Autopsy AFL 2026 Round 9 - Freo v Hawks Thurs May 7th 8:10pm AEST/6:10pm (OS)

[SSSSSS]

he literally was only spotted on tv about 10 times which is crazy. No-one can even confidently say who he was on because he wasn't sighted. Tell me 1 defensive effort that he put on Dudley or Switkowski? 1 spoil, 1 chase down tackle or tap away..anything. just because Dudley or Switkowksi were quiet doesn't mean it had anything to do with his opponent. The ball isn't round, sometimes it just doesn't bounce your way or the ball gets kicked over your head.

He'll be dropped immediately.

I'm pretty sure the metrics at Hawthorn for performance aren't about who gets on the telly.

If a forwards quiet, a wins a win. You take it however it comes.

I'm pretty confident he'll play against the Dees as Box Hill don't have a game this week.

 

[JPetro83]

Fell asleep at half time. Did losing Barrass hurt the Hawks big time?
The Freo of old would have lost that. hmmm maybe they are the real deal OR maybe they will do a Crows... crumble in the finals. we will soon find out because they are a lock for the top 4 now.
I think they can get better.. If their captain would stop kissing himself in the mirror and fixing his hair, he could really make them unbeatable...

 

[RCAB]

Imagine trying to shit on a first gamer, you must think you're cool.

 

[Osho]

Fell asleep at half time. Did losing Barrass hurt the Hawks big time?
The Freo of old would have lost that. hmmm maybe they are the real deal OR maybe they will do a Crows... crumble in the finals. we will soon find out because they are a lock for the top 4 now.
I think they can get better.. If their captain would stop kissing himself in the mirror and fixing his hair, he could really make them unbeatable...

Hawks seemed to cope pretty well without Barrass for a while shifting Sicily and Weddell around.

In retrospect, there was a gradual shift in momentum in the 2nd half, slowly but surely Freo clamped down on Hawks ball movement, started getting more opps themselves, and there was a torrent of attacking moves the last 10 minutes with Freo's mid sized runners completely taking over. It was very impressive in my opinion.

And alarm bells for Hawks as their prime movers were declawed and attacking connection broke down under the weight of Freo's field pressure.

 

[Tugga27]

I didn't think that was a particularly great win but also didn't see it as lucky. Didn't seem like much luck was involved when they stepped it up in the last quarter and the Hawks didn't go with them, they've been doing that in games all season. Also Freo 30 scoring shots to 18. Or 27 to 17 if you take away the rushed behinds, so if anything Freo was unlucky not to win by more.

Don't fear the Hawks, Freo have won 8 of the last 9 against them now.

Jeez mate

If you didn't think that was a great win, you're hard to please.

 

[Mesc]

Fell asleep at half time. Did losing Barrass hurt the Hawks big time?
The Freo of old would have lost that. hmmm maybe they are the real deal OR maybe they will do a Crows... crumble in the finals. we will soon find out because they are a lock for the top 4 now.
I think they can get better.. If their captain would stop kissing himself in the mirror and fixing his hair, he could really make them unbeatable...

Our captain wears his heart on his sleeve too. The team loves him as do we, I really couldn’t give a toss about the way he chooses to grow his hair.

 

[Mr Cheese]

Fell asleep at half time. Did losing Barrass hurt the Hawks big time?
The Freo of old would have lost that. hmmm maybe they are the real deal OR maybe they will do a Crows... crumble in the finals. we will soon find out because they are a lock for the top 4 now.
I think they can get better.. If their captain would stop kissing himself in the mirror and fixing his hair, he could really make them unbeatable...

Our Captain is the best looking rooster in football. If Brut and Old Spice had a child it couldn't be more manly than he is. Chuck Norris used to fly to Perth just for grooming tips from him.

it speaks volumes about his mental strength, to be honest, that he's even able to walk away from a mirror and play footy; I'd be lost in the pure aesthetic aura of my reflection if I was him. Also, the way he gave the goal away to make sure Wharfie Time had maximum impact was 'chef's kiss'. Great leader.

 

[Mr Meow]

Our captain wears his heart on his sleeve too. The team loves him as do we, I really couldn’t give a toss about the way he chooses to grow his hair.

Wouldn't he grow his hair the same way most people do? Or do you mean he uses extensions?

 

[JPetro83]

Our Captain is the best looking rooster in football. If Brut and Old Spice had a child it couldn't be more manly than he is. Chuck Norris used to fly to Perth just for grooming tips from him.

it speaks volumes about his mental strength, to be honest, that he's even able to walk away from a mirror and play footy; I'd be lost in the pure aesthetic aura of my reflection if I was him. Also, the way he gave the goal away to make sure Wharfie Time had maximum impact was 'chef's kiss'. Great leader.

Treats footy as a job. he has said himself doesnt watch any footy, read about it or know much about it. just does his job. not a footy a footy head at all.

 

[Mr Cheese]

Treats footy as a job. he has said himself doesnt watch any footy, read about it or know much about it. just does his job. not a footy a footy head at all.

I'm unsure how this affects his rugged, chiseled form (which is magnificent) but it may give him a more holistic, balanced approach to the captaincy, which seems to be appreciated by his band of merry men.

 

[kirky]

Hawks rely significantly on Watson and Gunston up forward - keep them quiet, you will win. Gunston was outstanding for the first half.

Barrass is now a big loss down back for a few weeks.

Midfields wins games - Hawks is average, much like the Crows. Won’t win a flag without an A grader.

 

[Mesc]

Wouldn't he grow his hair the same way most people do? Or do you mean he uses extensions?

My comment wasnt that deep mate.

 

[Carringbush2010]

Our rucks got slaughtered tonight. First tine all year we are asking questions about it. Go back to Chol and Meek of last year or Reeves and Chol. Not giving us enough around the ground especially Reeves but he's tap work has been elite.

On one game? Would've thought Mitchell and panel wouldn't change things up on the back of one game.

 

[Carringbush2010]

Main reason why Mason Cox is getting games is Sean Darcy is injured.

Would be interesting if Darcy is back from injury

Reckon he'll have to fight for his spot.

However they're different players, Cox is a good tap ruck and sometimes a good intercept mark, while Darcy is just a beast everywhere.

Gives JL flexibility and they may be suited to certain oppo ruck types. A good acquisition!

 

[PerthBoy86]

I think most doubters now have to admit Freo are a flag chance. As an Eagles fan I'm a bit ambivalent - part of it is the ingrained rivalry, but part of me does want success for their fans. Better to wish the best for others rather than be bitter cos youre terrible.

Still, it was at home, Hawthorn has a few big outs, including Barrass early, they dominated and lead until 4 minutes to go. They just lacked attacking options...had they had them and attacked ferociously they wouldve won. But Freo can lift to another level - mostly on the back of Bolton, Serong, Young and most of all Jackson. Guy is a freak and game turner. Always seems to bob up and get them over the line.

I still think at full strength both are around equal and the Hawks - as we unfortunately found out - have the MCG advantage on gf day.

I wouldn't worry too much as a Hawks fan. I think its clearly a four or five horse race unless someone really starts bolting.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

I've said Hawthorn's form has been closer to solid-decent rather than outstanding/amazing. This is wishful thinking? They are on 6 wins, 2 losses and a draw - with a 1 point win and a 3 point win in there against teams nobody is calling great in 2026. Why would this be called outstanding form rather than decent? A few different bounces of the ball and it could be 4 wins, 5 losses. They are in a great position by banking those wins but the discussion is purely on form.

FWIW I think Geelong are a good chance to lose on Saturday, but if they do win they would be Gunston's late Easter Monday point away from being exactly level with the Hawks - and our form has been nothing special at all.

Before last night we had scored the 2nd most points in the league and the most behinds. That would suggest we have left too many points out there across all matches. Percentage should be higher and perhaps the perception of how we are travelling would be too. Not saying we are flying but it's definitely been masked by our inability to put scoreboard pressure on the opposition and keeping the door ajar. It even happened last night when we had ascendancy early in the 3rd quarter and couldn't kick a goal, sprayed shots out on the full etc. Last night a very good side made us pay for it so hopefully it gives us the reality check we need. Find a way to be more efficient when your on top so we put games to bed earlier and find a way to halt the momentum of teams when they get a full head of steam, this is an ongoing issue that can only be addressed by having more A graders in the team like Day but he won't be able to fix it by himself.

 

[Millsie69]

Hoks are the biggest frauds of 2026

2025 Crows levels, you reckon?

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Good post. I think every team is beatable this year. Hawks plan A worked extremely well in the first half, but it relies so heavily on going 'all in' on the Gunston/Watson show. Pretty blood good show, but there didn't seem to be enough levers for the coach to pull when it stopped. Maybe Hawks missed Dear/Chol a bit more than we thought.

We had all 3 half forwards play pretty poorly too, Ginnivan, McDonald and especially Moore who is really struggling this year. First bad game McDonald had played all year and those guys usually contribute goals most weeks. That's what we lost last night too. Chol is an upgrade on Ramsden and ATM Dear that's why hes first picked.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

I didn't think that was a particularly great win but also didn't see it as lucky. Didn't seem like much luck was involved when they stepped it up in the last quarter and the Hawks didn't go with them, they've been doing that in games all season. Also Freo 30 scoring shots to 18. Or 27 to 17 if you take away the rushed behinds, so if anything Freo was unlucky not to win by more.

Don't fear the Hawks, Freo have won 8 of the last 9 against them now.

We weren't at full strength and it wasn't at the G but we will still need to play at our best to beat you. It was only late the scoring shots blew out because we were cooked and couldn't run. 3 qtr time they were even.

 

[MarcMaverick]

I said last night that regardless of the result, both of these two teams will feature very deep in September. Perhaps we may see a rematch then.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Yep exactly
Not sure what the inside 50m count was second half, but it seemed pretty much one way traffic at the end. Margin probably flattered Hawks

It did, should have been a 5 goal loss at least. We practically had the white flag up with 10-15 minutes to go we barely could get above a jog and couldn't win any aerial or ground ball to save ourselves. That's a bit of an outlier the circumstances IMO. Freo were good but we kinda allowed a fair bit of what happened because our pressure dropped right away.

 

[Blightys Barrel]

2025 Crows levels, you reckon?

Crows Final Series 2025 you mean

 

[timokane]

Freo are now the real deal hope its either them or the swans winning the flag in 2026
be a top grand final as well freo and swans
top 2 teams now

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Hawks seemed to cope pretty well without Barrass for a while shifting Sicily and Weddell around.

In retrospect, there was a gradual shift in momentum in the 2nd half, slowly but surely Freo clamped down on Hawks ball movement, started getting more opps themselves, and there was a torrent of attacking moves the last 10 minutes with Freo's mid sized runners completely taking over. It was very impressive in my opinion.

And alarm bells for Hawks as their prime movers were declawed and attacking connection broke down under the weight of Freo's field pressure.

It's because Newcombe is playing sore and he needs support in situations like that when things are getting out of hand. Ward isn't that guy unfortunately but McKenzie could be with more continuity, he was our 2nd best mid last quite comfortably. You add Day to the mix and get more out of the 3 amigo half forwards who had little impact we can flip the script on this matchup.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Ideally Nash and Ward should be the 4th and 5th banana in our midfield when right now they are 2nd and 3rd, that's the issue. Not at the quality you need against the good sides. Should be in order Day/Newcombe ( Not much between them), McKenzie, Ward and Nash. McDonald in their part time with Watson little cameos as well. Watson wasn't given a go at all in that last quarter which was odd because what we needed was a spark with somebody bursting out of the middle and Watson was the best candidate.