No - and I have been forced to delete one or two Hawthorn supporter's posts - whilst I note that the Saints posting on the Hawks board have been quite respectful there.
We are not going to kowtow to the Hawks after a single victory against an injury depleted Saints. We hold the wood on you over the recent past. The fact is that the Hawks have improved, we really don't know how much yet until they play a decent St Kilda line up.
What made round 8 such a poor spectacle was the fact that both clubs played well below their best. If Hawthorn turned up to play - ala. West Coast and Port in rounds 9 and 10, it would have been a much higher standard game...ditto St Kilda, it was a game that neither side truely deserved to win.
Win or loss, I don't think we really have much to prove today. Sure a win would be terrific - and would all but cement a top 4 (perhaps top 2?) spot, but our consistency thus far justifies our improvement. Win or loss, we’ve improved a hell of a lot.
The only true reflection of where every side sits in the competition is after 15 rounds.
I believe that our line up is a much improved one. We still will miss Goddard - his foot skills were a significant driving force for us, and we have almost given up on Hamill. Also we are still shy a genuine ruckman. But no team is perfect - and injuries are part of the reality of any sport. I'm sure there are one or two players you feel it would be nice to have available too.
The way many of you young Hawk upstarts are going on, you'd swear that you had twenty wins over us on the trot coming into this match. If the players feel even remotely that cocky then they are in for a very rude shock.
In fairness, wouldn't you be ecstatic if you had the youngest list in the game, sat second - after beating 6/7 of the current top 8, with room for improvement...whether or not its over the top is debatable, but given the last decade, its a pretty exciting time for supporters.
To be honest I think this game – along with the Sydney game in round 22, are the two games we are most likely going to drop in the run home. Fortunately due to percentage and a few upsets over the last few weeks, we should still hold onto 2nd/3rd regardless of the result, limiting the damage of a potential loss. But its a game I'm not very confident of winning at all to be honest.