Preview Round 1 Preview : Hawthorn v Essendon, 7.40pm Sat 20th March, Marvel Stadium

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Howe was almost guaranteed to play. One only had to watch us train during pre season since he has been back. In the drills and in intras to know this. Whether u think he is any good or not he objectively can not be left out.

His performances on the track and some solid lead up games and the fact he is versatile means he displaces some of the more supporter loved players.

I think supporters should know by now that if u deserve a game u will get one kosi and brockman are testament to that along with moore and ollie.

Perform or you will be replaced isnt that a good place to be as a football club. Playing on edge with pressure coming from the reserves. Good luck to all the selected players on the weekend. Lets bring this home hawks.
 
i more mean that when fit he's best 22, and he was declared fit. otherwise i agree
Fit could just mean he's currently not harbouring an injury. But it doesn't necessarily mean he is match fit. ie. conditioning.

Is he in our best 22? Hell yes. He is arguably our most talented young player along with Worpel and Day.

In the context of a self-confessed rebuilding year, it would be a bit inconceivable to leave him out. Must be some concern around his fitness.
Not disputing that. He is definitely in our best 22. I'm just saying that he is not yet established to the point that he can necessarily just walk straight back into the side off no pre-season games like Mitchell is doing. At least not when there are match fit options who've shown good form in the practice matches he missed.

I have no doubt the club wants him back in ASAP, but they don't want to rush things and have him experience a setback that sees him miss another month.
 
Nov 21, 2010
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Time for Lewis and Cuz to have blinders in the 2s and make the selection committee look silly for not playing them. It's in their hands to play 21 game seasons.

Exciting lineup. I want to say I want to see Downie play but I guess I don't? He'll get his chance eventually...
 
Nov 21, 2010
13,480
17,328
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Chelsea, Detroit Pistons
Howe was almost guaranteed to play. One only had to watch us train during pre season since he has been back. In the drills and in intras to know this. Whether u think he is any good or not he objectively can not be left out.

His performances on the track and some solid lead up games and the fact he is versatile means he displaces some of the more supporter loved players.

I think supporters should know by now that if u deserve a game u will get one kosi and brockman are testament to that along with moore and ollie.

Perform or you will be replaced isnt that a good place to be as a football club. Playing on edge with pressure coming from the reserves. Good luck to all the selected players on the weekend. Lets bring this home hawks.

Our midfield lacked size and spread last season. Howe provides size but was rarely a net positive. Cuz changed how our midield played when he came in, offering the forward handballs on the 45 and providing an actual transition to attack instead of our mids being flat-footed and tackled for another stoppage. Howe is versatile and provides a point of difference with his size but our back 7 rotation is quite solid and I think we can survive rotating through the forwards to get the midfield depth clarko wants.
 
Time for Lewis and Cuz to have blinders in the 2s and make the selection committee look silly for not playing them. It's in their hands to play 21 game seasons.

Exciting lineup. I want to say I want to see Downie play but I guess I don't? He'll get his chance eventually...

Cousins got injured a few weeks ago.
 
Howe was almost guaranteed to play. One only had to watch us train during pre season since he has been back. In the drills and in intras to know this. Whether u think he is any good or not he objectively can not be left out.

His performances on the track and some solid lead up games and the fact he is versatile means he displaces some of the more supporter loved players.

I think supporters should know by now that if u deserve a game u will get one kosi and brockman are testament to that along with moore and ollie.

Perform or you will be replaced isnt that a good place to be as a football club. Playing on edge with pressure coming from the reserves. Good luck to all the selected players on the weekend. Lets bring this home hawks.
With 4-5 established players to come back in, and at least 3-4 fringe players also pushing for their chance, this side is gonna have so many shake ups as the season rolls on. It’s an exciting position to be in, people shouldn’t get hung up on their perceived best 22. At the end of the day it will all come back to performance.
 
Jan 17, 2008
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Our midfield lacked size and spread last season. Howe provides size but was rarely a net positive. Cuz changed how our midield played when he came in, offering the forward handballs on the 45 and providing an actual transition to attack instead of our mids being flat-footed and tackled for another stoppage. Howe is versatile and provides a point of difference with his size but our back 7 rotation is quite solid and I think we can survive rotating through the forwards to get the midfield depth clarko wants.
I understand the reservations on Howe. However, I feel like cousins is more in direct competition with Moore as a hff rotating onto the ball.

Howe was played a lot on the wing and the ball in the practice matches plus we know he can swing into defence. He was a long target out of defence and takes marks over head. And despite his poor reputation, his kicking in board opened up the game a lot for us. Also this is the first time in a couple of years he made it through the majority of the preseason. He actually has a big tank which helps with rotations. He has the form and unfortunately cuz got injured.
 
Jan 17, 2008
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59,119
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AFL Club
Hawthorn
General comment about team selections this week. Cuz, Lewis, and scrimshaw all got injured in the lead up to the season and missed the final practice match. None were selected. I’m hopeful this is a sign that Clarko is confident in our depth and isn’t going to play underdone players in the seniors and is going to reward form. This is a great sign in my view.
 
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