How good were Hawthorn 2008?

[randyzany]

Geelong was ordinary in the prelim against the dogs. Too many players were carrying niggles. Just werent on like they were for most of the season.

Yep, I do remember how Geelong were limping into September and hoping that those niggles would be right by the end of the month but alas it wasn't to be.

It's kinda of impressive what a Geelong team that was far from being 100% was able to do in the first half. They spent too many petrol tickets in those first 2 quarters not being able to convert all those chances they created and it's why they looked physically and emotionally spent by the end of it even though they were in front. A close to healthy Geelong might have done a repeat of the previous year.

 

[Osho]

Btw, did that Hawthorn team set some kind of record for left footers?

 

[Handsuper47]

They were so good both Franklin AND Roughead could have kicked 100 that year. Franklin got 113.88 and Roughead got 75.51.

 

[Seeds]

How many were rushed?



Thank you.

A few misses??? It was 1 goal and 9 behinds and a couple out on the full a couple didnt even make the scoreline in the second qtr with many of those points absolute sitters.

 

[Sprint Artisan]

If you did not know the result and you said to me that:

• Geelong would have 9 more scoring shots
• Geelong would dominate possession
• Ablett had 35, kicked 2 and was clearly BOG
• Mitchell gets tagged out of it and would have 11 touches
• Buddy amd Roughead were nullified for most of the game
• And that Hawthorns best player has just come out of retirement from Port and is borderline obese

I would have said Geelong must have won by 12 goals!!!!

Don't forget that a lot of Geelong's scoring shots were kicked by the Hawks. One of them was a 40m set shot by Mark Williams...

 

[Blackhawk42]

Can’t really remember the 2008 Hawks side that well.

I mean... a 21 year old kicked 113 goals and took the entire AFL world by storm.

Another young kid called Cyril Rioli debuted and played every game.

A bloke who was 140kgs in November 2007 played most of the season and put in the best 5 minute burst in Grand Final history the following September.

Plus, the secondary tall forward still kicked 75 goals, and Shane Crawford played his final season that year, capping it off with a premiership.

Not being biased, but I actually think it's quite a memorable team for many reasons.

 

[SSSSSS]

It was a team of young future superstars who had yet to hit their true peak.
Buddymania.
A coach who was two steps ahead of everyone else.

It really was the perfect storm.
We were in reality the second best team all season but we're the best when it mattered. Peaked at the right time. Andrew Russell still today is one of the best in the business.

 

[CatsDan]

We lost to all 3 in the minor round but beat them in finals.

Healthy & peaked at the right time.

I think we were probably hurt by a range of factors including the rushed behind rule. It allowed the hawks to setup a lot differently than what they could’ve without it. Bloody good team tho and amazing they fell off the cliff for three years after it

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

I think we were probably hurt by a range of factors including the rushed behind rule. It allowed the hawks to setup a lot differently than what they could’ve without it. Bloody good team tho and amazing they fell off the cliff for three years after it

Prelim in 2011. Should have been a GF. Which they would have lost to you guys.

 

[iameviljez]

One of the greats imo. Geelong didn't choke Hawthorn were just better when it mattered. How good or great do you rate the hawks. Or do you overrate them?

Good team, great September, unbelievable coaching, and a slice of luck.

Hawthorn 2008 had a really good mix of quality young players who would later go on to great things five years later, but they got the absolute most out of their older players before, for various reasons, they effectively left/drifted out of the AFL (Crawford, Dew, Croad, Williams, Bateman, Brown).

But, most of all, they stole a 12-month march on the rest of the competition with the defensive cluster. Their defensive net all over the ground was new to the AFL, and more than any other tactical innovation, it defined how football was going to look for the next 15 years. The other teams copied them in 2009, and that's why their finishes were 6th, premiers, 9th (and a bad 9th at that), 7th.

Geelong 2008 was the best team that Geelong has ever put on the field - better than 2007, better than 2009. But that's footy - sometimes you have a bad day, on the worst possible day.

 

[iameviljez]

Losing Ablett and Egan was probably a bigger blow than anyone realised at the time, Taylor hadn't yet developed into a star and Lonergan really wasn't the player Hawkins would subsequently become. Add some injured players, some questionable gameday selections and a team that peaked a tad early and you get an upset result.
It definitely steeled you guys and made you more resilient, similar to our 2012 defeat.

It did help that a few second-string Hawks played absolutely out of their skins - Dew, Ellis, Rioli in his first year, all had excellent games for the level. And the plan to draw Scarlett out of the game worked an absolute treat.

 

[iameviljez]

Geelong not winning that GF is one of the more epic chokes you will see. Not only because of how the game panned out on the day but you just don't see teams finish 21-1 161%. 34 scoring shots to 25, 6.12 to 8.3 at half time, 9.18 to 14.5 at three quarter time. You can't have double the scoring shots to half time and be behind, then come out and kick 3.6 to 6.2 in the third and 2.5 to 4.3 in the last. Yes 11 rushed behinds leading to a rule change.

62 inside 50s to 43 and yet we still lost.

 

[Partridge]

Geelong was ordinary in the prelim against the dogs. Too many players were carrying niggles. Just werent on like they were for most of the season.

Yes and no. We were also ordinary in the Prelim the year before against Collingwood. That didn't matter one bit the following week. We also kept the Dogs to their lowest score of the season, so while it wasn't the best game by any means, we still won by nearly 5 goals.

The Grand final was a combination of many factors, but the biggest one to me is still the simplest - Hawthorn took their chances in front of goal, and when we had the play (especially the second quarter), we didn't. It didn't help that Stokes put in the most pitiful Grand final I've ever seen (and if people try and defend him saying he was injured then he was unbelievably selfish in playing in the first place), Varcoe was rubbish, and we found out Lonergan simply wasn't a good enough forward at the top level. Proof of that is that he played in that position in exactly one more game - Round 1, 2009, versus the same opponents, and was terrible once more - and after that was never played forward again. Having those three up forward didn't help our cause.

 

[iameviljez]

It didn't help that Stokes put in the most pitiful Grand final I've ever seen

I raise you Sam Reid in 2022.

Players sometimes don't know that they just aren't right.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

It was a team of young future superstars who had yet to hit their true peak.
Buddymania.
A coach who was two steps ahead of everyone else.

It really was the perfect storm.
We were in reality the second best team all season but we're the best when it mattered. Peaked at the right time. Andrew Russell still today is one of the best in the business.

Important to remember also that there was a lot of players from the 2004 side that most people would have said were no chance to ever have win a flag.

Bateman, Osborne, Williams, Ladson, Campbell, Sewell, Brown.

Hodge and Mitchell were generational talents, and we built around them in the 2004 draft with grreat success.

 

[SSSSSS]

Important to remember also that there was a lot of players from the 2004 side that most people would have said were no chance to ever have win a flag.

Bateman, Osborne, Williams, Ladson, Campbell, Sewell, Brown.

Hodge and Mitchell were generational talents, and we built around them in the 2004 draft with grreat success.

Our 2005 draft period is also underrated.

Ellis was huge in the Granny and had a break out season in 2008. Was stiff not to get Normie votes. Shame his body just couldn't cope with the rigours of AFL footy.

Birchall was a gun and a steal at #14.

Guerra as a PSD who was a gun defensively and offensively. Gilham was solid at full back and a great rookie selection.

Any draft when you can slot in 4x best 22 players who can get close to 100 games is a great draft in my book.

 

[Scotland]

Ellis was huge in the Granny and had a break out season in 2008. Was stiff not to get Normie votes. Shame his body just couldn't cope with the rigours of AFL footy.

I forget that he's a one time premiership player. In my head he's part of the 3 peat era. Played in 2008, lost in 2012, missed 2013, moved for 2014 then lost 2015 playing for us.

His body let him down as a player but retirement is treating him well. Undefeated racing sausage dogs these days.

 

[SSSSSS]

I forget that he's a one time premiership player. In my head he's part of the 3 peat era. Played in 2008, lost in 2012, missed 2013, moved for 2014 then lost 2015 playing for us.

His body let him down as a player but retirement is treating him well. Undefeated racing sausage dogs these days.

Kinda frustrates me that Xav couldn't put any weight on his playing days and then decides to balloon as soon as he gives footy up.

Forever built like a twelve year old and now he's enjoying life on a great paddock.

Was a great player on his day.

 

[SBYM]

A bloke who was 140kgs in November 2007

WTAF?

I had no idea he had been that heavy. I mean, I knew he had been heavy, but crikey...

That is a story and a half.

 

[le dominateur]

If you play this game again, Cats win by 10 goals, one of the all time great chokes.