Opinion A sobering reminder

[fpm84]

Hawthorn lost six H&A games last year including FOUR to teams that didn't make the finals (Port Adelaide x2, GWS, Essendon).

The only finalists they lost to were Sydney and Richmond.

A sobering thought amongst all the melts.

 

[HaroLad]

I'm not concerned in the slightest.

Honestly, I was more nervous heading into this game than the Dogs or Norf game.

You wonder if it's the classic "show up and win" but you wouldn't expect that from professional footballers.

 

[Cataholic]

Hawthorn lost six H&A games last year including FOUR to teams that didn't make the finals (Port Adelaide x2, GWS, Essendon).

The only finalists they lost to were Sydney and Richmond.

A sobering thought amongst all the melts.

Yes, strange things happen.

And a subtle reminder that we should keep it classy and always remain humble in victory.

 

[Sttew]

We had our chances in the 4Q to snatch a victory, but fact is we were outclassed on the night. We now have 8 games to get things right:

R16 v Swans at Simonds WIN
R17 v Dockers at Subiaco 50:50
R18 v Crows at Simonds WIN
R19 v Bulldogs at Simonds WIN
R20 v Bombers at Etihad WIN
R21 v Tigers at MCG WIN
R22 v Lions at Gabba WIN
R23 v Demons at Simonds WIN

On my reckoning we finish with 17 or 18 wins

 

[JUBJUB]

Hawthorn lost six H&A games last year including FOUR to teams that didn't make the finals (Port Adelaide x2, GWS, Essendon).

The only finalists they lost to were Sydney and Richmond.

A sobering thought amongst all the melts.

 

[GeelongFTW]

We had our chances in the 4Q to snatch a victory, but fact is we were outclassed on the night. We now have 8 games to get things right:

R16 v Swans at Simonds WIN
R17 v Dockers at Subiaco 50:50
R18 v Crows at Simonds WIN
R19 v Bulldogs at Simonds WIN

this makes zero logical sense but probably true.

Geelong are the reverse flat track bullies- score centuries on minefields but throw our wicket away on airport runways!

 

[Partridge]

We had our chances in the 4Q to snatch a victory, but fact is we were outclassed on the night. We now have 8 games to get things right:

R16 v Swans at Simonds WIN
R17 v Dockers at Subiaco 50:50
R18 v Crows at Simonds WIN
R19 v Bulldogs at Simonds WIN
R20 v Bombers at Etihad WIN
R21 v Tigers at MCG WIN
R22 v Lions at Gabba WIN
R23 v Demons at Simonds WIN

On my reckoning we finish with 17 or 18 wins

I'll take only one more loss for the home and away season in a heartbeat. It is a good run home overall, the toughest opponents are all at Geelong.

 

[Bobby_]

Hawthorn were also proven performers the year before.
Geelong did nothing in 2014 and did not even make it to the finals last year.

Quite a different scenario I would have thought.

 

[lionbear]

In a good position leading into the bye, balls in our court.

saints was a bad loss, but after the bye far out weighs the Saints game.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

OP makes good points.the only issue is there is less of a buffer gap between the top tems this year meaning more wins will be needed for top 2 than in prev years.this is where we may suffer for losing close games.

 

[Hinkley29]

Here's a hypothetical:

If we had the following set of results over the past month, what would be the perception of how we are travelling:
- Narrowly beat GWS
- Comfortably beat NM
- 3 point loss against WB
- 50 point win against StK

I bet the prevailing opinion would be that we were building nicely, and were well placed for the run home.

The results we did achieve over the past month have been more impressive (and better for our prospects this year) than those listed above. Yet, a common perception is that the sky is falling on the Cats. Food for thought.

 

[GeelongFTW]

bad games will come for other teams. but unlike us the other teams our record against the contenders is much better meaning it will hurt more for them than us. Think about it- if another team eg. (Adelaide, norf, wce) lost 3 games against spuds would they still be equal 2nd?

 

[catempire]

Here's a hypothetical:

If we had the following set of results over the past month, what would be the perception of how we are travelling:
- Narrowly beat GWS
- Comfortably beat NM
- 3 point loss against WB
- 50 point win against StK

I bet the prevailing opinion would be that we were building nicely, and were well placed for the run home.

The results we did achieve over the past month have been more impressive (and better for our prospects this year) than those listed above. Yet, a common perception is that the sky is falling on the Cats. Food for thought.

Isn't human nature funny?

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Here's a hypothetical:

If we had the following set of results over the past month, what would be the perception of how we are travelling:
- Narrowly beat GWS
- Comfortably beat NM
- 3 point loss against WB
- 50 point win against StK

I bet the prevailing opinion would be that we were building nicely, and were well placed for the run home.

The results we did achieve over the past month have been more impressive (and better for our prospects this year) than those listed above. Yet, a common perception is that the sky is falling on the Cats. Food for thought.

Yet I'd prefer it the way it is right now.

oh and avatar change too

 

[Pavlovs Cat]

Here's a hypothetical:

If we had the following set of results over the past month, what would be the perception of how we are travelling:
- Narrowly beat GWS
- Comfortably beat NM
- 3 point loss against WB
- 50 point win against StK

I bet the prevailing opinion would be that we were building nicely, and were well placed for the run home.

The results we did achieve over the past month have been more impressive (and better for our prospects this year) than those listed above. Yet, a common perception is that the sky is falling on the Cats. Food for thought.

What worries me is that we should have seen St Kilda coming. We didn't beat them last year so we had more than one point to prove. Instead we flunked again and that's three times this season. The big worry is fighting back and getting done again, very similar to the Collingwood game.

 

[Hinkley29]

Yet I'd prefer it the way it is right now.

oh and avatar change too

haha - nice

 

[Hinkley29]

Isn't human nature funny?

#recencybias

 

[barmy44]

i thought the saints deserved the win, although i was somewhat heartened by the fact that, despite being mostly outclassed, it took two rather 'freakish' goals to win it for the saints.

i guess the other side of that coin, though, is that being outclassed by an average side is not a great sign... but hardly unheard of. the 1995 carlton side lost 2 games all year, both to rubbish opposition. and they were smashed in those games, too.

 

[Wojcinski]

Isn't human nature funny?

Imagine if instead of losses to Pies, Blues and Saints, it was Hawthorn by 19, Adelaide by 24 and WB by 3 in their respective rounds.

Many would look at that and go "fair enough, class teams" and as the other guy said, we'd be building nicely.

Instead we actually beat the hard teams and lost a few easy ones. Objectively, we are in a better position than if we lost to the good teams as it shows we can beat any finals caliber team on our day, where as if we didn't get over the line against Hawthorn, Ade and WB you'd be questioning the team come finals time.

 

[The Casey Cat]

Hawthorn lost six H&A games last year including FOUR to teams that didn't make the finals (Port Adelaide x2, GWS, Essendon).

The only finalists they lost to were Sydney and Richmond.

A sobering thought amongst all the melts.

And here are some facts to go with it - they had won the previous two flags. They knew within that they had what it takes. Even with that because of those losses they had to go to Perth twice in the finals and play the 4 full weeks. That doesn't happen much and I think we'd really be best to stop losing to shite teams and avoid it.

 

[Biggy_Boy]

In 2013, Geelong lost only four H&A games, including THREE to teams that didn't make finals.

The only finalist they lost to during the H&A was Collingwood.

In 2014, North Melbourne lost 8 games, including FIVE to non-finalists.

The only finalists they lost to during the H&A were Geelong x2 and Essendon.

So if we want to compare ourselves with a previous year's side, I think that North side provides a pretty good lesson. Throughout the season they beat Sydney (1st) in Sydney, Hawthorn (2nd), Fremantle (4th) in WA, Port Adelaide (5th), and Richmond (8th). They then beat Essendon and Geelong in the finals. Now imagine they didn't drop games to Collingwood (11th), GC (12th), Adelaide (10th), Brisbane (15th), and Carlton (13th). They would have suffered just three losses, but sides are bound to have some shock losses and not all games against bottom sides are easy. Even still, you scrape off three of those losses and they make the top 4, and with how their finals form was that season, who knows what happens?

 

[thegerman]

i thought the saints deserved the win, although i was somewhat heartened by the fact that, despite being mostly outclassed, it took two rather 'freakish' goals to win it for the saints.

i guess the other side of that coin, though, is that being outclassed by an average side is not a great sign... but hardly unheard of. the 1995 carlton side lost 2 games all year, both to rubbish opposition. and they were smashed in those games, too.

Knowing what we do about Carlton in that era, perhaps those losses were planned to try to recoup the salary paid under the table.

 

[JD Tomahawk]

We can't make to many more mistakes or we will find ourselves out of the top 4 and we know how hard it is to make it from there

 

[ChookNorris]

Our best is good enough, if we are off our best it isnt. Hawthorn can be off their best and still win. So what does this mean? Our best is better, but our worst is worse. Thats the difference in consistency between a team that turned over a quarter of its list and another challenging history.

 

[00VicWard001]

Hawthorn were also proven performers the year before.
Geelong did nothing in 2014 and did not even make it to the finals last year.

Quite a different scenario I would have thought.

That is correct to a degree - mental fortitude and having the self belief of being a champion team is incredibly important.

I also think that the comment is also talking about class and form. Having an elite team - which we do (based on our season numbers) - and having beaten the other contenders.

Come finals, who would the Hawks or Crows or the Bulldogs play - us of North? (form over contenders)

Who would the Dogs, GWS and Crows rather play - us or the Hawks? (current class - based on this seasons stats).

Your point holds very true for a GF. All teams would rather play anyone than the Hawks in the GF, because they've shown three years in a row, they know how to get it done, they're primed for that one game, and they will do anything to win. Other teams come in expecting everything to go right and are shell-shocked. Not the Hawks. They would injure players if it gave that chance to win.