Autopsy 2025 Preliminary Final: Hawks get rolled

[becalm]

Geelong were given a dream run of matches into the finals where they could manage their players. How these fixtures are compiled are a mystery to me. Compare that to Hawthorn run into the finals, there is no comparison. All I can say is if you follow AFL you have to be prepared for these sorts of manipulations and inequalities.

 

[Alite]

Prime Tom Mitchell would have been very handy tonight.

Prime Sam Mitchell would have been better.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Personally the most disappointing thing about tonight's loss was that it was all so reminiscent of all our other recent losses to the Cats.

We start hot with plenty of run but make uncharacteristic fumbles and dropped marks that limit us from really breaking away.

Then the Cats get one (or two or three) dubious free kicks that gets them going in the second quarter.

And then third quarter they kick multiple goals out of their arse (as always) and we drop our heads and end up losing by 4 to 5 goals (with a starring cameo form one of their veterans usually).

For all the talk of the Haks v Cats games being unpredictable they actually follow a pretty predictable pattern.

 

[Jethro!]

It would be really interesting to see our centre bounce differential with Day in the team versus out. Last year centre bounce clearance was pur strength. It completely deserted us tonight.

 

[StackedHunch]

Geelong were given a dream run of matches into the finals where they could manage their players. How these fixtures are compiled are a mystery to me. Compare that to Hawthorn run into the finals, there is no comparison. All I can say is if you follow AFL you have to be prepared for these sorts of manipulations and inequalities.

When the league is run by Geelong supporters, hard not to see what's going on.

 

[SSSSSS]

Unfortunately Meek was very poor tonight... and Sammy realised and made the change too late for the last Quarter. Blicavs was like a spare mid for them and i felt he equalised Meek Ruck wise, really needed Meek to dominate the Ruck tonight

It's tricky for Meek.
The only player worth hitting it to in our middle is getting clamped.

Seemed like he had no idea where to palm the ball to.

A new look midfield next year will make Meeky's job much easier.

 

[Nugett]

Too many passengers and our midfield totally outclassed. I wish I could be proud right now but at the moment just bitterly disappointed, I'm so sick of losing to Geelong and having Dangerfield ream us once again.

Also can we finally put to bed "We beat them when it counts?". It's pure copium to gloss over the wood they've had over us over the years. We seriously need a line in the sand against this mob.

If we add some mid field depth, as in Merrett and Petracca, we shouldn’t need a line in the sand. We should overcome their 5 goal head start through the usual umpire assistance they get. Besides Smith, Dangerfield, Cameron and whingy Scott they are not worth that kind of attention.

 

[seysearles]

Geelong were given a dream run of matches into the finals where they could manage their players. How these fixtures are compiled are a mystery to me. Compare that to Hawthorn run into the finals, there is no comparison. All I can say is if you follow AFL you have to be prepared for these sorts of manipulations and inequalities.

We finished top 4 so brace yourself for a tough fixture again in 2026.

 

[Hodgey 15]

I was at that 2001 PF and there was a consensus that it was an honourable loss. We were all pretty confident that 2002 and beyond was our time to shine but the truth was that only two players on the list would win a flag for hawthorn and that was Crawf and Croad (both in their last games).

You cannot compare where we were at end of 2001 to where we are now and what we have built last 4 years.

 

[StackedHunch]

It would be really interesting to see our centre bounce differential with Day in the team versus out. Last year centre bounce clearance was pur strength. It completely deserted us tonight.

Yep. Day would be the difference to winning a flag. Would have done it last year, would have done it this year. Unfortunately fate has been cruel to him and us.

 

[Jethro!]

Unfortunately Meek was very poor tonight... and Sammy realised and made the change too late for the last Quarter. Blicavs was like a spare mid for them and i felt he equalised Meek Ruck wise, really needed Meek to dominate the Ruck tonight

Carried the ruck on his own all season. Mitch should've given him better breaks too i think.
It wasn't as if Ned had a horrendous season in the 2s

 

[Nugett]

When the league is run by Geelong supporters, hard not to see what's going on.

Geelong looking into their own salary cap, spare me if obvious oversights are being over looked.

 

[StackedHunch]

We finished top 4 so brace yourself for a tough fixture again in 2026.

Yeah I can just see it. The premiers will hear about their 'tough draw' being 5th or 6th hardest, and we'll have the clear hardest. Probably cop the Crows for Gather Round.

 

[Nugett]

We finished top 4 so brace yourself for a tough fixture again in 2026.

Even when we finish bottom four, we get a tough fixture.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Ah well, no grand final to miss. If he robs that campaigner Stewart of a premiership, he deserves a massive pay rise.

Nah, ban yourself

 

[badgrill]

Yep, real flat ATM, I'll pick myself tomorrow though because the missus is a Pies fan so I'll watch it out of consideration for her hoping the Lions win secretly. .

Same here

 

[Hawked Wings]

Always going to be tough to win it from 8th, incredible club Geelong are.
We make no apologies for getting better. All you people who don't want to give up draft picks or someone like Mackenzie to get better need to shut up and follow Essendon. We are in it to wib flags and will try and get better every year and I back that in

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Yeah , unfortunately for all the talk pre game, Blicavs was bloody incredible tonight. Poor Meeky just couldn’t fire a shot. Man, it kills me how good this flogs are. They were like the Harlem Globetrotters after qtr time , just unbelievable.

Kicked 16 goals in 3 quarters. Nobody has done that to us this year. Offensive juggernaut when there at their best and it's probably the best in it including Brisbane.

 

[H00t]

Can’t fault the effort. We even ended up with more tackles despite everything. It was just one of those games where we needed things to go our way but nothing did.

Lots of dropped marks, fumbles and uncharacteristic skill errors from the first bounce. Players looked exhausted after a big two weeks.

Dangerfield has his best game since 2018 and won’t get close to playing that well again. Their first 3 goals came from a soft Danger free then 2 Smith shanks that ended up hitting cats players in space.

Combine that with them getting a ridiculous armchair ride and our mids having an awful game as a group and it just wasn’t going to be our night.

Despite it all our forwards managed to look incredibly dangerous when we did get the ball forward. Still absolutely gutting to lose.

 

[hawk for 37]

Disappointing but outclassed.
Just a reminder that we outperformed the Premiers v the same opposition 2 weeks ago.
Brisbane were fresh then and we were gassed.
Plenty to look forward to in the future.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

We did well to win two finals, but top 4 would've made things a lot easier for us.
Many games this year lost from winnable positions. Hopefully learn from that.
Even if we get Merrett, the key will be a fit Day. He is our best.

Day goes hammer and Tong with Danger I feel in that situation tonight. He's that sort of player. Not directly matched up on him but he pushes back with his own impact.

 

[DearJai]

I have no respect for Dangerfield whatsoever.

Sounds like a cop out but Day is everything we need, extremely winnable game and flag with him.

If Will Day was fit all year, we make the top 4.

The finals become a very different ballgame at that point.

We were done in by travel, and need to be proud of making it to the Prelim.

Most pundits had us missing finals 3 weeks out.

 

[Franko Armani]

It would be really interesting to see our centre bounce differential with Day in the team versus out. Last year centre bounce clearance was pur strength. It completely deserted us tonight.

Yep but our problem is believing only 1 player can make the difference.

The Cats just always find someone on their list to step up and get it done, no matter if they were highly touted or never heard of. They make sure they get it done.

How do you install that in your players because we need to work that out pronto. Day may never get through a season, we just don’t know.

 

[My Tilly]

You are a great footy club. I feared this game this week. Thankfully for us, you just ran out of petrol tickets in the end.

Hawthorn is going to be win another premiership very shortly. It's just about all setup. Day to take his time as you will be overly cautious with his recovery.
Natural improvement from Dear and along with your affiliate VFL program, top four should certainly be there for the taking in 2026.
If Merrett signs up . . . he just about pushes you over the edge.

 

[seysearles]

The one opportunity that does open itself up now is that of Geelong getting their hearts crushed in the grand final. Squandering a 3/4 time lead or something along those lines. Those losses scar you for decades. I don't know if its just me but I don't feel all that torn up about this one. I feel like tomorrow and into next week ill be well over it. Brisbane will be a much more formidable opponent for them than we were tonight. I suspect they'll beat Collingwood so we desperately need Brisbane to win. All is not lost