Autopsy Round 21, 2025: Hawks can’t get it done against the Crows

[danielG]

- What absolutely f***ing kills me is playing the 4 talls and then not being able to create an aerial contest + stoppage either down the line or in the forward 50.
Mark Keane had 21 touches 6 marks are we serious? Then of all people it was Gunners who fixed that issue.

- Fairly sure Meek’s sleep paralysis demon is ROB at this point.

- Season not over and we can take inspiration from Brisbane last year who were average until they weren’t. Even GWS had them on the ropes big time in finals. That’s my coping mechanism at least, your mileage may vary.

- Day and Sicily led from the front. Day shows the gulf in attack on the footy, tough yardstick to be measured by but if we’re serious then most need to be closer to that than they are.

- Butler and Mackenzie have a real opportunity today. Go well lads.

- This one hurts a lot, 0.0 second quarter is just such a killer that we deserved to lose for that alone.

- if Butters can’t happen, I cannot stress enough how much I think the Sam Walsh gamble is worth it.

I agree with this.. we have good toilers but we need a balanced inside out mid.. badly.. Will Day fully fit makes a huge difference but he’s doing it on heart alone right now.. Newk just has really quiet patches, Worpel is not up to it… I’d play Butler.. He’s an Adelaide type of mid, good at the contest, sticks a tackle, very hard at it and does everything at a decent level.. beats the turn over merchant Worpel and would prefer over Nash… McKenzie would’ve been a deer in headlights last night, he needs time at Box Hill.. I’d drop Chol for next week.. I think Ramsden would’ve been better than all but Gunston of the forwards last night.. He’s come a long way..

 

[SSSSSS]

One of those days where the bounce of the ball seems to always go against you. Rankine catches a touched ball AND plays on and it’s called 50, Massimo misses a Soda, yada yada yada.
Although not being able to at least gain some control in the second awful.

You make your own luck.

Day had a leg spinner bounce through for an arsey goal that would have made Warnie proud.

 

[Lickmesocks]

Na

Nash should be a role player that you deploy when necessary not a central figure in the midfield structure.

The 5 year deal we gave him was very strange. He is far from clean with his hands, makes really poor decisions with ball in hand and murders it by foot.

For me he is a depth piece (a little like Frosty) not a starting midfielder in a premiership side but Hawthorn people seem to be in love with his size.

 

[Jimmy the Ghost]

We subbed wrong guy for a wrong guy.

Lewis goes missing against decent defender is concerning.

Worpel should not be in team, good player but clearly has checked out.

CMAC well.....

We selected the wrong guys to begin with. Not the first time we have lost a game at the selection table.

 

[SSSSSS]

Usually wake up the next day after a H&A loss feeling more positive about it but because of the importance of the result in the context of our season it felt like a finals loss.

Absolutely gutted.

 

[The Golden Glenferrie]

Usually wake up the next day after a H&A loss feeling more positive about it but because of the importance of the result in the context of our season it felt like a finals loss.

Absolutely gutted.

Lucky we got two more finals like games to be gutted about. The Brisbane game is going to be apocalyptic

 

[TassieGrown]

Think the game was lost when the crows were able to stop our intercept marking.

Plenty to dislike about the night: umpiring, Dunstall and thanks for your time Worps, I’ll pack your bags for you.

Dunstall is a hard listen

 

[Jimmy the Ghost]

Keep the four talls for mine. Dear , Lewis and even mabs have missed games and need gelling. Maybe a bit too late but I'd be as concerned about the form of Moore and croc , particularly in the big games. Moore surely has runs on the board but, not in finals last year and awful in bigger games this year. You'd think for someone who is a leader, talks tough and stern that he'd be relishing these big games.

If we play 4 talls they have to earn their keep and apply a lot more defensive pressure - Adelaide defenders ate them up tonight. And i mean a LOT more pressure.
Ironically that should fall to croc and Moore as you pointed out, but yes, their form hasn’t been good enough - especially cmac.

 

[Lickmesocks]

Our connection last night was terrible. Each time we won the ball at HB we seemed to be outnumbered 3-1 down the line and could not take a mark to save ourselves. We were cheering when we got the ball out of bounds.

 

[stevehawkington]

Going into the game I had high hopes for worps, had an interrupted year, no contract finalized. He should be fit and firing. He's in the age profile to become the captain and be in his prime. If he's really affected by contract negotiations and can't produce at this time of the year, it's time to go with Mackenzie.

 

[rei154]

I'm surprised about the gloom after that game.
As far as I'm concerned, that game didn't rule us out of finals?
From the final four games of the season I'd say that was the hardest trip to make, and I think we handled ourselves well for the most part.

Midfield concerns are there, fear in front of goal is still there, handballs to feet are still there but jesus reading this thread you'd think Worpel spat in your mothers ashes and that Nuke played the game with his fake nails on.

Adelaide are a seriously good side, some umpiring decisions didn't go our way and we faced the most hostile away crowd possible.

I'm seriously buoyed for our chances next week after that- obviously winning would have been better but overall it was a solid hit out against the premiership favourites.

I might be in the minority but I thought four talls was fine, one of them was always going to get subbed out, and it was always going to take a game or two to figure it out.

Thought Ginny and Day were great- if a few others had Ginny's swagger we would have smashed them.

Well played to Dawson, Rankin and Thrillthorp, they were clutch every time they had to be.

 

[Lickmesocks]

Going into the game I had high hopes for worps, had an interrupted year, no contract finalized. He should be fit and firing. He's in the age profile to become the captain and be in his prime. If he's really affected by contract negotiations and can't produce at this time of the year, it's time to go with Mackenzie.

I am not sure Sam has the ruthless streak regarding some players. Worps and Nash almost seem untouchable in his eyes.

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

We are close but not quite there yet. We are playing in some really fun, enjoyable games but not good enough to get the wins. Work to be done in the off-season but we aren't too far off

 

[StillAtLarge]

 

[TassieGrown]

Yeah weird not playing that well then all of a sudden we are in front. Going to be great when we click!

Problem is we haven’t clicked for 20 games

 

[Coathanger]

Dunstall is a hard listen

Spot on. Made a comment previously but some hurt feeling mod culled it.

 

[rei154]

Also the Curtin Watson debate has heated up SIGNIFICANTLY.
Wingers all throughout the league would be terrified of him one on one.

 

[Da Game]

We should have been 18 points up at 3 quarter time. Cmac and Wiz where 30 meters out with slight angle and went across body for goal and missed. They had time to straighten and kick those 10/10. I doubt we would have lost if that was the case.

 

[ImCheatingToWin]

We should have been 18 points up at 3 quarter time. Cmac and Wiz where 30 meters out with slight angle and went across body for goal and missed. They had time to straighten and kick those 10/10. I doubt we would have lost if that was the case.

Cmac was running directly at goal then made the brain fart decision to kick across his body. It was crazy

 

[The Golden Glenferrie]

Cmac was running directly at goal then made the brain fart decision to kick across his body. It was crazy

Wiz would have been smothered if he kicked straight. I can understand his kick. Croc has showed he can kick straight. He's well done on confidence

 

[Dewyyyyy]

He's the only player aside from Gunston who consistently looks dangerous.

Would be a monumental mistake to not start with a guy who can clunk marks from anywhere, and put real pressure on defenders on the way back out.

I'm a big fan of Lewis, but he was getting stepped a little too easily, and seemed a touch off the pace, while Calsher was two dropped marks short of really getting us going.

If one is dropped and we're hell bent on staying in the race, it's surely not Calsher Dear.

Didn’t get a run at it and besides one fly that didn’t get paid, he looked out of it, consistently brought his man into contests instead of spreading. There’s a reason he got subbed.

It’s one of Chol or Dear getting dropped, they’re the most similar. It’s either that or four talls again.

 

[OnTheRocks]

Cmac was running directly at goal then made the brain fart decision to kick across his body. It was crazy

To me it came across as him trying to be the showman & it was going to be lights, fireworks, applause, celebrate & take a bow.
Straight up meat & potatoes hits the spot sometimes.

 

[I wanna pash Nash]

Thilthorpe and Rankine were the difference, was a great game of footy. I know we lost, but we're playing better than we were 10 weeks ago. I completely believe we can win our last 3. We knock off Brisbane and the Pies and we are 1/1 against the top teams this year with the Cats being the outlier. Heading into finals with that form line will be ominous.

Get to September and Day will carry us home, his will for the contest is huge and he'll go up a level in finals. Lesssss go.

 

[grumbleguts]

I love the title of this thread. It suggests we win every game from here.

 

[CHUBBSS]

Not sure why people are saying that Lewis is our monster forward.

Thilthorpe is what a monster forward looks like and was probably the difference on the night.

Maybe Lewis needs to grow a wild man beard…