Autopsy Round 18, 2025: Hawks fall short

[grumbleguts]

It would still be less painful than watching that last quarter. Only thing worse than that last quarter, would be if you was forced to watch Ross Lyon football Clockwork Orange style

Well, I was going to say "anyone peel themselves and roll around in salt and vinegar chips."

 

[SSSSSS]

Got to give credit to Freo they just wanted it more than we did.

They smashed us physically in the last quarter. That was finals footy.

 

[westhawk]

It wasn’t the reason we lost but Chol’s miss early in the last was a real momentum killer.
Kicks that and we are three goals up. Ball goes down the other end and Voss kicks a (slightly) more difficult one to make it a 7 point game. Really took the wind out of our sails.

Exactly how it felt being there aswell.

 

[flamin_heck]

worst last quarter in a long time?
not even sure its the worst last quarter this year!!! should never have lost that game in Darwin when we were in front at 3/4 time with absolutely all the momentum. Major choke
when Macdonald kicked that goal in the last quarter to level the scores against Geelong, and we had all the running, we went straight into our shell, as we did last night against Freo
and then, of course, we have last year against GWS in Canberra, a huge choke, and the mother of all chokes against Port Adelaide.
Unfortunately, the feeling with this team is the opposite to the 13-15 trifecta, where you could sit back and relax whenever the team was in front at 3/4 time.... now, its white knuckle stuff at the final bounce, no matter how far in front we are.

I can’t argue with anything you’ve said here, but just a reminder 5 minutes into the last quarter in the 2013 prelim against Geelong the Hawks down by 21 against a team we consistently capitulated against and as a club were just about ready to be bumped into the soft and unreliable category. We all remember what happened after that. We are a young side, and I think we all recognize we aren’t the finished product personnel wise yet either.
To be still a top 4 chance this far into the season is massive growth, despite all the injuries, form issues and learnings.

 

[TylerDurden]

I can’t argue with anything you’ve said here, but just a reminder 5 minutes into the last quarter in the 2013 prelim against Geelong the Hawks down by 21 against a team we consistently capitulated against and as a club were just about ready to be bumped into the soft and unreliable category. We all remember what happened after that. We are a young side, and I think we all recognize we aren’t the finished product personnel wise yet either.
To be still a top 4 chance this far into the season is massive growth, despite all the injuries, form issues and learnings.

We had about 10 all timers in that team. Can't compare.

 

[SA HAWK]

Got to give credit to Freo they just wanted it more than we did.

They smashed us physically in the last quarter. That was finals footy.

They knew their season was on the line at 3/4 time and lifted we were not good enough to go with them.

They have won 7/8 i think after a poor start to the season.

 

[barbster]

No way we could play all four talls then leave 1 on the bench constantly.

We’d lose so much rotationally that we’d burn out our other players very quickly. It’s the same reason as why 2 rucks doesn’t work nowadays.

The game is played at such a high intensity that every bit of rest you can get for a player in game is vital.

How many rucks and tall forwards did freo have?

 

[H00t]

How many rucks and tall forwards did freo have?

Freo have 3 key forwards who played 85 to 92% on ground.

Then two rucks where Darcy only played 60% on ground and Jackson played 84%. The big thing is Jackson plays as another cba mid while Darcy is rucking.

A vastly different set up than us having to constantly keep one player on the bench. Jackson is a freak that makes it work. I’m pretty sure every other team goes with 3 talls and a ruck or two rucks and 2 talls at a maximum.

 

[bigmaxi]

Got to give credit to Freo they just wanted it more than we did.

They smashed us physically in the last quarter. That was finals footy.

Agree 100%, so then we have had a taste of a finals loss now so no excuses. It tastes a little like bile in the back of your throat. If, they all lift we can do this and have a red hot crack. Big if, but the sweet smell of success beats vomit in ya mouth everyday.

 

[Sizzlesilk]

Frustrating loss. I have said all year we are not winning it all this year with this mid-field and I’m absolutely right.

Unbelievably crazy we went after both Barrass and Battle they’re both really good players but we only needed one. We should’ve gone after mid. Back half of last year we had so much space coming out of the backline - this year we have none.

Our mid field is no where near it. Worpel is not good, he needs to go at the end of the year. Only reason he plays is because we have no depth at all in this position at all.

McKenzie - gone backwards completely since his hand injury. Lost so much confidence - I have no concerns about his future but I can’t see it turning around this year.

Sicily was fine I reckon, seemed to struggle overhead a little. But his intent and fight looked really good

Meek awesome - we’d be completely screwed without him. He has a serious chance of going down us one of the top 2 ruckman in our history

Ginny very good. One of the better decision makers - if he was a yard quicker he’d be an A grader.

Scrimshaw has to come in - probably for CJ. He looks very very good at box hill yesterday - can defend, finds good space and is a very good user of the football. Annoys me that Mitch doesn’t fully believe in him

I really don’t think Lewis is going to solve anything - we have looked so slow this year adding a 4th tall into the mix is not going to help us. Gunston and Chol have had great years despite our poor midfield - would be crazy to drop either of them or play Chol out of position; we have seen what ****ing around with positioning has done to Sicily’s game. But I guess we will have to at some point

Deer showed some good-very good signs - does not deserve to be dropped. For Lewis

Which mid?
We had a massive crack at Smith…
Theres not another than wouldve moved the needle for us one iota.

Noone was whinging when TB and JB kept Walker/TT and Fogarty to 0 goals combined.

 

[theiaofseed]

We had about 10 all timers in that team. Can't compare.

They weren't at that stage of their careers.

 

[Nick the Pig]

They knew their season was on the line at 3/4 time and lifted we were not good enough to go with them.

They have won 7/8 i think after a poor start to the season.

Not enough acknowledgment of this amongst everyone's self wallowing. Home crowd and their season hanging. They brought the pressure in that last quarter and we didn't cope.

 

[rdhopkins2]

We didn’t play fantastically the first three quarters but well enough to lead. 2 goals after half time won’t win the majority of games. Midfield still a concern.
When Gunston doesn’t kick goals, who steps up? Dear did well coming back with 3 goals, but needed the mosquito fleet to kick another each.

 

[MasterSamurai]

So Freo had to lay 103 tackles to just get over the line... Yea, nah, I still don't rate them, we'll see how the one hundred tackles a game goes for them in the next few months.

 

[BuddyHawk]

I can’t argue with anything you’ve said here, but just a reminder 5 minutes into the last quarter in the 2013 prelim against Geelong the Hawks down by 21 against a team we consistently capitulated against and as a club were just about ready to be bumped into the soft and unreliable category. We all remember what happened after that. We are a young side, and I think we all recognize we aren’t the finished product personnel wise yet either.
To be still a top 4 chance this far into the season is massive growth, despite all the injuries, form issues and learnings.

Going into that last quarter of the 2013 prelim, we also had the spectre hanging over us of losing the previous year’s GF after being 11 points up in the last quarter, and losing the 2011 prelim when we were almost 3 goals up at 3/4 time.

There was a narrative in the media and among opposition fans (and some Hawks’ fans) that we lacked mental toughness in big games, but the glories of our threepeat have erased that notion from history.

I understand the impatience and the desire to have success right now, but these things take time. This current crop of players haven’t written their own history yet and it’s important sometimes as supporters to remember to enjoy the journey.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Got to give credit to Freo they just wanted it more than we did.

They smashed us physically in the last quarter. That was finals footy.

Yeah, credit to Freo but I tell you what the 10-1 free kicks in the last is pretty hard to swallow when our forwards were man-handled all night long.

 

[TylerDurden]

So Freo had to lay 103 tackles to just get over the line... Yea, nah, I still don't rate them, we'll see how the one hundred tackles a game goes for them in the next few months.

Well that's what's coming in finals. And yet again, we couldn't cope.

The weak links like CJ, McKenzie will need to be replaced.

Sicily has to find something within himself to go to higher levels of intensity.

 

[Newmo89]

Six Points: Fremantle Dockers, Round 18, 2025 by Talking Hawks

In this episode of the Talking Hawks Six Points, Tim and Ollie recap Hawthorn's disappointing 13-point loss to Fremantle. They discuss the implications of the match on the team's finals aspirations, highlight key player performances, and analyze the team's struggles in the last quarter. The...

bit.ly

Talking Hawks 6 points podcast

 

[Turly]

Frustrating loss. I have said all year we are not winning it all this year with this mid-field and I’m absolutely right.

Unbelievably crazy we went after both Barrass and Battle they’re both really good players but we only needed one. We should’ve gone after mid. Back half of last year we had so much space coming out of the backline - this year we have none.

Our mid field is no where near it. Worpel is not good, he needs to go at the end of the year. Only reason he plays is because we have no depth at all in this position at all.

McKenzie - gone backwards completely since his hand injury. Lost so much confidence - I have no concerns about his future but I can’t see it turning around this year.

Sicily was fine I reckon, seemed to struggle overhead a little. But his intent and fight looked really good

Meek awesome - we’d be completely screwed without him. He has a serious chance of going down us one of the top 2 ruckman in our history

Ginny very good. One of the better decision makers - if he was a yard quicker he’d be an A grader.

Scrimshaw has to come in - probably for CJ. He looks very very good at box hill yesterday - can defend, finds good space and is a very good user of the football. Annoys me that Mitch doesn’t fully believe in him

I really don’t think Lewis is going to solve anything - we have looked so slow this year adding a 4th tall into the mix is not going to help us. Gunston and Chol have had great years despite our poor midfield - would be crazy to drop either of them or play Chol out of position; we have seen what ****ing around with positioning has done to Sicily’s game. But I guess we will have to at some point

Deer showed some good-very good signs - does not deserve to be dropped. For Lewis

Who’s to say we didn’t go after a mid?

Perhaps we went after the best two players that wanted to be a part of what we are building…

 

[FB19]

Well that's what's coming in finals. And yet again, we couldn't cope.

The weak links like CJ, McKenzie will need to be replaced.

Sicily has to find something within himself to go to higher levels of intensity.

Yeah someone will have to explain Mackenzie to me I’ve never been sold. That doesn’t mean I’m right or he doesn’t make it, but the comparisons to Sam I think are laughable. Other than being somewhat evasive he doesn’t have a left foot and whilst his short weighted kicks up to 35m are very good, I wouldn’t describe him as a penetrating kick like Sam was strangely off the left. Is he better suited to the right wing role that Harry plays at least for now?

 

[SSSSSS]

Yeah, credit to Freo but I tell you what the 10-1 free kicks in the last is pretty hard to swallow when our forwards were man-handled all night long.

Just made me remember that.

 

[Hawked Wings]

I wonder how Sicilys nose is today because I watched the ball go through his fingers into it 6-8 times sat night

 

[Harper_Hawk]

Watched the last quarter again last night. Just observations.

• All forward entries were abysmal and ill directed. We didn’t have many but what we had were Like under 12s kicking the ball forward. No composure and No direction and not in any way advantaged the forwards.
• Chol had poor last. Two shots for goal in the last. One set missed by a mile for his standards. Competing in the air was behind the pack and he seemed to give up.
• Barass was huge in the last. Without him the margin could have been more. I thought our defence held up. I know we copped four. Could have been more given how long it was in there.
• Watson needs to stop running straight for the tackler. Give it up to a mate running by. Not sure what his tactic is other than thinking he’s going to break free or he’s playing for frees.
• Sicily is still hampered particularly marking in packs and moving around the ground. I just think this is him for the rest of the year. Needs to get his body right and his head. As his on field leadership is suffering.

Bigger picture observations. Just my two cents.

• Time for a new midfield coach. Hale…time for a sea change. Stoppage work is deplorable and exiting stoppages. Most teams are slicing out of us. Need fresh ideas…new players rotating. Our problems in the midfield can’t be all on the players. We are bringing misfiekders in and dropping them at half time. Embarrassing.
• I’d expect the captaincy and on field leadership to be addressed and maybe a change at seasons end. New intent.
• Umpiring.. all the decisions went their way. But our intent in the last was the biggest deciding factor.

 

[Atch]

Yeah someone will have to explain Mackenzie to me I’ve never been sold. That doesn’t mean I’m right or he doesn’t make it, but the comparisons to Sam I think are laughable. Other than being somewhat evasive he doesn’t have a left foot and whilst his short weighted kicks up to 35m are very good, I wouldn’t describe him as a penetrating kick like Sam was strangely off the left. Is he better suited to the right wing role that Harry plays at least for now?

Probably doesn't have the motor to play on the wing yet?

 

[Blackhawk42]

I never used to re-watch losses but I’m doing to more and more these days and try to unemotionally pick apart what went wrong. Having said that I’ve never managed to rewatch the 2012GF or the 2011PF. I still get a burning sensation in my stomach when they play that f#%king Malceski highlight over and over again.

I'm still more triggered by Hawkins after the siren than the Malceski goal. Not even sure that I can explain why, either.

Maybe because the former resulted in an early morning trip the following day to the Optus store to buy a new phone, after something 'happened' to the previous one.