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

[Mercy Seat]

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

More than happy with Wiz, and not really concerned with the debate.

WC on the other hand could have taken the two of them or Curtin and McKercher, and yet went all in on Harley. That will be the real debate.

 

[MatteeG]

Thankfully sat near a bunch of other hawks so didn't get the usual barrage of the unlearned.
Our pressure in the first 20 mins was immense. Could have been more than 5 goals up.
Second quarter was horrid. Could not get forward of centre. Very 2012 gf like as someone mentioned earlier.
3rd quarter back to our footy, we started getting run from behind and some smart finishes, but I reckon we left a couple of goals out there.
Last quarter we let them get behind the defence a few times, usually with poor skill turnovers.
Frustrations-
We hit the front in the last with Chol on ball then swapped back for Meek and immediately lost the next centre bounce. ROB handles him way better. Considering Mabs wasn't offering much forward we should have left him in there longer.

For a team with more talls we took Nada marks long down the line. If they ain't gonna work down the lines there is no point.

A lot of our guys cannot handball to body. Half volleys to stationary players especially. Kills any momentum and invites pressure.

We really rushed those late shots. Admittedly on the clock at the ground it definitely felt like seconds left.

Had a mate who was absolutely neutral come with us and he thought it was a great game to watch. I'll take his word while I sulk in my cereal this morning.

Reload and hit the pies hard next week.

 

[TazHawk15]

That terrible miss by Mass sucked the life out of us.

How Worps can come on fresh and be so ineffective is a worry especially watching Will Day bust his arse to the point of sheer exhaustion.
To me it looks like Worps has checked out and if that’s the case get Frenchy in and send Worps back to the VFL.
I also would have subbed Lewis instead of Dear.

 

[Da Game]

Daisy started cramping half way though 3rd term… if he was 100% for the whole game I think it would have also affected
the outcome of the game

 

[Buckemenico]

Another gallant defeat. Played very well with a big gap in midfield between ours and elite sides. Worps and Nash - cannot carry both in our top 4 mids. Worpel very low on confidence and ball use has become horrid.
Unfortunately that is now 3 interstate games where we led at 3/4 time but lost. Critical are these games and for future build. We are due for a win when we play this level. Hold the line.

 

[Arkadia]

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.

Yeah that was a strange one...
Does anyone have any idea why we gave him a 5 year deal...
I know he was recruited under Clarko and he tried to turn him into a half back flanker, realising that wasn't going to work cos of his kicking...
He also tried him in the ruck...
Other than a negative role in the midfield I don't know what else he offers....
Sammy loves his size....
More like an enforcer...

 

[vanders]

If/when Weddle comes back this year bring him in for Amon.

Amon is a decent kick but when he doesn’t have the ball he is a liability and we can’t have a liability especially in the back half.

 

[hardway]

We got bullied when the heat was on.

 

[MC_9]

We had our opportunities in the last. Mass, Gunners, and Watson all had very gettable shots on goal and missed. Crows took their moments in the last. We are just not quite there this year. Hopefully we can pull one out against Pies of Lions.

Surely we would have heard something more of Day was actually injured in the last. He is out best player, unbelievable.

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

If/when Worpel comes back this year bring him in for Amon.

Amon is a decent kick but when he doesn’t have the ball he is a liability and we can’t have a liability especially in the back half.

Amon would be odds on for the PCM and had some terrific defensive efforts last night, can't agree with this take at all

 

[TylerDurden]

Can we sign Gunner for next year. God he's good.

 

[Goatie]

Our midfield has been an issue all year.
When Meek gets beaten and Newk is tagged when we can’t compete for 4 quarters. Day got tired after the first quarter and look what happened in the second term.
We need to move Weddle into the midfield next year. He could be a Bont/Warner type mid.
A fit Day, another preseason into Ward & CMac2.
Trade a mid in or take the best mid with Carlton’s pick. We are not far off being a contender.

 

[Harper_Hawk]

We got bullied when the heat was on.

We certainly did and it’s been a noticeable pattern since the Port semi.
The game was very winnable last night leading into the last…once again. Apart from Gunston we lacked that genuine matching winner to put us on their back and take us. They had Dawson to do that.
Day is that person but he’s underdone.

We lack maturity on field. It will come in time…we’re just not there yet to be a REAL contender. The more we lose in these types of games. The more we learn about ourselves as a team.

 

[bigmaxi]

We are about 90% there in my mind, but that last 10% is the most difficult part to pull together and with our fixture we can't really afford to spend the next few weeks finding it.

Our consistency is a concern, we get on a roll but when the momentum shifts we leak goals, we are ball watching and our structures crumble as the opposition pushes forward and our defence are then forced to push up to cover and it's a nice easy chip over the top.

The forward line didn't work tonight, felt like they were constantly not making any space for one another but hard to gauge exactly what was going on without being at the ground to see it unfolds. I think it can work and I'd be surprised if we gave up on it after tonight's experiment. We left a few goals out there by taking one two many disposals instead of just finishing off the work. I'm all for unselfish plays but felt we overdue it tonight.

Mass missing tonight summed up where we are at currently. I'm not potting the guy, thought he was one of our better players tonight but his miss and then the end to end goal is something we've watched plenty of times before this year. It's those little moments that we just always fail to take this season which we somehow need to address very quickly.

Weddle will be a very handy inclusion for us if we can get him back soon, we really miss his run and carry and it's most evident when we try set plays out of kick ins. He usually is the link up player and has the height and athleticism to be a reliable option. We tried battle who is great one on one but then it is either Impey or no one so the opposition easily shit it down.

Not the end of the world by any stretch, but we have a lot of work ahead if we want to feature in september.

Agree but also think that 10% comes down to mental toughness, we have the skill, the players just when the going gets tough we struggle to stay with them. We also don’t put teams away. Let’s ditch the Hollywood and become the Haunting Hawks, I want to give other teams nightmares.

 

[The hands of stone]

2nd quarter was the killer - we needed to hold under the momentum they had but allowed a 42 pt turaround .
Your not winning games from there .

It was a tight competitive in the 2nd half , we made a few crucial skill and decision errors that really decided the game .
Been a theme in the close losses.

Last night , Freo and GC sting . Lead all 3 at 3/4 time away to lose the game . Snagging one would have been huge .

Crows will be hard to beat , if they qualify with home finals they may just take it all out

 

[Jimmy the Ghost]

Can we sign Gunner for next year. God he's good.

Not just for playing ability - we need his leadership too. So damn smart.

 

[humid hawk]

I am in a filthy mood today. I yelled at a bird before for flying near my face like a grumpy old man. (It was a sparrow, not a crow, so it really didn't deserve that kind of treatment) This is what you've done to me Hawthorn, you bastards!

We should have won that game. Just a bit more composure and ruthlessness.

Only players on the park should be ones who absolutely hate losing.

Build a statue of Grampy Gunners already - perhaps with his Peaky Blinders haircut circa 2015

 

[CHUBBSS]

I am in a filthy mood today. I yelled at a bird before for flying near my face like a grumpy old man. (It was a sparrow, not a crow, so it really didn't deserve that kind of treatment) This is what you've done to me Hawthorn, you bastards!

We should have won that game. Just a bit more composure and ruthlessness.

Only players on the park should be ones who absolutely hate losing.

Build a statue of Grampy Gunners already - perhaps with his Peaky Blinders haircut circa 2015

Mate that bird was the devil, play on

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

2nd quarter was the killer - we needed to hold under the momentum they had but allowed a 42 pt turaround .
Your not winning games from there .

It was a tight competitive in the 2nd half , we made a few crucial skill and decision errors that really decided the game .
Been a theme in the close losses.

Last night , Freo and GC sting . Lead all 3 at 3/4 time away to lose the game . Snagging one would have been huge .

Crows will be hard to beat , if they qualify with home finals they may just take it all out

their defence seriously impressed me. coming into the year i thought they could put big score on teams' heads but their back 6 was pretty vulnerable. but Worrell and Keane were very, very good

 

[Mrzohs]

I thought the third quarter was really impressive to show grit and get back in front. We just let ourselves down in key moments with poor decisions in the 4th.

Looking back did we give oursleves our
best chance to win ?

Played a midfielder short
Didn't address the height on the wing.
Fwd set-up was experimental.

Made a similar mistake against Freo cost us the win in the middle.

We just have to be good enough to knock off Collingwood, Melbourne their was not much in last nights game depsite all this.

 

[Hawk88]

That terrible miss by Mass sucked the life out of us.

How Worps can come on fresh and be so ineffective is a worry especially watching Will Day bust his arse to the point of sheer exhaustion.
To me it looks like Worps has checked out and if that’s the case get Frenchy in and send Worps back to the VFL.
I also would have subbed Lewis instead of Dear.

Could not agree more

He is unhappy we haven't given him a big contract on good coin so his doing what every employee does when they get overlooked for a promotion or a pay rise

Sook it up and not trying 100%

Story as old as time

 

[Hawkk]

Agree but also think that 10% comes down to mental toughness, we have the skill, the players just when the going gets tough we struggle to stay with them. We also don’t put teams away. Let’s ditch the Hollywood and become the Haunting Hawks, I want to give other teams nightmares.

Obviously we don’t have the generational talent of the Clarko years but this is 2009/10/11 from our last era. It’s going to take some time but it is much harder to go from 7th to 1st than it is from 16th to 7th (like we did last year). I just hope we can get there before the 2020s are out so we can keep the streak going.

Compare the team we took to Perth for the 2010 Elimination Final against the 2013 Grand Final and you’ll see the changes that still need to be made to this list to compete with the teams in flag territory. Adelaide are currently doing the same thing we did last year, this year. It could take them to a flag but they’ll also have the same issues we have this year, next year…

I’m pretty confident this team can there though. We had a similar rise to the Dees in 2018, have had a similar injury run to them in 2019 and yet we are still 5th and they finished 17th. We just need to work on putting the final pieces together though

 

[hfc70]

We lack that killer instinct that some higher sides seem to have

 

[TFFM]

We are a good side, but after last year we have become the hunted. Sides get up to play against us. This will hold us in good stead just need to recruit a couple more top-liners.

 

[Jethro!]

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

We already have the natural defensive match up for him in Weddle. Too bad he wasn't available. I reckon he could've broad a lot of those balls to ground that he marked over Harry.