Autopsy Hawthorn loses to Brisbane Lions

[Argy]

I sort of feel a bit like that too. In the next 3 years we will probably lose Frawley, Birch, Schoey, Mirra, Hendo, Poppy, Langers, Doc, Whitey, Rioli, Rough, Burgers, etc. That's a third of our team.

It nearly feels like we need to stock up on a key forward, key defender, inside mid with pace and a quality outside mid now, before the others depart (to try to snatch one) and before we are left with 40%+ of a team of players that have currently played < 50 games (e.g. TO, Miles, Brand, CJ, Nash, Moore, JOR, Pitto, Ross, Lovell, Cuz, Lewis, Hanrahan, Jones, Worps, Kiwi, etc) and no one knows if any of them will really make the grade... ?

At this stage, I am only confident in the following players being rightfully in the best 18 in 3 years time: Mitchell, O'Meara, Gunners, Impey, Siss, Burto, Hardwick, Shiels, Glass...

What we need are the advantages the the Swans are gifted by the AFL.

 

[cryptor]

We aren’t in a rebuild, I’ve just come to the conclusion we are in no mans land, 8-10 of the players we play each week will retired in 2-3 years so that’s not a rebuild.

Rebuilding by dropping anyone who won't be in the premiership side in 5+ years time is not productive. Other teams have done that and all it did was set them back years. The experienced guys are a safety net and on field teachers. Necessary cogs.

 

[MasterSamurai]

Gotta admit I am baffled by the suggestions that Merrett was "coaching". Those were pretty standard messages he was delivering from line coach to player.

It was just unusual to hear him mic'd up.

Why wasn’t Merrett involved this or any other f•••ing week?? That was coaching 101, set up perfectly so that fages, Lethal and co.. could order a pizza while getting pissed later in the night!
Can’t believe we lost to your rabble!!

 

[hk89]

At this stage, I am only confident in the following players being rightfully in the best 18 in 3 years time: Mitchell, O'Meara, Gunners, Impey, Siss, Burto, Hardwick, Shiels, Glass...

Breust is still 27 and only 5 months older than Shiels, so I'd include him too. That would be 10 players. To put things in context, 3 years after the 2008 GF, we only had 10 players that played in 08 that played in the 2011 prelim (11 including the missing Roughy, not sure if anyone else was missing). Was a very talented 10 players, that were still there in 2011 from 2008, but there is a fair bit of talent in the names you've mentioned too. The 08 bunch also had some players who were great role players but nowhere near elite such as Osborne. Smart drafting and trading with no super early picks was enough to build on top of the remaning 10/11 players , and 3 years later we were playing in a prelim, and about to play in 4 GFs in a row, winning 3. So there is room for the optimist to think that the current core group could be something we can build on. Main thing missing IMO is that that the 2008 core group included two absolute gun KPF players. If we really want to turn this rebuild into a team that can potentially win flags, without bouncing down to the bottom for a while, Lynch or an equivalent seems to be a pretty high priority.

 

[HODGEYROAD]

I sort of feel a bit like that too. In the next 3 years we will probably lose Frawley, Birch, Schoey, Mirra, Hendo, Poppy, Langers, Doc, Whitey, Rioli, Rough, Burgers, etc. That's a third of our team.

It nearly feels like we need to stock up on a key forward, key defender, inside mid with pace and a quality outside mid now, before the others depart (to try to snatch one) and before we are left with 40%+ of a team of players that have currently played < 50 games (e.g. TO, Miles, Brand, CJ, Nash, Moore, JOR, Pitto, Ross, Lovell, Cuz, Lewis, Hanrahan, Jones, Worps, Kiwi, etc) and no one knows if any of them will really make the grade... ?

At this stage, I am only confident in the following players being rightfully in the best 18 in 3 years time: Mitchell, O'Meara, Gunners, Impey, Siss, Burto, Hardwick, Shiels, Glass...

Forgot Bruest on the best 18 group in 3 years time, but I agree with the rest of what you were saying.

 

[Dave Id]

Forgive me if I'm stating the obvious but I reckon purely in terms of elite talent producing consistently, we are bottom 4 (this year).

Tom Mitchell - tick
Jack Gunson - tick

Roughy & Silk are elite talent but past their best.

Burton has the talent but has been ordinary so far this year.

Hardwick could be elite talent-wise but too early in his career. Ditto Morrison. Sicily is elite talent but still too undisciplined.

Isaac Smith ? Maybe a smidge below elite. McEvoy magnificent trier, a little below elite. Cyril too injured. Birch likewise. Am I missing anyone ?

We need elite talent all over the ground to grt back to challenge. The quick fix would be to go after Lynch, McGovern and trade Burton to SA if we could get a couple of first rounders and go hard for elite mids in the draft to help out T Mitch.

This may sound like a doom and gloom post but it's not More than happy to give Lovell, O'Rourke, Worpel and Lewis extended stints in the ones to try to determine what their ceilings are. And if we don't go for a "big fish" free agent remedy our elite talent deficit over the next 2-3 drafts and start seriously contending in 2022. Or thereabouts.

Meh.

 

[HedgeFund]

Meh.

To be fair - 3 months ago we coughed up that game to Brisbane, lost the next week and were 5-5. Since then obviously we’ve gone 9-2, with plenty of players improving significantly.

Maybe understated us a little at that stage but our “body of work” to round 9 was a bit sloppy!