Preview We will Win Back to Back Flags.

[Lockyer24]

We seem to be in good stead with the age of our list, so many guys on the up and the likes of Swan and Didak you would assume will hold their form.

Out inter-team depth seems great the way we can cover the loss of a position all over the park perhaps besides ruck. Leroy and Taz should be very useful as 3rd key position options, yet be able to pinch hit in other roles otherwise.
Keen to see more midfield minutes pumped into Steele/Dayne so that we progress, especially with Dick and Krak available. Think our overall depth ain't great though as the guys on the fringe are still a bit iffy or too green. Thankfully they won't be needed for any major roles though I expect.

Krakouer is what I'm most excited about in 2011. Sure he wasn't a star at Richmond but if he's able to translate most of his WAFL game to AFL now we will have some serious pace and tricks on top of an all ready potent offensive machine.

 

[Breakthelines]

Just looking at the 2011 draw, if we don't win the first 6 games before the bye....there is something wrong!

 

[Fluro Boots]

Just looking at the 2011 draw, if we don't win the first 6 games before the bye....there is something wrong!

Just had a look and that is indeed a good launching pad for your flg defence. Bulldogs in round 6 the biggest threat of those games.

That first bye comes at a good time for you. Smash through those first 6 weeks then have a week off before taking on a geelong side that for all the talk of a slide i believe will take some beating in 2011. They won't be as good as we have come to expect but won't be easy beats by any stretch.

 

[Breakthelines]

Just had a look and that is indeed a good launching pad for your flg defence. Bulldogs in round 6 the biggest threat of those games.

That first bye comes at a good time for you. Smash through those first 6 weeks then have a week off before taking on a geelong side that for all the talk of a slide i believe will take some beating in 2011. They won't be as good as we have come to expect but won't be easy beats by any stretch.

Good assessment. I think Footscray will lose a bit this year with the loss of Johnson and the players they have recruited are just them trying to fill a large puzzle piece with a bunch of small ones.

Geelong without Ablett is interesting, it may have a huge impact or non at all....IMO it will be a huge loss to the midfield.

 

[Old Spice]

Think Varcoe could be very handy for cats to replace Shab in the middle. Still, a lot of geriatrics in that team now.

 

[Breakthelines]

Think Varcoe could be very handy for cats to replace Shab in the middle. Still, a lot of geriatrics in that team now.

Long term yes, but he won't be an Ablett like player next year....maybe ever.

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

As a hawks supporter I belive every thing has to go right for the Hawks to win the flag. I belive other teams will watch the way the Hawks played against you guys in the last round this year as a way to try to get through your great game plan. How the Hawks kicked it long to about 20- 25 out in front every time they went forward to buddy and roughy which put your back line under alot of pressure.

Wow, you actually believe you 'beat' us in Round 22?

Hawthorn is the one team I've feared for the last 2 or 3 years (as anyone on the Pies board can attest to), and even I no longer fear you after watching you in Round 22.

- Hawthorn played one of their best games for the year
- Kicked straight
- Franklin with 6.2
- Collingwood missing Didak, Johnson and L.Brown (granted you were missing Hodge)
- Collingwood kicking as bad as they have kicked all year

And you still only won by 3 points in the dying seconds simply because Beams missed a regulation set shot after we were up by over 4 goals in the last quarter? Oh, in a dead rubber game since top spot was sealed?

Yeah, you guys really 'worked us out'

 

[mattys123]

Hey Ed, you forgot the point that;

*Maxwell and O'Brien both pulled out of a marking contest late in the last quarter, allowing Franklin to mark uncontested.

I bring that point up because it was the only time, fow the whole season, and maybe their whole careers that either player has "pulled out" of a contest.

It showed that our players were in "preservation mode", especially late in a game that meant nothing "ladder wise".

Hawthorn may be one of our threats next season, but you ignore the Hawks poster who said they "figured us out", they won because we let them, and we still almost beat them with the last kick of the game.

 

[Fluro Boots]

I'd suggest all that can be taken out of the round 22 match is the fact that we can't take much out of the round 22 match.

Collingwood obviously had bigger fish to fry and while they would have gladly taken a win and the continued momentum into the finals they weren't prepared to put it all on the line to secure that win and rightly so.

outs are pretty even. didak and hodge pretty much cancel each other out. Johnson and brown had good seasons but i doubt many at Collingwood would ever like to say they lost a game because of these two being missing. They're essentially soldiers, not game winners. Brown was a structurally important player last year but you had decent replacements available in wood and Fraser. Fraser came in yeah?

Hawthorn changed game plans mid season when they realised the zone was dead. we will no doubt have a different, more refined game plan next year and along with personnel changes (Bruce, hale and a full season from Burgoyne) will be a much different side next year (note i said different not necessarily better). Collingwood will also be a slightly different proposition with tarrant and krak.

 

[Quicky]

Fixing the ruck division is one big piece to the puzzle at the Hawks. You just have to see what a difference it made at the Pies last year to see how important it is.

What i'm most interested in is how they address their defensive issues. I really thought that Gibson would make a difference last year but reality is that the defense was still largely outsized and overstretched. It's no coincidence that a strong defense has been a common trait in premiership winning teams over the years. I think Hawthorn needs alot of improvement from their defensive group to be a true threat. Croads injury forced retirement has hit Hawthorn worse than anything else over the last few seasons I feel.

 

[Fluro Boots]

Fixing the ruck division is one big piece to the puzzle at the Hawks. You just have to see what a difference it made at the Pies last year to see how important it is.

What i'm most interested in is how they address their defensive issues. I really thought that Gibson would make a difference last year but reality is that the defense was still largely outsized and overstretched. It's no coincidence that a strong defense has been a common trait in premiership winning teams over the years. I think Hawthorn needs alot of improvement from their defensive group to be a true threat. Croads injury forced retirement has hit Hawthorn worse than anything else over the last few seasons I feel.

agree totally.

Hopefully our ruck situation is better with the addition of hale and the great white hope Max Bailey. Grimley and Lowden are unknowns at the moment and if we see either of them in 2011 we are probably struggling. Jolly was great for you guys if we can get even 60-80% of that from hale or Bailey we'll be a better side for it.

Stratton has been an execellent pickup down back but like most of our guys down back lacks true size. If Schoenmakers can do a Ben Reid in 2011 it will be a massive boost for us. He now has the size, needs to put it together and earn his spot. Schoey came through the juniors as a forward so has taken some time to adjust, was that the case with Reid also?

While Gibson is not true Kpp size his season was largely a write off with his Riewoldt like Hammy. Played some good games towards the end of the year.

I think that Collingwoods even talent distribution between the lines forward, midfield and back is what gives Collingwood the edge over not just Hawthorn but a lot of sides.

Hawks obivously strong up forward, strong enough through the middle but an undersized backline that is still laregly a work in progress.

 

[Ed D]

Geelong without Ablett is interesting, it may have a huge impact or non at all....IMO it will be a huge loss to the midfield.

I think Ablett will be missed when the team isn't playing well. So many times Ablett would play a crucial role in getting the team back on top. I think when things are going fine Geelong won't miss him, but when they need that spark that's when they're going to be a different side. Although it's hard to say with a new coach.

Schoey came through the juniors as a forward so has taken some time to adjust, was that the case with Reid also?

Sort of. Reid was recruited as a bottom aged forward and played his first 2 years there, had some injury concerns and then spent all of 2009 in he VFL as a defender before making his spot in 2010.

 

[Fluro Boots]

I think Ablett will be missed when the team isn't playing well. So many times Ablett would play a crucial role in getting the team back on top. I think when things are going fine Geelong won't miss him, but when they need that spark that's when they're going to be a different side. Although it's hard to say with a new coach.


Sort of. Reid was recruited as a bottom aged forward and played his first 2 years there, had some injury concerns and then spent all of 2009 in he VFL as a defender before making his spot in 2010.

Also Ling's effectiveness dropped off last year and Joel Corey struggled with injury. Both were hugely important players when Geelong were at their best. With Ablett gone if these two can't get back to something near their best it'll definitely bring them back to the pack.

Taylor has been a great pickup but with Mooney and Scarlett coming to the end, and Hawkins and Lonergan failing to come on as hoped it'll be interesting to see how the Geelong list develops/rejuvenates over the next 2-3 years.

 

[soreplums]

Also Ling's effectiveness dropped off last year and Joel Corey struggled with injury. Both were hugely important players when Geelong were at their best. With Ablett gone if these two can't get back to something near their best it'll definitely bring them back to the pack.

Taylor has been a great pickup but with Mooney and Scarlett coming to the end, and Hawkins and Lonergan failing to come on as hoped it'll be interesting to see how the Geelong list develops/rejuvenates over the next 2-3 years.

Unless they use Ling as a third forward, they won't get much value out of him for the season. Has lost too much pace.

 

[shawthing09]

Hawthorn and Geelong are the real wild cards in the pack.

Both sides have a wealth of talent. The questions will really be how much will the Ablett loss impact Geelong, whilst losing a player of that quality is bound to hurt I think you'll find Varcoe will step up. He won't replace Ablett totally but he will certainly add that, run and carry and real outside hurt factor and maintain that balance in their midfield. The question will be can the new game plan, added youth and new look coach and therefore attitude of the Geelong 2011 outfit add enough to overcome the loss of Ablett. It's tough to say, as good as Thompson has been I think it was the right time for them to get some new views in anyway and shake things up. Whether they can improve enough is too hard to speculate but I wouldn't be writting off a side with that much talent.

Hawthorn's 2011 was thrown by injury interrupted pre-seasons, lack of structure and persisting with a game plan that they could no longer execute. The addition of Hale, full pre-seasons to most of their key personal and a full pre-season working on the new structure and game plan will mean they are a much better side in 2011. How much still remains to be seen.

The round 22 match really showed nothing most of our key guys played out of position, Lecafe tried to tag, mids spent a large amount of time up foward, Fraser played and the result was close anyway. Both sides will be very different next time they meet and it will be the first accurate illustartion of how the two sides match up in over 12 months as first meeting in 2010 Hawthorn where injury ravaged and second meeting was a dead rubber.

On Collingwood the main question marks are over the form and injury of the key personal. We don't have as deep a list of ready made players this year. In 2010 we had a large amount of players having break through years and it will be interesting to see how they go in 2011. There is still a huge amount of pressure on Jolly and I don't think we'd want to be without Luke Ball for too long either. There is a lot of room for improvement in the young side but there is also huge scope for players output to drop a little due to feeling a little complacent or struggling with the added pressure or attention that is likely to come with being the hunted. We where clearly the best side in 2010, there is scope for improvement and we have added 2 guys who will more then likely strengthen our best 22, so we have every right to feel confident we will be the best side in 2011, but nothing is a forgone conclusion.