What makes Hawthorn great

[Guardian Hawk]

Hi all,

With off/preseason feeling like an eternity already and the club fully committed to a rebuild (meaning some leaner times on field) thought it might be valuable to share some of the things that make this club great. They could be anecdotes, facts, personal connections - anything that matters to you really.

I'll avoid the obvious about our premiership record (and modern dominance) but feel free to post whatever you like.

 

[Guardian Hawk]

One big one for me is you guys - the committed members. Not only did we vote to save the club in 1996/7 (unlike that other mob) but we have one of (if not the) best supporter to member conversion rates since. All the data suggests we are perhaps a mid tier club for supporters around the country, yet we have regularly been top 2 and top 4 for memberships league wide. It's been 25 years since that scary time and it seems our supporters won't take the club for granted ever again - so well done!

 

[Guardian Hawk]

Another important one for me is that the club has chosen to remove itself from pokie profiteering. Whilst it remained financially lucrative, I am really pleased to see the club has chosen to step away from something that is very harmful to individuals and families. Perhaps could have happened a little sooner but super proud the step has been taken.

 

[Guardian Hawk]

Okay, 1 more from me for now (and already breaking my own rule in the OP), but anyone aged 9 - 111 years old, has had Hawthorn win the most (or equal most) flags in their lifetime. In other words, every supporter on BigFooty (and basically anyone you'll meet and chat footy with) has seen more Hawthorn flags than any other side. I sometimes find this fact reassuring or contextualising when having to listen to some opinions of opposition supporters.

 

[Jet_black]

Feel connected to Waverley which I hope they continue to maintain in some form once Dingley is finished.

Back in the 80s, we lived near Waverley and could hear all the noise in the backyard on the weekends. Quite often, you could discern who was winning by hearing the chants and roars.

Why do I support the hawks?
Strangely enough started out for geographic location. Always been in the SE suburbs and they were the closest team even when they were at Glenferrie. Couldn’t be a Bombers or North supporter, lived nowhere near those suburbs. For that reason, I cannot explain why my teenage daughter follows the Cats! We live nowhere near Geelong - there are 11 closer clubs.

Been a member since 2009 after being challenged by my wife to put my money where my mouth was. In hindsight should have signed up much earlier.

What makes us great?
The fighting spirit imbued by John Kennedy in the 50s and 60s and further solidified in the 70s and 80s. The glorious GF run of 1983 to 1989 was testament to the will and culture of a strong team. 2008 was a lightning rod to the faithful (and we killed the shark) and 3 peat speaks for itself. So onwards and upwards to more success!

 

[Toasted]

I think it’s our modesty

 

[Mitchell Madness]

The fact that the club doesn't shy away from anything.
Plenty of negative stuff that gets thrown at the club, and the club goes "yep, can't change it, can only fix it"

The club also moving away from the "traditional" home and having the fans embrace it, whilst most other clubs have lost their fans by doing the same thing

 

[Kanga Commando]

Have a look at the Open Mike interview with Russell Greene. Says it all for me.

 

[The hands of stone]

Started going to games at Waverley with a school mate , after one game we went down to the rooms.
I was a shy fella standing way off to the side , Gary Buckenera came over signed my book then took me around and get all the rest of the players to sign my book.
Was always a Hawk for life after that .

From that moment the club always had a special feel which is almost hard to describe .

 

[Dewnior]

I think it’s our modesty

 

[Coach Killer]

For me it's the vowels. Hawthorn is such a long word and we only needed 2 vowels. It's incredible.

 

[spudmaster]

The colour combination without a doubt.

 

[Suntory Boss Coffee]

I think we're the most successful club since 1900. Considering we joined in 1925, says it all really. Strive to win and anything else is a failure.

 

[threesixpio]

I tend to ask this question the other way around:

Q: Why is XYZ great?
A: Because it’s a bit Hawthorny

 

[Randy Campbell]

Come what may you'll find us striving.

 

[flinchfree]

I love that we're unconventional.
With the colors, you're either all in and can wear the outside derision like a badge of honor or it's not for you. It toughens you and requires your explanation of allegiance to be deeper than scarf pairs well with jeans. The pride you feel has been won on the field, and knowing no one else can challenge that fact is invigorating.
Since the early 70's our recruitment has made no bones that we were after the best, the most skillful, the most daring, and most courageous. Equal parts Peter Knights, Luke Hodge, Don Scott.
Our leadership has been bold and taken risks where many would not, from searching for a new home after spiritual Glenferrie became untenable and all that entailed, to being uncompromising in convincing the wavering next superstar player to join......sometimes in a souped up Commodore.
The coaching has oozed true greatness in creating dynastic teams, not ones that popped up every 10-15 years with a run to the grail. Never relenting, never accepting less, hungry, always hungry.
Simply, we are greatness in sports.
The next chapter is not far away.

 

[grumbleguts]

I can't remember the exact quote, but Lou Richards was asked to explain the VFL finals system to someone unfamiliar with it in the late 80s. He explained the system to them generically and finished it with "and they play Hawthorn in the grand final."

 

[TAITA]

I like to think it's our origins and the journey. If you ever played at a struggling club where a win is like winning a premiership and then savoured the choccies at another, you get an appreciation for what it takes to be successful. That Hawthorn is at both ends of the spectrum, doing it the hard way, gives you an understanding that it's servants do subscribe to 'how dare we fail'.

It's not always roses but the way we go about it is, for want of a better term, very Hawthorn - an eye in the big picture but never dropping our heads until the final bell no matter the score.

On SM-F936B using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Randall Stevens]

I can't remember the exact quote, but Lou Richards was asked to explain the VFL finals system to someone unfamiliar with it in the late 80s. He explained the system to them generically and finished it with "and they play Hawthorn in the grand final."

The Coodabeen Champions had basically the same joke in a book they released in the late 80's. One section was a 'footy dictionary' in which the Grand Final was defined as "last game of the season played between Hawthorn and some other team" or similar.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I'm not sure how relevant it is in today's world, but I'd like to think the fact we didn't play finals for 32 years, and didn't win a flag for 36 years does not allow the club to forget where it came from, and what it took to get to where we are today.

When I first became a member in the 80s, there were only 6000 of us. To see the membership grow to the proportion we enjoy today really is quite remarkable, and I would like to think each new member would receive an indoctrination into the club's history. It gives you confidence that whenever we slip down the ladder, it won't be long before we're back up there again.

I think prior to the anti-merger, we stood at 8000 members. I recall phoning the club to renew my membership and when they told me we (then) had 35,000 members and building, I felt very emotional.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I can't remember the exact quote, but Lou Richards was asked to explain the VFL finals system to someone unfamiliar with it in the late 80s. He explained the system to them generically and finished it with "and they play Hawthorn in the grand final."

I used to say Hawthorn got the best draw each year because we were the only club that didn't have to play the Hawks

 

[Agent Smith]

Hmm... well, I barrack for Hawthorn, so...

 

[Tall poppy Syndrome]

From the 1959 Herald:

‘The Mayblooms, despite playing with great vim and vigour, were gallant in defeat and unable to bloom at Victoria Park this Saturday afternoon. After 35 years in the VFL Hawthorn is yet to beat the Magpies at their spiritual home.’

To Ch7, 1988 at Waverley:
‘Johnny Platen bursts through the centre of VFL Park. Buckenara leads one way, Hall the other, Brereton on a long lead up the middle but Platten bombs it long to….Dunstall! Marks at the top of the goal square.

To Bruce MacAveney in the late noughties, ‘Lance Franklin, the Usain Bolt of football and Cyril Rioli - Delicious, God I love him!’

It’s a rich rich history with plenty of ups and downs and some startling players. You see if God came to Hawthorn today, sure Peter Hudson would be moved to Centre Half Forward. But joining him there would be Dunstall, Roughead, Matthews, and several all time greats of the comp that we’ve been privileged to see in the brown and gold.

That’s part of what makes Hawthorn great.

 

[HedgeFund]

 

[Randy Campbell]

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If your not the best at winning Premierships, are you really the best?