third provided some much-needed enjoyment and it was good to see the players still get around them, despite the scoreboard and helped to lift the mood.
Thought Meek battled surprisingly well against the feared Gawn+Grundy duo to his credit.

Well done to Frosty on his 150th!
Bring on next week against the Eagles.
Go Hawks!

 

[NineteenSixtyNine]

Took advantage of the rare opportunity to go and see the Hawks in a home game at the MCG, have to wait another month until the Brisbane game, the Demons had something like 5 shots at goal in the first 6 minutes and missed them all fortunately, could have been really ugly. Uninspired was how I felt. Apart from a 15 minute burst after half time where we kicked a few it would have been much worse. Wingard, why bother, just go away. We need a new backline coach, it was working and now isn't, Frosty is confused with ball in hand now and we try to run and carry out of the back line and just turn it too often. The forward line is dysfunctional and will continue to be without some marking targets.

 

[Tomohawks]

A tough outing to sit through, particularly the first half, but great to be back at the G for our second home game of the year there and to see the regulars.
Mackenzie and Weddle getting their first goals in the third provided some much-needed enjoyment and it was good to see the players still get around them, despite the scoreboard and helped to lift the mood.
Thought Meek battled surprisingly well against the feared Gawn+Grundy duo to his credit.

Well done to Frosty on his 150th!
Bring on next week against the Eagles.
Go Hawks!

Yes well done but his early errors had me shaking my head and cursing his name in vain. He got marginally better thankfully.

 

[CHUBBSS]

Let Seamus take more kick-ins please

This was evident 3 minutes in, should be him as the first choice and Sicily and scrim if need be