Autopsy Round 10, 2025: Suns get it done against plucky Hawks

[Simon Crawshay]

It does make it difficult when we were beaten so bad in centre clearances last night.

All the times they got it deep into their attacking 50 from a centre bounce meant we had to spend a lot of energy both defending that attack and then transitioning it back into our attacking 50.

Especially in the last last quarter when it was tight we couldn't buy a centre clearance.

 

[TheFourPillars]

It does make it difficult when we were beaten so bad in centre clearances last night.

All the times they got it deep into their attacking 50 from a centre bounce meant we had to spend a lot of energy both defending that attack and then transitioning it back into our attacking 50.

Especially in the last last quarter when it was tight we couldn't buy a centre clearance.

If only Nash was available i doubt Rowell gets through as easily as he did

 

[Gaborone]

Montagna will be getting a please explain from Hawthorn this week, there’s a reason he is disliked by most footballers outside st Kilda

Sorry
Noodle
Morrison
Finn

Ain’t up to it, effort is there, but there are better players

I have no idea what to do with Sicily

I must have been watching the wrong game if you include Morrison in the 'not up to it category'.

 

[burger09]

Interesting, well structured, intelligent question!

Who were these so called journalists?

They put the Melbourne click bait media to shame.

 

[MasterSamurai]

Maybe unnoticed but that was one of the best individual midfield games by a player this season by Newk. So much so that , dimma had miller go to him in the last qtr. Colossal effort to take suns midfielders on almost on his own.
Amon should be in consideration for AA , having a super season. Love Scrimshaw and Ward keeps improving to the point where, this time next year, he could be a blue chip mid.

 

[Paul Kersey]

If only Nash was available i doubt Rowell gets through as easily as he did

The difference imo.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Maybe unnoticed but that was one of the best individual midfield games by a player this season by Newk. So much so that , dimma had miller go to him in the last qtr. Colossal effort to take suns midfielders on almost on his own.
Amon should be in consideration for AA , having a super season. Love Scrimshaw and Ward keeps improving to the point where, this time next year, he could be a blue chip mid.

Newk was absolutely elite all night. Bonafide A grade performance. Decision making and skills were superb all night. He's best games this year have been against the better sides we have played. All our losses he's been our best player IMO. Shows that he rises to the occassion when he needs to.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Maybe unnoticed but that was one of the best individual midfield games by a player this season by Newk. So much so that , dimma had miller go to him in the last qtr. Colossal effort to take suns midfielders on almost on his own.
Amon should be in consideration for AA , having a super season. Love Scrimshaw and Ward keeps improving to the point where, this time next year, he could be a blue chip mid.

His field kicking was absolutely on point last night as was his overhead marking.

Still have to shake my head that he got through to a mid season draft, what an absolute stoke of luck for us that he somehow wasn't picked up at any of the junior talent pathways.

 

[ScottMaginness]

If only Nash was available i doubt Rowell gets through as easily as he did

Rowell plays like a wrecking ball. Nash tagged him the equivalent game last year and it had limited impact. Thought Finn to Anderson would have been the match up last night, but only seemed to be for a short period mid-game.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Agree. Morrison is a good depth option and he has been doing everything asked of him so far this season. He will be out of the side once (if) we get everyone back.

The bigger concern is the form of some of our better players:

- MacDonald stinks and needs to be dropped.

- D'Ambrosio shut out of multiple games. I appreciate teams put work into him as he is very impactful and important to our ball movement.

- Sicily has been our best player for years, but something is clearly off with him. Maybe it's a newer role? Adjusting to Battle and Barrass? Carrying an injury? If it's an injury then he shouldn't be playing.

- CJ. Very inconsistent, hopefully his two games prior is more of a reflection of what we will get, compared to this game. His best and worst is miles apart, we need him to bridge that gap. I suppose that will only likely come with consistent gametime.

Big shoutout to:

- Chol, he's been great this season and is on track for 40 odd goals, despite playing nearly half the season as a lone KPF.

- Ginnivan has been great since being dropped. Kicking goals, working up the ground, setting up teammates and tackling. Last four games:

19.75 touches
5.5 marks
2.75 tackes
7.4 goals

- Watson. Superstar potential. After a slow start to the season (9 goals in 7 games) he is now getting into his groove (8 goals in the last 3 games).

- Weddle. Superstar potential too, and like Watson he started the season slowly, but has been great over the last month or so. We need to find his best position and let him focus on that. IMO that's as a free-wheeling HFF, or on a wing.

- Scrimshaw looked like he hadn't missed a beat. He has completely overtaken Sicily as our best interceptor defender and distributor this season, when he's played that is.

Big call but he's a better kick than Sis and more consistent, lasers 40-50 metres passes with ease. More physical than Sis as well particularly ATM, I'd give Sis a rest more so a mental break from footy to get whatever is bothering him out of his system. I get we need our captain these next stretch of games but not if he's going to be a liability and we have to hide him on the field. He's groin is an issue too so use this period to get him right physically and mentally. We have enough leaders on the field I think to cover his absence.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

He needs to be rested. Though if Battle doesn't get up he may play again.

If neither are good for the game then we could still cover Morris and Hipwood with Barrass, Sicily and Weddle.

It's their smalls in Cameron, Lohmann, Rayner and Bailey that will cause issues. We'll need Hardwick and Impey on their best behaviour.

Surely Serong or Frost get a gig if Battle and Sis miss. Frost is a good matchup for Hipwood. This is 1 area of the ground were ok for depth.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

His field kicking was absolutely on point last night as was his overhead marking.

Still have to shake my head that he got through to a mid season draft, what an absolute stoke of luck for us that he somehow wasn't picked up at any of the junior talent pathways.

It looked like we were watching an Elite mid go to work last night. Every bit as good as the great midfielders in the game if he maintains that sort of standard every week.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Surely Serong or Frost get a gig if Battle and Sis miss. Frost is a good matchup for Hipwood. This is 1 area of the ground were ok for depth.

Frost could play on Rayner or Cameron too, which might be needed if Hardwick plays as a forward.

 

[Arkadia]

I was actually happy with our effort last night...
We play this game at the G and the sunny Boys will get a rude awakening...
Teams are putting all their effort in winning the clearances against us, especially around the ground..
Teams have realised on the transition, they cannot stop us.....
Fix our clearances or at least break even and I think we are unstoppable......
Easier said than done...

 

[HedgeFund]

I’m a Morrison basher but he’s certainly not the worst bloke having a crack out there atm.

In saying that, if we genuinely want to win a flag, names like Morrison aren’t on the team sheet.

We have a good system and some great players, we are lacking a genuine game breaking superstar though. Landing one would elevate a few others imo.

Most premiership teams have players playing who aren’t in the most talented or capable 22 - 25 on the list, but they end up playing because they are good at their role.

Remember Jonathan Simpkin? Or Matt Spangher? Or Taylor Duryea? Or Ryan Schoenmakers?

All have premiership medals and none were game breaking superstars. They just played their role at the right time and helped the team win games.

Has been the case for 125 years.

We could well win a flag this year and Morrison is more likely to be playing than not.

 

[Buzz Hawk]

Maybe unnoticed but that was one of the best individual midfield games by a player this season by Newk. So much so that , dimma had miller go to him in the last qtr. Colossal effort to take suns midfielders on almost on his own.
Amon should be in consideration for AA , having a super season. Love Scrimshaw and Ward keeps improving to the point where, this time next year, he could be a blue chip mid.

Correct there on newk.
And right now, that’s part of our problem/challenge.
Newk is our best midfielder, by far, right now.
Worps is a great wingman, down by his standards though last night. Still a gun though.
Beyond that, Frenchie and Ward have been really good thus far, but they are 21 year old kids still learning the caper.
We miss Day and to a lesser degree Nash, but I’m sure Sammy is working on getting another A grader into the mix.
It’s another piece to the premiership puzzle.

 

[Fleabane]

It's not a good luck though if he's there just for Dan. Will bring more speculation and gossip.

I presume you mean 'not a good look'. Surely no one thought he'd be there barracking for us - not at this point - deep hurt and estrangements take a lot of time to heal. If they ever do.

Looks like he got to chat to a few Hawks past and present and enjoy a cracking game. I'm glad he was there, even if it was to support his cousin - who played brilliantly btw. He didn't carry on madly cheering for the Suns, he just smiled and clapped. Not a big story to my mind. In some small way being there could help soothe the rift, you never know.

 

[rei154]

Interesting to see Newc with a big ol' scratch on his neck after the game... I wonder which of his "flops" left that?

 

[OnTheRocks]

Was the game plan in the 1st qtr what ultimately cost us the game?
The pleasing part was grinding back from what could have been potentially a big loss to a position to win the game but that 1st qtr not good enough.

 

[thehardway]

It does make it difficult when we were beaten so bad in centre clearances last night.

All the times they got it deep into their attacking 50 from a centre bounce meant we had to spend a lot of energy both defending that attack and then transitioning it back into our attacking 50.

Especially in the last last quarter when it was tight we couldn't buy a centre clearance.

I was doing my nut watching GC getting centre clearances. We got sucked into the contest and leave space out the front and time and time again they would find someone in that space who would then stream forward putting our defenders under extreme pressure. Rowell and Anderson are guns, but our centre bounce set-ups just weren't working. Big Ned battled hard but we really missed Meek who effectively becomes another midfielder when the ball hits the deck.

 

[becalm]

The number times people mention Day is alarming. In the injury reports he is still 3-4 months away. He may not be fit enough to play finals.
Others keep mentioning we need a top line mid fielder, doesn't every team. We need to get better with what we have available and I am sure we will get better. I don' think the coaches would have the mindset of if only.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I'm in the same area as Sam Mitchell; I've been saying all season we are not as advanced as we'd like to be right now. How the rest of the season unfolds remains to be seen, but we have a lot of work to do. Having said that, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable if we were peaking in late May.

 

[offtherails9]

Yeah no need to name Day as an out or reason we lost - of course he'd be handy but he isn't around and won't be for a while.

I completely agree with the sentiment of posters the last few pages - I'd say we win that game (and probably by a few goals) if we had Meek and Nash. We got blasted in the middle, comprehensively. (Although as I said in the match day thread - two of their centre clearances were free kicks from Newcombe's 'throws', disgusting one sided umpiring).
But yeah - Nash and Meek play and we don't let them walk it out as easily, we don't have to push those extra numbers up into the contest and Noble and Rioli don't run as much of a muck. Every team has injuries of course, but to miss the grunt of those two boys proved too much for our midfield to hold up. We'll get them next time for sure. But we need a few scalps soon to keep the chance of top 4 alive.

 

[Charchi]

If the reason why we lost is because Meek and Nash didn’t play then it’s our own fault, Meek was available, Nash wasn’t but due to his own stupidity.
We need to work out how to leave a gatekeeper on the defensive side of the center square, all three losses we’ve lost the same way, even average teams are doing it too us, its just that we are better than seven others at covering for it up to date.

 

[birch]

If the reason why we lost is because Meek and Nash didn’t play then it’s our own fault, Meek was available, Nash wasn’t but due to his own stupidity.
We need to work out how to leave a gatekeeper on the defensive side of the center square, all three losses we’ve lost the same way, even average teams are doing it too us, its just that we are better than seven others at covering for it up to date.

Nash wasn’t available due to the vagaries of the MRO. Any other miscalculation like his has received 3 or less. 4 was a joke.
Agreed we probably could’ve rested Meek against WC or Richmond