Autopsy Round 2, 2024: Hawks go to hell

[Glenhope]

Poor. Very poor.
We've gone backwards from last year. Some of the parts look promising but they are spinning gears in a non-functional machine. Five goals. I remember the criticism of the women posting such a low score. Even with the demon's two best defenders off the ground we couldn't score.

It's going to be many long years.

 

[Tony3163]

I

was looking for a Hawthorn supporters’ forum?

 

[BobHawk]

Sam Mitchell needs to work things out pretty quickly because games like that can cost a coach his job. An entire preseason and nothing to show for it.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Remember when the club was talking about finals and there being no ceiling to the season?

 

[Stottzy]

Backline have been ok the last 2 weeks, but have been let down again by the midfield. Deplorable centre work. Reeves has to be finally dropped. Basically one man short with him playing.

Mitchell has coached poorly too. Another questionable sub decision. What is the point of Gunston as a sub? Honestly how Hustwaite hasn’t been picked even as a sub is criminal.

 

[Bugs1977]

The thing that disappointed me most about today is that the game plan was way to reactive of trying to avoid May + Lever. I'm not saying the end result would've been any different but I'd much rather we had've played more off of instinct than that chip it around cr@p. IMO getting our team to play that way conceded defeat halfway through the first quarter and Melbourne knew it.

 

[Noel Gallagher]

Seriously enough of Reeves as starting ruckman, it’s becoming embarrassing. Meek must come in for him next week. McKenzie the only shining light in the midfield. Nash and Newcombe were poor, Worpel tried hard as usual but was generally ineffective

Ward was poor - have to agree with others that he is starting to look like a very vanilla. McDonald was just ok. Ginnivan and Chol were good. Gunston played like he was 40 years old. Have no idea why we brought him back

Watson impressed me today. Showed plenty and I’m starting to believe. Finally Mitchell as coach is starting to worry me - does he know what he’s doing?

 

[Crankyhawk]

Embarrassing performance..
Coaching was deplorable from the start of the game.
Midfield is still so poorly set up that we allow opposition to just waltz around as they please.
Sam will most likely come out with the same dribble about first hands to ball and s**t, but it's pretty plain to see that we are not in the same league as other Midfields

Noticed at the centre there would be 2 pairs of miss matched up on each other and 1 pair with separation and that Melbourne player got the clearance so ******* often while ours got do nuts

 

[The Jet From Poowong]

We can’t carry Gunston, sub or no sub, he is finished and offers nothing. Sorry Gunna, time is well and truly up

Ward doesn’t deserve any further leeway as he has been given, has to earn his position

Nash, time for a run in the seconds and give HH a go. If you are not going to use your size and hunt in the centre, your skills are not going to cut it

Breust need to be the sub most games this year. Has slowed considerably and is not trusting himself as a result

Newcombe, please attack the pill, he is standing off the contest too much and we are NOT getting the ball to him. Coaching?

Today, the coaches need to ask them selves even more questions.
Did we do any body contact work over summer at all

Not many bright spots today and I am not usually letting off steam this soon after a game but today was just 50 steps back. Bad kicking was the excuse last week but today, we simply came out like deer in headlights. And this was coaching at it worst.

Mabior and Ginni are great additions and were again in our best but what the hell has happened in 6 months to the others.

This season could be our worst in a long while if drastic improvement is not made……very soon

 

[The Kipster]

Well wasn't that a pile of dog s**t.

Skills were abysmal.
Finishing in front of goal atrocious.
Midfield caned.
Out coached, out muscled, soft and our odds for the spoon have shortened.

 

[The hands of stone]

Sicily is our Jet , but Day is our best and most important player .

It might not improve significantly until he is back unfortunately.

Weddle really solid and like Wiz getting 4 shots . Thats 7 in 2 weeks from a small forward . Its good going .

 

[Dazza the Viking]

How did the midfield group go backwards compared to being one of the best last year? Let Nash do the tagging and bring HH instead of Fin. Confidence seems to be out sorts.

Where we are at, don’t see the point of tagging, Nash and Finn should both be dropped, Hustwaite has to come in, need to have a look at Mackenzie and Ward more in the middle looking to the future and Hustwaite

 

[Hawk88]

How are we somehow worse then we were last year?

Its hard to get worse when you are already bad

Need to sort our sh** out fairly quickly or the pressure is coming for Sam

 

[Breustiful]

Utterly woeful. Feel like we have gone backwards.

Nash looks out of it.

 

[I got the outside word]

They should be top four and contending, we should not. As frustrating as some of that game was to watch, there were also some very positive things.

Next.

 

[lethalselbow]

Worst for Hawthorn today... Sam Mitchell.

The coaching instructions for the 1st quarter was horrendous.

 

[Off The Couch]

What I’ve taken from the game day thread is that half the team is s**t and should never wear the jumper again. Skills were appalling today - the fumbles, the missed tackles, half arsed kicks and dropped marks - two weeks running and it’s just not good enough.

What I took away from the game is that we are very frustrating to watch and today was appalling. Midfield getting smashed, no defenders for Dee’s and still can’t kick a goal and I’m at a loss as to what the game plan is. It was hard not to throw the towel and turn the game off


I’m scared for Easter Monday

 

[earthworms]

Weddle quietly had a good game

 

[VandoHawk]

Loved Watson, Weddle and Mackenzie.
Liked Chol. Scrimma and Frosty were usually good defensively. Worpel’s effort (not execution).
Everything else was very sucky. Don’t think I’ve been that drained from a footy game in a long while.

 

[SSSSSS]

They should be top four and contending, we should not. As frustrating as some of that game was to watch, there were also some very positive things.

Next.

Agreed. Despite the result we were probably the better team for close to two quarters.

We just didn't capitalise and they absolutely smashed us when they had momentum.

Lots of things to like but some big concerns as well.

 

[RoughysMullet]

Observations after two rounds:

• Can’t play Finn - great tagger but skill level not up to it
• Nash and Newcombe are no where near where they were last year, need to wake up quickly
• Reeves needs a kick up the ass, has the potential to be so much better but has started really soft- maybe gets dropped to find some confidence and see if Meek can offer anything…
• Sicily is being targeted, we need to play another key defender to support him might aswell see what Phillips has…
• Our sub selections thus far have been puzzling to say the least
• Lewis needs to play up the ground to stay more involved, loses confidence when he’s stuck deep and we aren’t getting the ball to him
• If Hustwaite does well tomorrow he comes in next week, we should’ve rewarded his preseason form, the efforts of the midfielders we’ve picked other than Worpel have been poor
• Mitchell need to teach this team to defend all over the ground, we don’t do it… opposition get on runs way too easy…
• Centre bounce set up is all wrong- we’re being absolutely smashed out of the middle
• Will wait for Josh Ward to get 50 games to pass judgement, he’s a worry though and to think we could’ve drafted NWM makes me very nervous

 

[SpanishBrowne]

Is there a gameplan? (i mean.. is there?? god knows what they were thinking in the first qtr)
Can this midfield contend, not just every once-in-a-while at the bounce, but all around the ground please thankyou?
Is Finn worth playing if we can't even compete?
In the forward line, why is it only the recruits and 2nd gamer out there looking like they give a damn?

 

[Denver Day Lewis]

Firstly: we were always going to get smashed today. As I’ve said during the week, Melbourne’s named side is probably best in the league this week/right now - they are severely underrated for some reason.

The best list? Quite possibly yes.

The best team? You've got to be kidding. A poor culture head by a mediocre coach, riddled with drugs and sheer entitlement, and second-rate management. Their success comes off the back of years of early draft picks, accompanied by good fortune in trading, a once-in-a-generation ruckman, compromised scheduling, and umpiring that bizarrely favours teams wearing the colour blue. (Statistically, I sh!t thee not.)

They are an AFL basket case licking (or sniffing) the last of the ice-cream from the bottom of the bowl.

 

[PlayHard]

Boys against men in the middle of the park, absolutely destroyed with no resistance whatsoever.

Not sure what Mitchell is doing, he's trying to play a high possession game with players simply not good enough to execute it.

Far too many ordinary footballers who make the same simple mistakes over and over again. Good luck to Mitchell cause with this list he's gonna need it.

 

[pd_89]

Positives:

• Ginnivan looked dangerous whenever the ball came to him.
• Mackenzie did some good things.
• Chol took some good marks.

Negatives:

• Our forwards barely saw the ball.
• Our midfield is absolute putrid. Worpel, Newcombe and Ward were all horrid.
• Melbourne lost May and Lever (so pretty much their entire defence) and yet they still belted us.
• Our midfield is absolute putrid. Worpel, Newcombe and Ward were all horrid.
• Our defence was putrid as well. Yes they weren't helped by the midfield allowing all those entries but they were still putrid.
• Our midfield is absolute putrid. Worpel, Newcombe and Ward were all horrid.