Really, what was everyone expecting this season?

[threesixpio]

You greek Wog hahahah did you follow Robert Dipierdiemico to the Shit and gold??

Wow - WTF is this guy? How long is his ban. Hopefully for eons

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

THEY KNOW WE'RE COMING!

I thought it was "You can see us coming ... if you have a Hubble telescope".

 

[TyHawk]

After this round the season opens up big time! We won't lose many games at all. Sydney in Sydney is the only one I can say that could be tricky IMO. Ess and port follow ups are ours! Those losses genuinely hurt the side and the boys have pride in their performances. We may even lose this game and the naysayers will come hunting at 2 and 3 but I have full trust in my team , as long as off course that injuries don't get worse from here on in.

 

[Ordovician]

I was not expecting a repeat of 2012!

I was expecting some consistent effort and a top two finish now jeopardised by two rather pathetic losses.

We will lose at least another three games from here on out which makes securing a top two finish and MCG finals, in a top four likely to be dominated buy interstate sides , rather difficult.

 

[Arc1]

After this round the season opens up big time! We won't lose many games at all. Sydney in Sydney is the only one I can say that could be tricky IMO. Ess and port follow ups are ours! Those losses genuinely hurt the side and the boys have pride in their performances. We may even lose this game and the naysayers will come hunting at 2 and 3 but I have full trust in my team , as long as off course that injuries don't get worse from here on in.

Go back to your own board Mick.

 

[JustKickIt]

 

[Rushed_Behind]

View attachment 129289 View attachment 129290

I love our %age. lost 2 games and still highest in the league.

 

[hawkhanlumist]

top four and take it from there. Which is eminently still possible.

All this sooky-la-la bs on this board over the past week about "oh - we have to finish top two, or we have to travel to sydney, or even worse, fremantle". wah wah wah. gessus Krist. I back this hawthorn side (fit and in form) to win a qual final anywhere.
Top four is still the goal. we were never going to have it all our own way. toughen up a bit, hawks fans.

ps- i admit that our starts have been sh!tful all year and we have been inconsistent in games. Forward structure has been missing, and the essendon game we bordered on a bit of bruise free footy early. And we are starting to look fragile down back.....
hawks by 40 points this week.

 

[HODGEYROAD]

top four and take it from there. Which is eminently still possible.

All this sooky-la-la bs on this board over the past week about "oh - we have to finish top two, or we have to travel to sydney, or even worse, fremantle". wah wah wah. gessus Krist. I back this hawthorn side (fit and in form) to win a qual final anywhere.
Top four is still the goal. we were never going to have it all our own way. toughen up a bit, hawks fans.

ps- i admit that our starts have been sh!tful all year and we have been inconsistent in games. Forward structure has been missing, and the essendon game we bordered on a bit of bruise free footy early. And we are starting to look fragile down back.....
hawks by 40 points this week.

Yeah if we finish top 4 and we healthy we will give it a real shake.

 

[Hawkk]

top four and take it from there. Which is eminently still possible.

All this sooky-la-la bs on this board over the past week about "oh - we have to finish top two, or we have to travel to sydney, or even worse, fremantle". wah wah wah. gessus Krist. I back this hawthorn side (fit and in form) to win a qual final anywhere.
Top four is still the goal. we were never going to have it all our own way. toughen up a bit, hawks fans.

ps- i admit that our starts have been sh!tful all year and we have been inconsistent in games. Forward structure has been missing, and the essendon game we bordered on a bit of bruise free footy early. And we are starting to look fragile down back.....
hawks by 40 points this week.

This.

Need not forget that the Lions went 14-8, stumbled into the finals (having gone 6-8 through the middle of the year) and getting belted in the first final only to win the last 3 finals (2 decisively)

If we want greatness its a battle of attrition. We won't win as front runners like 2013

 

[HODGEYROAD]

This.

Need not forget that the Lions went 14-8, stumbled into the finals (having gone 6-8 through the middle of the year) and getting belted in the first final only to win the last 3 finals (2 decisively)

If we want greatness its a battle of attrition. We won't win as front runners like 2013

This is true but i doubt 14-8 will get us top 4 so we need to be better than that.

 

[Procrastinator35]

This.

Need not forget that the Lions went 14-8, stumbled into the finals (having gone 6-8 through the middle of the year) and getting belted in the first final only to win the last 3 finals (2 decisively)

If we want greatness its a battle of attrition. We won't win as front runners like 2013

Yeah....But I though that 2014 was our 'Battle of Attrition Year?

 

[Maybloomer]

Wasn't expecting to win every game. Was expecting not lose to ******* Essendon though!

Can someone explain to cool-aid references? I see it everywhere.

Jim Jones, a Seppo religious w***er ran a cult in Jonestown, Guyana in the late 70's, had almost 1000 people living in the jungle with him. The Seppo government were a bit suss on his little cult and were probably wanting to go all Apocalypse Now on his arse but before that happened, over 900 of the cult members voluntarily and involuntarily drank cyanide laced Kool-Aid. Jones fed himself a fast bullet.

 

[TheFourPillars]

With all the doom and gloom in this thread just thought i would lighten things up Frawley aint that far away

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

With all the doom and gloom in this thread just thought i would lighten things up Frawley aint that far away

Now why'd you have to go and do that?

What are we going to do with all these toys that have been thrown out of the cot?

 

[hawkhanlumist]

An elimination final at home followed by two interstate finals might be a stretch....still, if we got ourselves to Perth in the second last week of the season, with this side, I would back us in. We have that stuff about us.

This is true but i doubt 14-8 will get us top 4 so we need to be better than that.

 

[Bikefreak]

Anyone else think that our defensive structure seems to major more on protecting space as opposed to manning up.? We have left some big holes in all 4 games. Saw the WB game live and even though we won by a mile... our manning up was undisciplined to say the least. Is there a matchday tactic that I am missing? If so...it isnt working. We've been led a merry dance at times in all 4 matches in this area.
You aint going to get the ball back if you give your opponent 20-30 metres latitude.
Having said that we have had two very narrow losses against 2 teams playing out of the proverbial and some very questionable umpiring decisions.....actually some decisions were so bad it looked like blatant cheating.
Not at panic stations yet. Steady as she goes.

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[cryptor]

Anyone else think that our defensive structure seems to major more on protecting space as opposed to manning up.? We have left some big holes in all 4 games. Saw the WB game live and even though we won by a mile... our manning up was undisciplined to say the least. Is there a matchday tactic that I am missing? If so...it isnt working. We've been led a merry dance at times in all 4 matches in this area.
You aint going to get the ball back if you give your opponent 20-30 metres latitude.
Having said that we have had two very narrow losses against 2 teams playing out of the proverbial and some very questionable umpiring decisions.....actually some decisions were so bad it looked like blatant cheating.
Not at panic stations yet. Steady as she goes.

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My basic understanding of our gameplan is that the players guard space with a view to force teams to kick long down the wing where we will then either intercept mark or spoil over the boundary and attempt to win the stoppage.

Once we win the ball on the half back the aim is to switch to the opposite side of the ground quickly where the likes of Hill, Smith, Birchall, Shiels, etc can run into space.

The back line then push up to just outside the forward 50 to cut off any rushed, clearing kicks from opposition defence which forces teams to kick short in congestion (high degree of difficulty) or run it out with handballs where our forward pressure can cause a turn over or win a free kick.

The zone we set up seems to rely on every player making sure they're in the right position. They set up in a grid that is diagonally orientated with tighter spacing in areas where they don't want the ball kicked (short or to the centre). I mentioned in the Essendon game review thread that I noticed that a few of the younger blokes were seemingly not in the right positions and arguing amongst themselves (with no direction from leaders sadly) and it led to Essendon using that weakness by going coast to coast by switching and going down the opposite wing which was a paddock. Exactly how we like to do it to other sides.

 

[GOHORCS]

I was expecting our backline to be formidable not in rehabilitation again. In some ways I was worried it would be other areas of the ground as lighning doesn't strike twice usually. We lost to essendon* that is not on. Otherwise I am ok with where we are. We will be talking differently by the bye round not Carlton I mean the actual bye.

 

[Bikefreak]

My basic understanding of our gameplan is that the players guard space with a view to force teams to kick long down the wing where we will then either intercept mark or spoil over the boundary and attempt to win the stoppage.

Once we win the ball on the half back the aim is to switch to the opposite side of the ground quickly where the likes of Hill, Smith, Birchall, Shiels, etc can run into space.

The back line then push up to just outside the forward 50 to cut off any rushed, clearing kicks from opposition defence which forces teams to kick short in congestion (high degree of difficulty) or run it out with handballs where our forward pressure can cause a turn over or win a free kick.

The zone we set up seems to rely on every player making sure they're in the right position. They set up in a grid that is diagonally orientated with tighter spacing in areas where they don't want the ball kicked (short or to the centre). I mentioned in the Essendon game review thread that I noticed that a few of the younger blokes were seemingly not in the right positions and arguing amongst themselves (with no direction from leaders sadly) and it led to Essendon using that weakness by going coast to coast by switching and going down the opposite wing which was a paddock. Exactly how we like to do it to other sides.

Didnt seem to work very well against Dons or Port.
Got shown up in the 1st quarter and a half against Dogs until we finally broke free.
Its flawed because there is no easy way of stopping a "fast break" because everyone is out of position due to guarding space as opposed to guarding a man.


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[cryptor]

Didnt seem to work very well against Dons or Port.
Got shown up in the 1st quarter and a half against Dogs until we finally broke free.
Its flawed because there is no easy way of stopping a "fast break" because everyone is out of position due to guarding space as opposed to guarding a man.


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It's certainly not a fool proof plan and only works if you can win stoppages around the ground and hit targets. When it is done right it is hard to stop but if you can't execute it correctly you're left exposed. Which is why we're so dominant when we can get it going and teams without the right types of players fail spectacularly when they try and copy it.

 

[threesixpio]

It's certainly not a fool proof plan and only works if you can win stoppages around the ground and hit targets. When it is done right it is hard to stop but if you can't execute it correctly you're left exposed. Which is why we're so dominant when we can get it going and teams without the right types of players fail spectacularly when they try and copy it.

I wonder if it's always good to start with this game plan in the first qtr.