Congratulations Hawks

[Macca19]

Very well played and deserved to win. Were on top for 75% of the game.

As for Port....we were dreadful for 75% of the game. God help the AFL if we ever decide to man up - we will then only become a force.
Two weeks in arow we have allowed the oppostion to do whatever they like with the football without pressuring them. The amount of times the Hawthorn midfield was free was getting beyond a joke. As for the defence....Hawthorn kicked 3-4 goals as a result of being dead alone in the forward 50. The main culprit...DARREN MEAD. Now he WAS a champ for us. The key word is WAS. Too slow, too stupid, cant kick, cant run, doesnt understand the fact that if you are a key defender...your role in teh team is to spoil the key forward when they go to mark it. The fact he decided to give whoever he was on (Barker, Holland, Thompson) a 20 metre head start to the ball whenever they went near it was just very very very poor. I have no doubts that Mead cost us the game thru the fact he probably had 6-7 goals kicked on him.

I do not know why..but we resorted to the John Cahill gameplan in teh second quarter....handball as much as possible, kick it sideways and backwards...take 5 minutes to go 100m up field. We paid the price. We cant win by only playing 15 minutes of good football...and 85 minutes of pure ****e. It will be a good experience for the Port boys and will make them hungry for next year and hungry for more success.

As for the umpiring...well it was pretty bad. Port got a lot of unwarranted frees...and so did hawthorn. Port got a raw deal just as much as Hawthorn did....like the 5 blatant marks that the umpire Victoria (Goldstink) missed for Port...and Dew getting slung out of the contest in the last 2 minutes in ports goalsquare. The free was there but the umpire refused to pay it probably cos of the time remaining and position of the ball. It shouldnt matter how long is left...or where the ball is, if a free is there it should be paid.

It was great to meet up with GOALden Hawk, Hitman and Chris_23 and Santos as well.....talking to them during the day we both agreed that whoevers midfield got on top would win the game....and thats the way the game went.

Ports big name players didnt show up. Tredrea didnt do much...Francou was pathetic...Cockatoo Collins cost us two goals at the start of the last quarter by thinking he is a HE MAN. I do not know why he trys to run directly at an opponent when he has the ball....he isnt big enough to bustle them out the way....twice he did it, twice he got caught, twice hawthorn goaled from it. By far the worst player was Mead. If he doesnt retire he should get delisted...he is a liability.

It may be unfair to say...but i think if we had Paxman out there we would of edged Hawthorn out.

As for the crowd...it was one of the loudest crowds ive heard at a game of football before. Who cares if we dont fill out football park...we make more noise than just about any other team in the AFL. Crows can fill it up every week but dont make half the noise as there was tonight. FACT.

As for the "poor" crowd...well the tickets ranged from $41 for members, and $47 for guest passes. Seeing as all non Port supporters seem to enjoy rubbing in the fact that we are "wharfies" with "no jobs" and "no money"....if that was so, how can we possibly afford a 100% price increase?? A lot of the port supporters are families...that means $160+ just to get into the ground....that is ridiculous. I mean surely you lot cant be so hypocritical to bag us for getting a low crowd after bagging us for having no jobs and on welfare or in prison. I mean they go hand in hand. If you have no job, you have no money hence you cant get a ticket I would of thought it was logical...pity all you idiots out there are too stupid to realise that.

Congratulations Hawthorn...everyone wrote you off a month ago but you have certainly showed the doubters.

As for Port...after our best season in the AFL we can hold our heads high on the improvement our club has made over the last 12 months. Congratulations to our supporters, our members, our coaching staff, Mark Williams, and all the players, on a fantastic season for us. We will improve..with wilson, lade, and french for the whole year next year we will come back firing. Not many people believed we could improve 11 spots up the ladder...and those who predicted a Port top 4-5 finish produced ridiclue, laughter and asked to see a doctor by opposition supporters. Well done on proving them all wrong.

 

[Pornstar]

Good on ya Macca! Gracious in defeat or victory as always. Hope your boys can do better for you next year. Port is an exciting young team.

 

[Port Adelaide 1870]

Macca ....John Cahill won a hell of a lot of premierships for our club!!!!!

We lost to an outfit that was simply superior in the hard ball gets at the end of the night...

YES ..we lost...but dont bag the players..methinks to a man ..they would have tried to the best of their ability...dont you think ?

or are the players you mentioned truly sh*t ?

Trades will come and go..we can only do what we can do, the players wearing the Port guernsey tonight did their level best.....

We were simply outclassed by a more determined and hard at the ball outfit in the final wash up...

Lets see how we measure up next season..

Lighten up...

Regards

PA1870

 

[ant]

Originally posted by Macca19


As for the crowd...it was one of the loudest crowds ive heard at a game of football before. Who cares if we dont fill out football park...we make more noise than just about any other team in the AFL. Crows can fill it up every week but dont make half the noise as there was tonight. FACT.

Great post Macca, honest and fair, but how is this (above) a FACT?? Did you get that from the roar-o-meter or whatever?? The crowd noise at Adelaide games is generally quite tremendous, I've been to both Port and Crows games and I've always felt the roar from the Crows crowd was a little louder, mainly due to the fact we get more people at our games. Now that's my opinion, it's not FACT. You might feel differently but I wasn't aware that the noise at Port games had been measured and compared to a Crows game, with Port having the louder crowd and hence making it FACT.....

 

[Macca19]

Originally posted by Port Adelaide 1870
Macca ....John Cahill won a hell of a lot of premierships for our club!!!!!

YES ..we lost...but dont bag the players..methinks to a man ..they would have tried to the best of their ability...dont you think ?

or are the players you mentioned truly sh*t ?

PA1870

Yes John Cahill did win a lot of premierships for our club....in the SANFL. His AFL gameplan was old, tried and past already by the time Port got into the league. And it was no mere coincidence Port made the finals the next season when Mark Williams totally uphauled the gameplan.

Darren Mead - altho one of my favourite ever players for our football club is too slow and is past his use by date. Just because he is one of my all time favs doesnt mean i cant admit when a player is finished. Mead is finished...he was CONTINUOUSLY 20m behind his opponent tonight. In the key defencive post this is unacceptable.
He is tired. The years of playing ruck for Port have taken the toll on him. How long can you keep a man just because he is the heart of port adelaide?? If that was the case Russell Ebert would still be playing. His time has come to retire. Unless we can place him up forward where he does not need to run as much, then i cannot see him defeating his opponent in many more games. The difference between Paxman and Mead is that altho Paxman is probably slower than mead...he is always up with his opponent.

I dont think any player that plays AFL is $h!t. Mead isnt $h!t. Neither is Francou...but both have flaws in their abilities. Meads is that he is now too slow. Francous is that he simply cannot kick.
Questions also have to be asked about the physical commitment of players such as Cornes, Dew and Burgoyne. Dew - altho possibly a champion in the making...i have NEVER seen him lay a proper tackle...he rarely chases. I mean its fine that he has a booming foot that can kick the ball 80m...but you also have to be defensive and you would think with a body like his he could hurt a lot of players with bumps and tackles but he never bumps and never tackles.

just an opinion tho!

A severly shattered Macca

 

[Macca19]

Re: Re: Congratulations Hawks

Originally posted by ant


Great post Macca, honest and fair, but how is this (above) a FACT?? Did you get that from the roar-o-meter or whatever?? The crowd noise at Adelaide games is generally quite tremendous, I've been to both Port and Crows games and I've always felt the roar from the Crows crowd was a little louder, mainly due to the fact we get more people at our games. Now that's my opinion, it's not FACT. You might feel differently but I wasn't aware that the noise at Port games had been measured and compared to a Crows game, with Port having the louder crowd and hence making it FACT.....

Ive been to a lot of crows games before and in my opinion Ports crowd...altho a lot smaller, i believe is a lot louder. No i dont mean the crow-o-meter or port-o-meter as that thing is rigged anyway (given away by the fact at the showdown earlier this season the crow-o-meter was near top yet the crowd was basically dead slient!!!!). The noise of the crowd tonight was equal of any 45,000 crowd. Not to mention the fact Crows always have more supporters at Showdowns but the Port fans seem to always make more noise and are clearly audible above crows supporters most of the time.

Just an opinion

 

[biteableone]

Go Hawks!!!

Congratulations Hawthorn on a fantastic performance considering we were down at 3 Quarter time and it didn't look good.

Paps are the new Bulldogs losers in the finals,can't win a final and finishing lower than your minor round.

Thanks to the Crows for allowing the Hawk boys in the Pool after the game.

 

[The Truth]

Originally posted by Macca19
Ports big name players didnt show up. Tredrea didnt do much..

That's a little harsh. I thought it was a great contest between he and Hay - both worthy of their AA guernseys.

 

[ant]

Re: Go Hawks!!!

Originally posted by biteableone


Thanks to the Crows for allowing the Hawk boys in the Pool after the game.

No worries, they did us a bit of a favour ......

 

[Satay Mat]

sorry Macca can't agree with most of that.....

I thought Cahill did an excellent job as Port's coach in the AFL....in 2 seasons he won 20 games out of 44 missing out on the finals on % in 1997 after being 5th after 15 rounds. But that is not the point.....he did it whilst maintaining a youth policy...he did it with some players left over in the SANFL and a bunch of kids and still we were competitive. We owe a lot to Jack not only in the SANFL but also in the AFL...how many infuencial players in our side came to the club post Jack ?

I think the decision to replace him with Williams was also correct as if we did not Williams would have gone to another club and clearly he was seen as our long term coaching option. But bagging Jack is a bit much me thinks.

Mead ? Again a bit over the top. Mead has played some great games this year. His match against Essenson was sensational. I think he will retire but if he does not he should not be delisted. We should move Bassett or Thurbstans into CHB and let Mead be the 3rd tall defender....He is one of the best spoilers in the game and is great and taking a solid mark in defence....bagging him is not soemthing I would support.

Francou ? His disposal is not the best. But he is not in the side for his disposal. He needs to get the ball out of the packs...hard ball gets....something he has done really well this year (he was right up there in the AFL for HBG's). So his disposal could improve, and Dew's tackling could improve but so long as your tacklers can tackle and your kickers can kick you are not in too bad a shape. We don't wan't to be in a position where we have "average" players I think. One of our strengths is our niche players.

Footy has changed. Hawthorn played the flood tonight. When the opposition plays the flood the field is fairly open up to the forward 60m which means you mess around with it a lot looking for an entry into the 50m zone. High possession low forward movement. Port beat the zone in the Ansett cup by going over it....but you need to dominate the midfield in order to get the ball to Dew and Franscis to do this. Hawthorn flooded the back and controlled the middle....hence they won the game.

You congratulated a few people...I would include the board in that. 18 months ago the popular opinion was that Williams should be sacked. Even at the start of the year a lot of people thought he would not see the season out. A big vote of thanks needs to go to the board in not blindly reacting to public sentament and sticking with a plan. It paid off....not in the ultimate way...but a real measured improvement in the fortunes of the side. So well done Bucks and co.

Satay Mat

 

[The Truth]

Re: Go Hawks!!!

Originally posted by biteableone
Congratulations Hawthorn on a fantastic performance considering we were down at 3 Quarter time and it didn't look good.

We? Who are you? Where have you been all year? Jumping on the finals bandwagon eh?

 

[Macca19]

Originally posted by Satay Mat
sorry Macca can't agree with most of that.....

I thought Cahill did an excellent job as Port's coach in the AFL....in 2 seasons he won 20 games out of 44 missing out on the finals on % in 1997 after being 5th after 15 rounds. But that is not the point.....he did it whilst maintaining a youth policy...he did it with some players left over in the SANFL and a bunch of kids and still we were competitive. We owe a lot to Jack not only in the SANFL but also in the AFL...how many infuencial players in our side came to the club post Jack ?

I think the decision to replace him with Williams was also correct as if we did not Williams would have gone to another club and clearly he was seen as our long term coaching option. But bagging Jack is a bit much me thinks.

Mead ? Again a bit over the top. Mead has played some great games this year. His match against Essenson was sensational. I think he will retire but if he does not he should not be delisted. We should move Bassett or Thurbstans into CHB and let Mead be the 3rd tall defender....He is one of the best spoilers in the game and is great and taking a solid mark in defence....bagging him is not soemthing I would support.

Francou ? His disposal is not the best. But he is not in the side for his disposal. He needs to get the ball out of the packs...hard ball gets....something he has done really well this year (he was right up there in the AFL for HBG's). So his disposal could improve, and Dew's tackling could improve but so long as your tacklers can tackle and your kickers can kick you are not in too bad a shape. We don't wan't to be in a position where we have "average" players I think. One of our strengths is our niche players.

You congratulated a few people...I would include the board in that. 18 months ago the popular opinion was that Williams should be sacked. Even at the start of the year a lot of people thought he would not see the season out. A big vote of thanks needs to go to the board in not blindly reacting to public sentament and sticking with a plan. It paid off....not in the ultimate way...but a real measured improvement in the fortunes of the side. So well done Bucks and co.

Satay Mat

At the time i thought Cahill did a good job. But our game plan was crap. Our game plan consisted of having the full forward (mostly cummings) one out in the goalsquare with the other forwards up field and with the midfielders bombing it into the one out contest - usually the leading Cummings. This worked well in the first season. But with Eagleton, Breuer, Dickie, Francou and David Brown helicopter punting the ball into the one on one contest it got worked out and did not work...hence Cummings kicking only the 30 goals in season 2. Its very hard to kick goals when the ball is kicked over your head as you lead out.

We had that one gameplan and that was it. Play defensive as much as possible, slowly move the ball forward. Why do you think we always had the lowest 'For' count in the competition?? Cos we rarely kicked a lot of goals. The game plan was boring.

Mark Williams came in in 99 and changed the game plan completly...we made the GF of the ansett cup and the finals for the first time. This is no coincedence. His game plan was based on the switching of play in defence to find the lose man and kick it forward. Then chip around on the 50 till the leading forwardS (not one but multiple) made space.
Our gameplan has changed since under Mark Williams and we are one of the most offencive sides in teh AFL.

We regularly struggled to get 10-12 goals a game with Jacks gameplan...this year we have regularly kicked over 15 goals. Any team will struggle by averaging about 60 points per game.

I wasnt bagging Jack. He is one of my all time heros and i cried when his contract wasnt renewed. That doesnt mean his gameplan was good tho. Yeah we did alright...the recruiting is the result of Alan Stewart...not Jack Cahill. Stewart tells the coach about this player and that player...and the coach picks one of them on the advice of the recruiting staff.

Mead is a great spoiler but is too slow on the lead. All the forward has to do is too lead and he will win the ball all the time as Mead is a more "one on one" type player...not a defender that follows the leading player....hence why he had a crapload of goals kicked on him tonight and why his opponents found a LOT of the ball.

Id much prefer to see Thurstans get a go FINALLY than see Mead struggle next year. Mead has been fantastic for us yet if he has a real bad season next year (if he plays on) it will tarnish is record.

Francous disposal has been pathetic since day one....it is now 5 years later, and his disposal has improved about 7% Yeah he is in the side for the hard ball gets. But he also needs to get the ball, and when he does he has to dispose of it. His kicking is abysmal and i have seen 13 year olds that kick better than him. Its not the fact he sometimes misses the target. He cant even get the ball to spin the right way of his boot let alone hit a target. He is our most important midfielder tho...and i would love for him to try to improve his kicking...then he will be one of the best midfielders in the league.

With Dew...when a player is in front of him and has the ball, he should tackle, not just stand and watch him. You have recievers in every side, but sometimes they even have to tackle when they have to.

Yes the board have been fantastic and thankyou for retaining Mark Williams.

We will hurt because of this, and we will not let this happen again. We will be a stronger, fitter, better outfit next season i am sure.

 

[Go South]

I agree with Macca that Power crowds are generally louder than Crows crowds.

I went to Power/Freo in 99... I think it was 99 anyway, it was a night game, and Port got belted. The crowd was just over 20,000 people, and although they were getting flogged for most of the night, the roar when goals were scored was HUGE.

I'm a Crows season ticket holder and I find that our crowds are generally pretty loud, but as mentioned, we usually have about 15,000 more voices there to cheer. Although Port have crap attendances, the people that show up are the true supporters that want to be there, and make a hell of a lot of noise.

(jeez, i'm defending Port, what's going on here...)

Each crowd is different though... I went to Port/Geelong this year, and I didn't find the crowd to be particularly loud in comparison to other games this year. A lot depends on where you sit too I guess, and obviously the excitement of the game

 

[Dave]

Originally posted by Macca19
As for the umpiring...well it was pretty bad. Port got a lot of unwarranted frees...and so did hawthorn. Port got a raw deal just as much as Hawthorn did....like the 5 blatant marks that the umpire Victoria (Goldstink) missed for Port...and Dew getting slung out of the contest in the last 2 minutes in ports goalsquare. The free was there but the umpire refused to pay it probably cos of the time remaining and position of the ball. It shouldnt matter how long is left...or where the ball is, if a free is there it should be paid.

Yep, just like the one that wasn't paid in the opening minute that let Schofield kick the opening goal. One day you'll post about a game without mentioning all the bad calls Port got and the rest of us will have heart failuire. 5 blatant marks my arse.


Chris, hard luck mate, if you're reading this no doubt you're hurting. Just remember, that which does not kill you makes you stronger.

 

[Macca19]

Re: Re: Congratulations Hawks

Originally posted by Dave


Yep, just like the one that wasn't paid in the opening minute that let Schofield kick the opening goal. One day you'll post about a game without mentioning all the bad calls Port got and the rest of us will have heart failuire. 5 blatant marks my arse.

One in the first quarter - resulted in hawthorn goal.
One in third quarter which was more of a mark than Cocaktoo Collins mark 3 minutes later
Another one in the third quarter that wasnt paid.
Cornes mark wasnt paid midway thru the last quarter.

One day youll concentrate on your own side. Did you not think i only mentioned umpires because all the hawthorn supporters had mentioned them?? No didnt think that did you

If i want to mention umpires i will mention umpires. Who the heck are you to tell me what to write about?

 

[Dave]

Re: Re: Re: Congratulations Hawks

Originally posted by Macca19
One in the first quarter - resulted in hawthorn goal.
One in third quarter which was more of a mark than Cocaktoo Collins mark 3 minutes later
Another one in the third quarter that wasnt paid.

None of which were as much a mark as the one not paid to Hay.

One day youll concentrate on your own side.

Like you do? You never post on other teams do you? To coin a phrase, who the heck are you to tell me what to write about?

Did you not think i only mentioned umpires because all the hawthorn supporters had mentioned them?? No didnt think that did you

No, I thought you mentioned them for the same reasons you and most other supporters always do. You're one eyed.

If i want to mention umpires i will mention umpires. Who the heck are you to tell me what to write about?

Where did I tell you what to write about? If you can't handle someone pointing out that your analysis of the umpiring is one eyed tough ****.

 

[Macca19]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Congratulations Hawks

Originally posted by Dave


Where did I tell you what to write about? If you can't handle someone pointing out that your analysis of the umpiring is one eyed tough ****.

"One day you'll post about a game without mentioning all the bad calls Port got "

Yeah im one eyed. Arent you? Isnt everyone?
If im writing a review on a port game, being a port supporter, im gonna remember the bad decisions against Port arent i?

 

[Dave]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Congratulations Hawks

Originally posted by Macca19
"One day you'll post about a game without mentioning all the bad calls Port got "

Yeah so? All that was was a comment that after every loss you've had you mention all the bad calls you've had. I never said for you to actaully stop, after all I don't want to suffer heart failure now do I

Yeah im one eyed. Arent you? Isnt everyone?

It might surprise to discover the number of people who aren't.

If im writing a review on a port game, being a port supporter, im gonna remember the bad decisions against Port arent i?

It comes across as sour grapes that's all Macca.

 

[Macca19]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Congratulations Hawks

Originally posted by Dave


Yeah so? All that was was a comment that after every loss you've had you mention all the bad calls you've had. I never said for you to actaully stop, after all I don't want to suffer heart failure now do I



It might surprise to discover the number of people who aren't.



It comes across as sour grapes that's all Macca.

For the record, i thuoght the umpiring altho it was really crap - did not favour one side last night. The reason i mentioned the umpires in THIS particular post was because all the Hawthorn fans seemed to have a whinge a bout getting a raw deal with the umpires last night...which was not the case.

If anything, the free kicks they paid were all there....its the ones they missed which was stupid. Port could of had about 5-6 more frees which were BLATANT that just were not paid...and Hawthorn probably had about 7-8 BLATANT frees that werent paid. Then there were the 6-7 marks that werent paid by the umpires (for both sides) - 3 of which resulted in goals to the opposition after the mark wasnt paid (2 to port 1 to hawthorn).

If you look back ive also commented on the umpires on EVERY game we have played this year....its not like i only mention the umpires when we lose. And i am not blaming the umpires for last nights lose. We lost cos we played crap, Hawthorn played better, and they scored more. Plain and simple.

 

[JLC]

congratulations Hawthorn.........well played........you deserved the win

APA

 

[Dave]

Fair cop Macca. Better luck next year (though not too much!).

Bagging the umps has always annoyed me as it doesn't change anything. Yes they stuff up, but how many times do players stuff up? If anything it's the clubs/afl's fault as they continually tinker with the rules instead of simplifying them.

I'll get off my soap box now

 

[Macca19]

Originally posted by Dave
Fair cop Macca. Better luck next year (though not too much!).

Bagging the umps has always annoyed me as it doesn't change anything. Yes they stuff up, but how many times do players stuff up? If anything it's the clubs/afl's fault as they continually tinker with the rules instead of simplifying them.

I'll get off my soap box now

Hopefully next year we wont go crap when it matters and we can have that Port v Essendon blockbuster at the 'G

 

[Satay Mat]

said it before and will say it again....

when I watch the footy, when port is playing, I am watching a different game to an opposition fan. If the ball is kicked into Port's fwd line I am looking for Tredrea to take a mark. If I look at Hay, I am not looking to see if he is going to take a mark....I am looking to see if h is holding, pushing, etc....anything which might give Port an advantage.

A Hawks fan watching the same piece of play is looking for Hay to spoil or take a mark....and looking for Tredrea to hold or Shepherd off the ball....anything to give Hay an advantage.


So Hay takes a "mark", in the eyes of Hawks fans....it is not paid. This is a gross misjustice for a Hawks fan as they were probably watching Hay closer than the umpire....the Port supporter is disappointed, but was not watching for that anyway. The same thing happens to Tredrea and it is in the reverse....Both fans walk away thinking they were hard done by.

One reason why I like watching neutral games. I love listenning to both sets of fans go on about how the umpires are blantantly favouring the other side.

Anyway.....we are all one eyed I suppose.

Satay Mat

 

[Dippers Donuts]

Well, what a hectic 24 hours for yours truly; only just got to watch the replay this morning. Undoubtedly the most exciting game I have seen this year.

Commiserations Port, an excellent year, if you can find yourself one more key position defender you will have an even better year next year.

Bring on the bombers! Shades of the '80's revisited perhaps?

PS: Thanks to that eejit Lloyd getting himself rubbed out for the big game! He could yet cost the bombers a premiership.

 

[RogerC]

You're right about all the unpaid frees. But to the umpire's credit, it appears they made a firm decision not to pay every marginal free going, and to let the play run on as much as possible. And to their credit, they stuck to it for the duration. This approach has been known to hurt Hawthorn during the season, as we've been buffeted off the ball in some matches (especially during that injury-hit run when we had a lot of inexperienced guys running around the middle). Last night it didn't seem to adversely affect either side.

I thought it was a bloody good game. If we'd lost, I was prepared to put it down to our third quarter brain fade rather than any single umpiring decision.

Thanks to all the Port fans who are taking it so well. A bit of luck either way was all that separated us in the end, and I appreciate all of you, and your team, much more now than I ever did.

And Satay Mat, regarding your post on one eyed fans, couldn't put it better myself. Excellent stuff. Cheers.