Did We Write Off Hawthorn Too Soon?

[dean33]

I don’t think it will actually.
Hawks v Geelong games (outside the Easter game last year) are usually close, and Richmond always bring out the worst in the hawks

Probably won’t get a true indication until round 6

Fair call, you probably lose the next 2 anyway. Melbourne the week after? You’d want to try and nab 1 of the next 3 to be seen as improving to be a top 8 side this season.

 

[Jables]

Sleeper team to do what? Just makes me eye roll when certain people say we're headed for a long period at the bottom, injuries hit us like a pile of bricks last year pulverizing the game plan and we still weren't far off finals.

he's a gun, but he only had 563m gained according to the AFL app

Metres gained is the most pointless stat in footy if you're trying to find out how good someone was, if you win the ball and get it to another player that does kick it 50, from a better position than they were no doubt, what difference does it make? Sam Mitchell was a definitively better midfielder than Hodge who was more of a utility but still went to stoppages quite a lot, and would certainly rack up the 'metres gained' when he got a lot of the ball

 

[matey]

Still a few A graders short of climbing up the ladder and taking it up to the quality sides consistently. However there are still a few out there who think that a decline or a period at the bottom of the ladder is the norm due to the departures of Hodge/Sammy/Lewis/Gibbo without considering the recent drafts and youngsters coming through. Clarko and Wright did not sit on their arses and do nothing about the transition.

Last night Hawks starting lineup in the midfield was TMitchell/JOM/Impey and the half back line Hardwick/Siss/Burton. A long way to go but go back 18 months none of these guys were playing in these positions in the Brown and Gold.

 

[MinerBoy]

Said this before the start of the season but if the hawks don't win the flag this year it'll be one of the biggest chokes of the modern era. Right up there with 2014 Swans.

Agree. Ours to lose from here.

 

[MrDanggazz]

You say we, but I’ve never written them off, to good a coach and leadership group to write them off, they’ll either play finals or just miss out imo

 

[CasuallyDressed]

Depends.

I always considered them a finals chance but not a flag chance, still feel the same.

They too many good teams players to not be a chance at finals.

 

[Juddernaut08]

Its a very weird time in football at the moment and hawthorn could certainly contend. The great teams of a few years ago have gone past their prime, but the next wave of great teams is yet to peak yet. Until this happens you'll have a wide open field, which is why you have relatively surprising teams like the flash-in-the-pan doggies or the bradbury tigers win it over the last 2 years.

Sadly could even picture essendon win it all this year.

 

[Connoisseur]

The start of a new threepeat, you heard it right here first. Anything less would be an abject failure on 'Clarko's' part.

 

[roacheee]

Beat a bottom 4 side. Hard to read into anything until we play Geelong, Richmond, Melbourne etc

and you lose to us in your premiership years, so not a good yardstick #goodluckcharms

 

[HTT]

If it's based on last night, either Collingwood are s**t and Hawthorn average, or Collingwood are average and Hawthorn are decent. Not both. It was only 6 goals.

 

[RUNVS]

Is 'sleeper team' the new Big Footy buzzword of 2018?

It would be better than the word "salty"

 

[parsons nose]

As Percel woukd say WAT?

Tom Mitchell isn’t even equivalent to Sam Mitchell let alone those two rolled into one.

On output and importance to the team alone, Tom stacks up favourably when compared to Sam.

 

[Kram]

Is this another 'sleeper team' thread.

 

[carnthedons]

On output and importance to the team alone, Tom stacks up favourably when compared to Sam.

Sure, on pure stats. He’s nowhere near peak Sam level as a player though, he’s more Matthew Boyd

 

[MAXIMUM GRUNDAGE]

Collingwood just made them look good.

 

[BattlerGM]

Did those that have written off Hawthorn do so too soon?

Yes.

But not because they rolled the pies but because the jury is out on where there youth is at. Maybe it's very good. Or maybe the second half of last year was a flash in the pan. The proof will be in the pudding this year. Tough team to predict.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

The Pies were depleted. Will assess after six rounds.

 

[Dave]

Remarkable

Rent free mate, rent free.

 

[Upgrayedd]

We're still rebuilding, and Collingwood went the tank early by playing Moore as a backman

 

[Pessimistic]

Still a few A graders short of climbing up the ladder and taking it up to the quality sides consistently. However there are still a few out there who think that a decline or a period at the bottom of the ladder is the norm due to the departures of Hodge/Sammy/Lewis/Gibbo without considering the recent drafts and youngsters coming through. Clarko and Wright did not sit on their arses and do nothing about the transition.

Last night Hawks starting lineup in the midfield was TMitchell/JOM/Impey and the half back line Hardwick/Siss/Burton. A long way to go but go back 18 months none of these guys were playing in these positions in the Brown and Gold.

If anything we’ve had a huge turnover and it doesn’t look like a lot of opportunities presenting for the next wave to come

 

[WWSD]

Judge Hawthorn after Round 6. If they are sitting at 3-3 or with a greater record then finals is a possibility.

Surely the Hawks are a chance of breaking their losing streak against Geelong? With Mackie and Lonergan retired, plus Henderson out injured Geelong may not have the depth in the back-line to be able to cover Roughead, Gunston, Rioli, Breust, Puopolo, Burgoyne and Impey. But then again Hawthorn always tend to play poorly against Geelong no matter where they are on the ladder so who knows.

 

[HTT]

It would be better than the word "salty"

Someones a bit sodium chloridey

 

[Dez!]

They had a down year in 2017, but they were a much better side than their record suggested. Injuries, veterans traded, bad start to the season. Despite the slide, they had some major scalps and had a really good finish to the season.

After seeing them dismantle Collingwood tonight with that textbook hawthorn crisp ball movement, I'm thinking perhaps Hawthorn is the true sleeper team of 2018.

Perhaps Clarko's system can come through with the goods once more.

Are you BigFootys resident knee jerk reaction man?

 

[hk89]

Mostly likely we'll only be 2-3 after the first 5 rounds. Still think we can play finals from there, as Rioli, O'Meara, Frawley and Stratton will all need several weeks to get to their best after the majority of the last year out of the game (3 years for O'Meara). A somewhat scratchy win over an undermanned pies is nothing to get excited over, but those that have pencilled us in for bottom 8 (the majority of the ladder prediction thread by the looks of it) were not watching 2017 very closely. 7th on the form ladder for the last 18 rounds of 2017, and getting some quality back in to a side that was missing over much of those 18 rounds. Will need a perfect run with injuries to get a sniff at top 4, but an average run and we could definitely sneak into the 8 given we only just missed out last year with a horror start to the year, and one of the worst injury lists in the competition (when you consider importance and long term nature of those on the list).

 

[parsons nose]

Sure, on pure stats. He’s nowhere near peak Sam level as a player though, he’s more Matthew Boyd

No mate, wrong again. Without Tommy we wouldn’t have won some of the games we won last year. He may have even been the difference between the two sides last night such was his influence. The same could never be said about Boyd.