How far can the Hawks go??

[Chip Scab1]

North fans have some real copium about Watson at the moment. Death riding us for the next 15 years.

Don't need to. You have illustrious kids like Marbiol Chol, Tom Barassi, Jack Gunston, James Sicily, Dylan Moore, Blake Hardwick, Finn McGuinness - the list goes on and on.

Nick Watson is one out, maybe 25 year old Jai Newcombe will help him usher the new crew thru.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

Reeves' incredible centre square ruck work has papered over their one weakness IMO (and to be fair Day may fix most of that one weakness) which is a midfield that's just not quite at the level as the other contenders. Maybe they did the right thing not caving to Essendon but imagine this team with Merrett running around in it

 

[SA HAWK]

Reeves' incredible centre square ruck work has papered over their one weakness IMO (and to be fair Day may fix most of that one weakness) which is a midfield that's just not quite at the level as the other contenders. Maybe they did the right thing not caving to Essendon but imagine this team with Merrett running around in it

Agree comparing our midfield to Sydney, Brisbane & Freo it doesn’t quite stack up.

 

[Osho]

I love the knee jerks.
A new apocalypse every week.

 

[Yoda_]

They took Duursma, who wasn't far off being a small forward.

All hindsight but the Roos would love to have that one again.

Duursma was always a marking fwd with some potential to play midfield.

doesn’t change the fact the Roos had this area covered already

 

[RUNVS]

I personally think Hawthorn are in serious preimership contention but, and this is a small but, but I think their weakness is Gunston and Watson, in that they rely on those two so much to get big scores, and if you can shut down one of them, or even both, minimising their influence, I am just not sure how Hawthorn can kick a winning score.

Easier said than done of course, but shut both of those two down and a team has a good chance of beating Hawthorn.

 

[Randomizor]

Gotta get past Freo first

So.. a failure at this step

 

[timokane]

Semi final they will win elim them bomb out in the close semi final lose
still in the mix but other have worked them out now
even the pies came close to them
2025 was peak hawks
not quite in 2026
go again 2027 but might be time for a rebuild and new coach 2028
still feeling like carlton of 2023
bit of a false dawn for them

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

I personally think Hawthorn are in serious preimership contention but, and this is a small but, but I think their weakness is Gunston and Watson, in that they rely on those two so much to get big scores, and if you can shut down one of them, or even both, minimising their influence, I am just not sure how Hawthorn can kick a winning score.

Easier said than done of course, but shut both of those two down and a team has a good chance of beating Hawthorn.

They are definitely contenders. Honestly, as much as I think we seem to have them covered because we've 8 of 9 and just seem to match up well, they should still be considered better flag favourites than us. Their game is proven to stand up in finals (having the best pure small forward in the game helps) and they have the experience of playing in some prelims already.

I'm just glad Essendon were stubborn even if it hurt themselves in the process.

It's also probably fair that relying on a 34 year old this much probably isnt great either. You'd be putting him in cotton wool leading up to finals

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

I personally think Hawthorn are in serious preimership contention but, and this is a small but, but I think their weakness is Gunston and Watson, in that they rely on those two so much to get big scores, and if you can shut down one of them, or even both, minimising their influence, I am just not sure how Hawthorn can kick a winning score.

Easier said than done of course, but shut both of those two down and a team has a good chance of beating Hawthorn.

Again this based on 1 game. Watson only kicked 2 last week and Gunston was kept goalless yet we still kicked a big enough score to win. The problem last night is our other prime movers forward of the ball had poor games when they normally contribute on the scoreboard. There's no way on Earth Mitchell thinks it's Gunston, Watson or bust and we have proven that not to be the case when we play well and win

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Forgot to mention Chol too. He's more important than people realise.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

They are definitely contenders. Honestly, as much as I think we seem to have them covered because we've 8 of 9 and just seem to match up well, they should still be considered better flag favourites than us. Their game is proven to stand up in finals (having the best pure small forward in the game helps) and they have the experience of playing in some prelims already.

I'm just glad Essendon were stubborn even if it hurt themselves in the process.

It's also probably fair that relying on a 34 year old this much probably isnt great either. You'd be putting him in cotton wool leading up to finals

Think it's overblown a bit because of the outlier of a game he had last night. We can win well without him having a big contribution. He's role is fairly simple we don't really tax he's body too much. Ben King is literally the identical style.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

Think it's overblown a bit because of the outlier of a game he had last night. We can win well without him having a big contribution. He's role is fairly simple we don't really tax he's body too much. Ben King is literally the identical style.

Still the leading goal kicker by a fair bit though. You could say the same about us and our reliance on Treacy / Jackson structurally I suppose, its more his age and that a few of these games he's coming up a bit sore is all.

Just a guy you'd want to be extra careful with in managing you'd think.

 

[banzai]

They lost away to Freo after leading with 5 minutes to go. Why would anyone be ruling Hawthorn out? I would still have them right there to win it, Brisbane in front of hawks/Freo/Swans together.

 

[NetworkNerd]

Still waiting on the debuts of the Hawks 2 first round picks in last years draft. Especially Schubert.. 12 goals in 5 games in the VFL and likely would have performed better than Ramsden.

 

[txbyhull]

They're 1 of 4 serious contenders in my eyes. Especially with the enormous elephant in the room being Will Day.

1. Sydney
2. Freo
3. Hawks
4. Brisbane

 

[justlookingaround]

their progression has been pretty linear over the last two years -
2024 - lost SF
2025 - lost PF
2026 - make GF.

 

[RCAB]

Don't need to. You have illustrious kids like Marbiol Chol, Tom Barassi, Jack Gunston, James Sicily, Dylan Moore, Blake Hardwick, Finn McGuinness - the list goes on and on.

Nick Watson is one out, maybe 25 year old Jai Newcombe will help him usher the new crew thru.

 

[RCAB]

I personally think Hawthorn are in serious preimership contention but, and this is a small but, but I think their weakness is Gunston and Watson, in that they rely on those two so much to get big scores, and if you can shut down one of them, or even both, minimising their influence, I am just not sure how Hawthorn can kick a winning score.

Easier said than done of course, but shut both of those two down and a team has a good chance of beating Hawthorn.

Yes, that would make a huge difference to our side if we could find some more goal-kickers at the moment. We haven't been too bad at generating shots, just our conversion has been low.

 

[Chip Scab1]

Love the Wizard. Good luck to him... 3-6 is pretty good, can't really complain.

 

[RCAB]

Love the Wizard. Good luck to him... 3-6 is pretty good, can't really complain.

Yes, Hawthorn is currently third on the ladder right now, you're a genius.

 

[WesternSydneyHawk]

Can they get over the Lions? No.

We'll see in round 22.

Can they get over the Suns? Probably.

They did in round seven.

Can they get over Cats

They did in round four.

Pies

As long as they kick straighter than they did in round eight.

Pro tip: Want to troll the supporters of another club by guessing which other teams would beat them? You might want to check that club's recent results first.

 

[HeHateMe]

I personally think Hawthorn are in serious preimership contention but, and this is a small but, but I think their weakness is Gunston and Watson, in that they rely on those two so much to get big scores, and if you can shut down one of them, or even both, minimising their influence, I am just not sure how Hawthorn can kick a winning score.

Easier said than done of course, but shut both of those two down and a team has a good chance of beating Hawthorn.

They are definitely contenders. Honestly, as much as I think we seem to have them covered because we've 8 of 9 and just seem to match up well, they should still be considered better flag favourites than us. Their game is proven to stand up in finals (having the best pure small forward in the game helps) and they have the experience of playing in some prelims already.

I'm just glad Essendon were stubborn even if it hurt themselves in the process.

It's also probably fair that relying on a 34 year old this much probably isnt great either. You'd be putting him in cotton wool leading up to finals

Said this somewhere else, there are a few individuals that are quite influential for us right now but our system hasn't really stood up for 4 quarters yet. Which isn't the usual hawthorn way.

Until our system starts standing up to the level your teams + Brisbane are I would think we would have to be the outside option.

 

[Yoda_]

Said this somewhere else, there are a few individuals that are quite influential for us right now but our system hasn't really stood up for 4 quarters yet. Which isn't the usual hawthorn way.

Until our system starts standing up to the level your teams + Brisbane are I would think we would have to be the outside option.

its been suggested before but maybe Hawthorn have over achieved in the previous two seasons ?

 

[HeHateMe]

its been suggested before but maybe Hawthorn have over achieved in the previous two seasons ?

We achieved exactly what we were capable off. System was the strength where everyone just did there role, even spread.

Bit of the opposite at the moment where we have a few individuals and moments carrying the team instead, with large lapses where teams get a run on against us, so you would argue if the system comes together in addition to some players form that our best is in front of us.

We have had a tough run to start the year so I'm hoping after a few games where the pressure isn't as hot the gears start to clunk together. Till we see it though need to go with what you know.