What do you see being the team's greatest weakness in 2015?

Tall defenders, guarding brutes like Tummy Porkins

  • Ruck, lack of a genuine dominant hitout winner

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    154

Dewnior

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ordivician said:
In my mind we still need to replace voldemort with another tall forward target. That way if we lost Roughy as we did in 2011 with achilles tendon, we could still stay in the hunt for the flag. Needless to say finding another big forward that good in the short term is near impossible.
Jeremy Cameron comes off contract next year
 

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flinchfree

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Midfield is no worries for us, i dont know if you know but we have a good crop of young talent in the reserves (anderson, hartung, simpkin, whitecross, woodward and O'Rouke) and possibly more in the upcoming draft.

I am more worried about our backline, even though we got frawley. Lake, Gibson, Hodge and burgers all play a critical role in the back 50 and losing them will hurt very much and i am still unsure on how shoey will develop in the back line.
How many games have your 'crop of young talent' played at AFL level and shown they are of the quality to make it as top line mindfielders?

RE your concern about the backline, I take it you're not a fan of Stratton, Duryea, Lithers, and Spangher???
Wow. All of those I've mentioned have shown they can cut it at the highest level.


I want to see grimley get a few more games under his belt this year, cant afford for him to leave the club
Now you're just messing with us, right....:rolleyes:I don't think you spend much time watching games.
 

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B0SK

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Thread starter #112
I agree Roughead going down for a significant length would cripple us, but don't forget if our ruck stocks were fully fit we'd have the option of playing Hale as a permanent forward. Lake could also spend time at FF if Frawley was to take over his role down back.
Obviously losing Roughead would be a massive bodyblow any way you slice it. Versatility has become one of the team's greatest strengths though, as has adapting when key play-makers are missing.

I feel like our two greatest obstacles next year will be players slowing down due to age, and the challenge above the shoulders to stay hungry & resilient.
 
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I feel like our two greatest obstacles next year will be players slowing down due to age, and the challenge above the shoulders to stay hungry & resilient.
Indeed....you have just provided for the perfect answer to your own O/P question BOSK !

Ultimately it will be the kids who have missed out thus far who will determine our fate; due to their hunger to join in the festivities & feasting!

So: Frawley, Anderson, Whitecross, Ceglar, Simpkin, Woodward, Litherland, O'Rourke, Hartung, Schoey et al, will need to maintain the pressure/rage on the senior blokes to a premium.

Reckon we'll be far more conservative in the use of Mitchell, Hodge, Burgers, Lake, Hale & Gibson across the entire season....We now have the midfield, defensive & ruck stocks in order to do so; assuming another injury crisis doesn't hit us!....This will also help in facilitating with the inevitable absence of those players in learning to cope & compete in their absence!
 

Ordovician

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The players that are in danger of slipping into complacency are the mid-range younger players who have had it a bit easy since joining the Hawks and who may sub-consciously labour under the misapprehension that playing deep into September is a bit of a right for a club like the Hawks.

The older players especially those who have been around the club for a long time like Mitchell and Hodge have played year after year through the lean times, as well as those oldies who have suffered similarly at their former incompetent clubs e.g. Hale, Lake, Gibbo & Burgers, are fully aware of their own footballing mortality and will be desperate to cram as much footballing success as they possibly can from what precious few seasons are left to them because they are facing the irrefutable truth that footballers spend along time retired from the game.

These veterans should provide the inspiration and leadership to the young'uns to work as hard as possible to be successful as possible just as Shane Crawford inspired the 2008 to great deeds, because a footballer's career is very brief so they have to make the most of every opportunity that still remains.
 
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The players that are in danger of slipping into complacency are the mid-range younger players who have had it a bit easy since joining the Hawks and who may sub-consciously labour under the misapprehension that playing deep into September is a bit of a right for a club like the Hawks.

The older players especially those who have been around the club for a long time like Mitchell and Hodge have played year after year through the lean times, as well as those oldies who have suffered similarly at their former incompetent clubs e.g. Hale, Lake, Gibbo & Burgers, are fully aware of their own footballing mortality and will be desperate to cram as much footballing success as they possibly can from what precious few seasons are left to them because they are facing the irrefutable truth that footballers spend along time retired from the game.

These veterans should provide the inspiration and leadership to the young'uns to work as hard as possible to be successful as possible just as Shane Crawford inspired the 2008 to great deeds, because a footballer's career is very brief so they have to make the most of every opportunity that still remains.
It is a right for our club;)

Seriously though, your point is well made - a lot of our recent success is built upon the leadership of the senior players you've named, and their experience of lean times either when we were terrible or their former clubs were (then there's also the addition of Frawley, who moved to chase this nebulous concept of "success"; he'll learn that it's a real thing soon enough).

The impending tragedy is going to come in the next few years, when Hodge, Mitchell, Lake, Burgoyne and Gibson retire, and are then followed not too long after by Lewis, Roughead, and Spangher. That's going to create a vacuum. Now while we have an immense amount of talent on our list, the character that is built by the experience of failure is the foundation of success, and our younger players won't have had that. Perhaps it can be replaced by the mindset they've developed from being raised in a culture of success, but I fear that the easy life they've experienced so far may lead to a certain softness creeping in (I desperately hope that I'm wrong about that though).

The retirement issue is definitely going to be our greatest weakness from 2017 onwards.
 

HODGEYROAD

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It is a right for our club;)

Seriously though, your point is well made - a lot of our recent success is built upon the leadership of the senior players you've named, and their experience of lean times either when we were terrible or their former clubs were (then there's also the addition of Frawley, who moved to chase this nebulous concept of "success"; he'll learn that it's a real thing soon enough).

The impending tragedy is going to come in the next few years, when Hodge, Mitchell, Lake, Burgoyne and Gibson retire, and are then followed not too long after by Lewis, Roughead, and Spangher. That's going to create a vacuum. Now while we have an immense amount of talent on our list, the character that is built by the experience of failure is the foundation of success, and our younger players won't have had that. Perhaps it can be replaced by the mindset they've developed from being raised in a culture of success, but I fear that the easy life they've experienced so far may lead to a certain softness creeping in (I desperately hope that I'm wrong about that though).

The retirement issue is definitely going to be our greatest weakness from 2017 onwards.
Hilarious that Spangher is mentioned with those other names.
 

Gene Simmons

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We still have plenty of fringe players who will be pushing selection and keeping alot of players honest, alot of our senior players have the opportunity to become 4 time premiership winners, become the first Hawks team to achieve a hat trick.. and be held in the same regard as Brisbane Lions 01-04, Hawks of the 80's... plenty still left in the motivation bank :thumbsu:
 

deanc

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Pedro Sanchez Valinos?
Agreed. The vacuum spangher creates when he leaves will be similar to the vacuum created by Pedro Sanchez Valinos when he left Peru for the Seychelles.
With the inclusion of Frawley, emergence of Duryea and Litherland I can't see Spanghar being part of any 'vacuum'. Despite his cult figure status, to be blunt, if it wasn't for Schoemaker's 2014 indifferent form I doubt he would even be in our current backline...
 

realhawk

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Correct, the Gestapo can not stand Hawthorns dominance, we already have the toughest draw, they want to tax our football budget, statistically we receive little love from the umps and the MRP. The AFL is set up as a socialist government and we are the big successfull organisation that must play fair and share the spoils. The club has known this for some time and has put things in place to make it very difficult for the AFL to bring us down. As in the real world left wing policy fails, so too will it in the football world, they would be better off trying to get the weak up to standard than tearing down the strong.
 

Brant

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Yeah, I'm not so sure the AFL is as anti-HFC as it may have been (seemed) 12 months ago. At present you've got Essenscum bringing the Continent into disrepute on a World scale; $ydney shut-down from trading for 2 years; GWS losing key-players; &, Cold Ghost losing Coaches... Add to that, the Country's biggest team is sliding backwards (fast) & Free Agency is making good clubs better & crap clubs crapper - all this with dwindling attendance numbers at the turnstiles.

I think the AFL would be pretty happy with some HFC-style good ness right about now & IMO, it reflects in our draw this year in comparison to the last 2 years. I think the AFL has at least 5 things to worry about more than us winning our 3rd on the trot...
 
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