Gralin
Super Moderator
- Moderator
- #9,976
By the end of 2012 we were seen as fragile. We couldn't beat Geelong, had been run down in a prelim and a grand final.I don't think that's strictly true. Young team with premiership hangover but finals 3 out of 4 years. And were minor premiers and leading the GF with 10 minutes to go in 2012...
2011 was one of the most ridiculous seasons I can remember. We won 17 games and finished 4th. Hawthorn won 18 and finished 3rd. I'm pretty comfortable there was a decent gap from 4th to 3rd, but then the was a bigger gap to the top 2. 18-4 144% would've won the minor premiership any year from 2014-2019. Even 17 games is enough most years.
Hawthorn's biggest problem from 2009-2012 was that Trent Croad retired at 28 (broken foot?) and they didn't have a decent full back. They tried a mixture of players who were either undersized and/or not very good. Insert Lake and it was immediately a better structure.
We weren't considered the benchmark or the most ruthless or the hardest.
We looked like a talented team that couldn't get it done when the chips were down.
Things changed after 2012. How those players are remembered changed because of what they achieved
With most of this current team we don't know whether they will get to a grand final let alone win one.
We can guess but that's all we can do for now.
On paper they've got a long way to go to co parenting to that team though