Dear Diary: What I learnt tonight

[Before I Die]

Alistair Clarkson might be an angry little man, but he is also a genius tactician and a master motivator. The Hawks were tough, accountable and extremely well drilled.

Buddy Franklin is a freak and a player I will be telling my granchildren about.

Eagleton is past his use-by date and Ray's greatest value to the dogs now is as trade bait.

Best player available is a flawed drafting policy. It guarantees a cycle of ladder success and failure, but does not guarantee premierships. Drafting for needs will lead to some disappointments, but it has the potential to pay off big time. Given that the thing we want is a premiership, not just a top four position, we need to draft tall, tall and tall. When we find our spine we can then focus back on midfielders. They are easier to find and mature much faster.

And finally, disappointed as I am tonight, I am still bouyant. I will be there next week expecting us to win.

To other posters, please feel free to add your own diary entries.

 

[gilly111]

We got destroyed in the middle tonight hence the inside 50 count something like double the hawks had. We need to win the ball in the middle it wouldn't of made much of a difference if j brown and pav were down there (sure we may of got 2 or 3 more goals due to them competing against 2 players instead of gia or higgins or whoever) but it wouldn't of won us the match.
But yeah I do agree, we need to keep taking at least one tall high in the draft until we get it right.

 

[Gooka]

Here's an entry from a few years back:

Dear Diary,

We had a great draft, we picked up R Griffen and T Williams, both destined to be guns. Should take us to a flag in the next couple of years. The hawks were dumb. They went for talls with both their early picks, and wasted one on a tall HFF Buddy Franklin, who will no doubt never settle to the life of AFL footy, or playing in a team, and be gone by 2008.

....

Diary's are crap

 

[davross]

Here's an entry from a few years back:

Dear Diary,

We had a great draft, we picked up R Griffen and T Williams, both destined to be guns. Should take us to a flag in the next couple of years. The hawks were dumb. They went for talls with both their early picks, and wasted one on a tall HFF Buddy Franklin, who will no doubt never settle to the life of AFL footy, or playing in a team, and be gone by 2008.

....

Diary's are crap

Hey Gooka brilliant work, made me laugh. Keeps your heads up and lets hope we meet again this September.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Dear Diary,

Thought the doggies might fight harder than that. Didn't look nearly as intence as when you blew us out of the watwer in Tassie. Fully expect them to come out and win next week, so chins up. As another pointed out, it does look like you guys are short of quality talls. Any chance Tim Boyle in the trading period?

Good luck going forward..

 

[always right]

Here's what I learned last night;

1. We are not good enough. This group will not win a premiership. With a few older players at the end of their career it will be critical that we get as much game time into players like Ward, Grant, Boumann, Stack, O'Keefe from game one next year.
2. Daniel Cross is our next captain. In a game where he had little or no support, his effort should have inspired others
3. I've defended Farren Ray all year. Last night his decision making and disposal was disgraceful. It may have sealed his fate.
4. Eagleton and Minson gave their critics plenty of ammunition last night. They choked.
5. Brian Lake has a lot to answer for. His efforts on Buddy were meritorious. His first half was an embarrassment to him and his teammates.
6. Griffen did his reputation no harm.
7. Hill and Harbrow at least tried to get something going.
8. Buddy is a freak...but I would happily take Roughhead as well.
9. As effective as it is, the hawthorn cluster makes for crowded unattractive football.
10. From the carry-on of Hawthorn supporters outside the ground, it is clear they think the premiership is just a matter of turning up. I'll enjoy Geelong ultimately wiping the self satisfied smirks off their faces.

 

[hawk for 37]

Here's what I learned last night;

1. We are not good enough. This group will not win a premiership. With a few older players at the end of their career it will be critical that we get as much game time into players like Ward, Grant, Boumann, Stack, O'Keefe from game one next year.
2. Daniel Cross is our next captain. In a game where he had little or no support, his effort should have inspired others
3. I've defended Farren Ray all year. Last night his decision making and disposal was disgraceful. It may have sealed his fate.
4. Eagleton and Minson gave their critics plenty of ammunition last night. They choked.
5. Brian Lake has a lot to answer for. His efforts on Buddy were meritorious. His first half was an embarrassment to him and his teammates.
6. Griffen did his reputation no harm.
7. Hill and Harbrow at least tried to get something going.
8. Buddy is a freak...but I would happily take Roughhead as well.
9. As effective as it is, the hawthorn cluster makes for crowded unattractive football.
10. From the carry-on of Hawthorn supporters outside the ground, it is clear they think the premiership is just a matter of turning up. I'll enjoy Geelong ultimately wiping the self satisfied smirks off their faces.

Point 8.

Griffen at 3. Buddy at 5. Had your chance. Still amazes me that a side that has had quality mids for 15 years and no power fwds would take another mid in that draft.

Point 10.

What do you expect from supporters who just witnessed their team become contenders after 15 years in the wilderness. Just turning up. Hardly think anybody would think that. Playing a side that has lost 1 game for the year. Seriously mate. Slight over reaction on that one.

 

[always right]

Point 8.

Griffen at 3. Buddy at 5. Had your chance. Still amazes me that a side that has had quality mids for 15 years and no power fwds would take another mid in that draft.

Point 10.

What do you expect from supporters who just witnessed their team become contenders after 15 years in the wilderness. Just turning up. Hardly think anybody would think that. Playing a side that has lost 1 game for the year. Seriously mate. Slight over reaction on that one.

You had every right to me excited about your team's performance. That does not include getting in the faces of bulldogs supporters, my wife included. I'm generalising of course, but there was enough of this behaviour outside to really piss me off.

And as for 15 years in the wilderness...spare me please. You want to hear about suffering?

 

[Senor Ed]

What I learnt last night:

1. As good as Morris is....you don't put David on Goliath
2. As much as I love Griffen.....I wish we had Buddy
3. I still love Griffen.... and he shoulda got the number 3
4. Brian Lake did a commendable job on Buddy and should have been the match up from first Bounce.
5. Our players did not work hard enough to run into space....if there is a cluster ahead of you, it is up to and your team mates around you to "work" for each other to create space on the fat side.
6. To beat Hawthorn you need to stop their midfield and don't let players like Lewis, Bateman, Crawford, Ladson, Osbourne, Hodge and Mitchell have so much friggen space. Buddy and Roughhead will towel most defences, stop the ball carriers
7. Move the ball fast......too much piss farting around holding the ball and going back over the mark....
8. We need more supporters to turn up to games....we were seriously outnumbered
9. Hodge is as good as any other player in the comp...I have watched a few Hawthorn games this season and thought he does sometimes butcher the ball, but geez last night the amount of times he 'pulled' kicks to kick it to teammates in better positions......gun
10. Farren Ray (sorry, but to handball constantly to teammates under pressure smacks of a lack of a football brain and lack of confidence in your own ability )
11. We are still playing next week.....chins up, its not all doom and gloom
12. We have Griffo

 

[hawk for 37]

You had every right to me excited about your team's performance. That does not include getting in the faces of bulldogs supporters, my wife included. I'm generalising of course, but there was enough of this behaviour outside to really piss me off.

And as for 15 years in the wilderness...spare me please. You want to hear about suffering?[/quote]

Yeah you got me there!