Reality is ........

[Flukey!]

Few other than the most enthusiastic and positive hawk supporters would have forecast a top 4 finish for us this year.

Coming from such a lowly position on the ladder, most would gladly have taken a top 8 position had it been offered round 1.

I think our performance over the last month highlights what our "real" performance level is in relation to the better teams. We are still a bit off the mark.

We can still make the 8, which would be a good result for the year.

My message is this:
If we just make the 8 and go out in week one of the finals, dont be disappointed with our year. We have improved significantly and have a bright future.
Reality is perhaps 2008 or 2009 will be the year of the Hawk.

 

[Hawkk]

2009/2010.

We are the West Coast Eagles of 2003.

 

[Changamagic]

Yep i agree, at the start of the year i would have gleefully accepted a top 8 position and the opportunity to play a final. We cannot lose perspective of where our list is at, we have a lot of development left in our squad and we must remain positive but realistic. We can still finish top 6 this year so come on you hawkers, finish the year off strongly!

 

[Realist]

What a load of crap! How many Geelong supporters thought they'd be two games clear on top or North supporters one game clear in second?
There are no guarantees in football. If Hawthorn collapse and miss out on a top 4 spot or worse still, missed the finals altogether, they have missed a genuine opportunity to do something special in the most open season in years.
Just because everyone says they have a promising list does not guarantee future success. Hawthorn had a great opportunity this year and at the moment they look like blowing it.
Writing a garbage topic like this only serves to let the players off the hook and allow the club to bask in mediocrity for a few more years. Something they have become masters of.

 

[HR Roughnstuf]

2009/2010.

We are the West Coast Eagles of 2003.

Yeah or Geelong and St Kilda of 2003, came out the next year and both played in prelim's

 

[shawthing09]

i think a lot of the reason us (collingwood) hawthorn and the roos have featured so high on the ladder so far this year has been due to poor form or missing players to adeliade west coast and sydney i think west coast but it is encouraging to see that our kids been all three sides have been better then the bad sides and at the very least competitive against most of the best teams both all three sides need to add something over the next couple years to fulfil there potential and avoid missing there window of oppertunity like st kilda may well do but i think all three sides a long with geelong have the core kids to have four great sides that will have some very tough and even competition and excititing times for their supporters

 

[cjay]

i think a lot of the reason us (collingwood) hawthorn and the roos have featured so high on the ladder so far this year has been due to poor form or missing players to adeliade west coast and sydney i think west coast but it is encouraging to see that our kids been all three sides have been better then the bad sides and at the very least competitive against most of the best teams both all three sides need to add something over the next couple years to fulfil there potential and avoid missing there window of oppertunity like st kilda may well do but i think all three sides a long with geelong have the core kids to have four great sides that will have some very tough and even competition and excititing times for their supporters

Very unlike a Collingwood fan to lack basic English skills!

 

[andrew coombs]

Sorry but if Hawthorn miss the finals this season we can be justifiably bitterly dissapointed.Any year that a mediocre team like North can be looking at a top four spot is one of great opportunity and after sitting 9-4 anything less than 13 wins should be seen as failure. Yesterdays disaster can be erased by a couple of strong wins against teams we should beat in Essendon and Brisbane. A loss in either and we probably dont deserve to play in September anyway.

 

[shawthing09]

Very unlike a Collingwood fan to lack basic English skills!

mate i am a psych/literture major at uni so its not the basic english skills that are lacking its A) the typing skills and B) the desire to check my spelling and grammer when i am on the internet really what difference does it make in terms of how correct my expression is as long as people get the point i have to slave over writting and re reading essays constantly i am hardly going to put effort into a post over the net so sorry if my grammer spelling and expression disappoints you but i could not care less lol

 

[macdaddio]

What a load of crap! How many Geelong supporters thought they'd be two games clear on top or North supporters one game clear in second?
There are no guarantees in football. If Hawthorn collapse and miss out on a top 4 spot or worse still, missed the finals altogether, they have missed a genuine opportunity to do something special in the most open season in years.
Just because everyone says they have a promising list does not guarantee future success. Hawthorn had a great opportunity this year and at the moment they look like blowing it.
Writing a garbage topic like this only serves to let the players off the hook and allow the club to bask in mediocrity for a few more years. Something they have become masters of.

if you realy are a realist then you would aperciate the fact that not even you would have though we could be sitting i n top 4 at any time this year...

the whole point of this post to stay positive and not turn into richmond who eat their own...

we have had a good year but we are having a bit of a slump now, but once we get back boyle it will all be good..

last year we won the last four and i dont see why we cant do the same.

finals is a real chance this year but so what if we dont finish top 4... if we stay in the 8 and win at least 3 more games then i think we should all be greatfull, becuase now all the real contendors come out, lions, port, sydney are all finals contendors and our biggest threats over the next 5 weeks..........

 

[boozeDragon]

Heads up Hawk fans. We'll do alright. I'm still confident of making the eight. I wish everyone wouldn't be so negative - we can do it.

 

[Robber Baron]

What a load of crap! How many Geelong supporters thought they'd be two games clear on top or North supporters one game clear in second?
There are no guarantees in football. If Hawthorn collapse and miss out on a top 4 spot or worse still, missed the finals altogether, they have missed a genuine opportunity to do something special in the most open season in years.
Just because everyone says they have a promising list does not guarantee future success. Hawthorn had a great opportunity this year and at the moment they look like blowing it.
Writing a garbage topic like this only serves to let the players off the hook and allow the club to bask in mediocrity for a few more years. Something they have become masters of.

Mate, you should try and go to the footy and watch us play and how hard our coaches are workliing and then youll start saying really how much better we are then every one was saying at the begining of the year. Weve been amazing and all the young gun talents weve got and were still got more to make there debuts like Kennedy and McEntee and Morton thats gunna be even better then hisbrother. We gunna be playing finals for the first time in 10 years and we could even make the grand final this year one year before Clakros planed for us.

 

[sgbn77]

What a load of crap! How many Geelong supporters thought they'd be two games clear on top or North supporters one game clear in second?
There are no guarantees in football. If Hawthorn collapse and miss out on a top 4 spot or worse still, missed the finals altogether, they have missed a genuine opportunity to do something special in the most open season in years.
Just because everyone says they have a promising list does not guarantee future success. Hawthorn had a great opportunity this year and at the moment they look like blowing it.
Writing a garbage topic like this only serves to let the players off the hook and allow the club to bask in mediocrity for a few more years. Something they have become masters of.

Whilst I wouldn't put it so strongly, the sentiments put forward above are my thoughts too. Having a promising list doesn't guarantee anything...in 2001 we looked like we'd have some promising times ahead, and it just fell away. We have structures in place too look like the future might be bright, but Geelong, WB and the Saints, all teams "on the rise" have suffered set backs on the path, and may or may not make it.

We should be very proud of our boys for what they've achieved this year, and having achieved it MUCH earlier than expected...but as a result, they could be complacent over the summer, and not achieve next year. So I'd hope that they looked at this as an opportunity lost if we fail in the second half of the year...to keep the fire going.

 

[jazz]

What a load of crap! How many Geelong supporters thought they'd be two games clear on top or North supporters one game clear in second?
There are no guarantees in football. If Hawthorn collapse and miss out on a top 4 spot or worse still, missed the finals altogether, they have missed a genuine opportunity to do something special in the most open season in years.
Just because everyone says they have a promising list does not guarantee future success. Hawthorn had a great opportunity this year and at the moment they look like blowing it.
Writing a garbage topic like this only serves to let the players off the hook and allow the club to bask in mediocrity for a few more years. Something they have become masters of.

Funny that your name is realist as you don't seem to be very realistic.

Very hard for teams with lots of young players to play at their top level for an entire season. They tend to drop off.

To compare us with Geelong is dumb. They have a much more mature team and are making up for their bad year last year.

I'd be unhappy if we didn't make the finals from here but I won't be upset if we miss the top 4.

The game on the weekend was unacceptable, along with the Adelaide and Brisbane games this year. 3 bad games with such a young team is a good return in my books.

 

[Hawkk]

Yeah or Geelong and St Kilda of 2003, came out the next year and both played in prelim's

Agree with Geelong (can we bypass '05 and '06?) but lets pass on the St Kilda comparison