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Where do u think we will finish on the AFL ladder come round 22 ?????
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Where will we finish ?????????????
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In my dreams, at around 5.00 on September 30, 2006
, realistically, if Everitt, Crawford and Barker can play most of the season and the kids can hold their heads up, a position around 10th (7-9 wins) is what might happen.
Mind you, no one outside of the Adelaide CBD thought the Crows would do anything last year - there are always surprises!!
, realistically, if Everitt, Crawford and Barker can play most of the season and the kids can hold their heads up, a position around 10th (7-9 wins) is what might happen.Mind you, no one outside of the Adelaide CBD thought the Crows would do anything last year - there are always surprises!!
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I honestly think we will finish 13-14, I think we will get some early wins but then we will suffer a loosing streak. Its hard to get some consistancy with such a young group, with us still needing some more KP players and some one to releave the pressures off willow I cant see us getting huge ammounts of wins.
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sirtrent24
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this is an impossible question to answer because fair dinkum it all comes down to 1 man...many people will disagree with this but i like to think i no just as much about hfc as anyone.
If John Barker plays 18+ games we will make the finals, if he doesnt we wont...simple as that.
If John Barker plays 18+ games we will make the finals, if he doesnt we wont...simple as that.
sirtrent24
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sorry to say mate but ur team is 10 times more likely to get the spoon than us, and a plus for us is that we have a bright future, you have a longggggg way to go
Mr.Likeable
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Sorry for the rant / essay, but...
Let's look at this. According to David Parkin, premierships are decided by the quality of the midfield. Parko reckons you need as many as ten quality midfielders, and that a side with 10 will beat a side with 5 every time.
A couple of critics have acknowledged that the following "Starting 4" cannot be beaten (possibly equalled, but not beaten) by any side:
Everitt (AA ruckman), Crawford (silk), Hodge (silk), Mitchell (most centre clearances).
Back Up: Bateman (silk, but recently injured), Clarke (rated very highly by opposition coaches), Brown, Smith, Vandenberg, Lewis, Ladson, Sewell, Young, Guerra, Ries. These guys are the goods. Some are competitive with the best; all of them can destroy a moderate player on an average day. And all have off days.
More than 10. 14 plus Everitt to be exact. Sure, quite a few have weaknesses; look at recent premiership sides: quite a few have weaknesses, but together: quality.
THIS STARTING MIDFIELD IS WAY AHEAD OF ANYTHING HAWTHORN HAS STARTED WITH IN THE PAST 5-10 YEARS. 5 years ago we had: Crawford, Smith, Vandenberg, Lekkas, Tallis...
Key Forwards: Williams (23 y.o., 60+ goals @ 22; how many in history have done that? A: Not many - check the record books folks), Barker (??), Boyle (can mark; has only played 3 games; looks ready to play a season), Roughead (unproven, possibly 2nd yr blues, but capable of contested marks with the best in the comp), Dixon (not a 1st KPP, but a very good 3rd or 4th)
Key Backs: Croad (AA), Jacobs (fit for the first time? Essendon say he's better than Bolton, but was in doubt due to his back when he was swapped to Hawthorn for Rawlings, who had a sus knee), a youngster at FB (possible serious weakness, but there are options).
Plus: Campbell, Ries, Franklin, Miller, Taylor, Thurgood, Dawson (not a bad bunch of extras off the bench) - and some very highly rated first-years.
Injuries could kill us. But this is a Top 8 side. No questions. No excuses. I cannot understand why Hawthorn fans rate us bottom 4.
Coaches? The first MBA coach in the AFL (is it a bonus? who knows? but nobody in history has managed to change a list the way he has in 15 months), also as assistants: a premiership player @ 2 clubs / B&F and a captain / B&F.
The coaching staff said our weakness was hardness at the start of last year. We are now as hard as any. Now they're focused on skills. If they get that right this year... ???
Final 8? Hardly a delusion. Not a certainty. But very, very gettable.
Remember the Baby Bombers? (Feel free to spit at the memory.) When Sheedy took over at Essendon, he replaced captain Simon Madden (who would go on to win 2 more B&F's) with Ron Andrews.
Our coaches ain't stupid.
Our team ain't ordinary.
Let's look at this. According to David Parkin, premierships are decided by the quality of the midfield. Parko reckons you need as many as ten quality midfielders, and that a side with 10 will beat a side with 5 every time.
A couple of critics have acknowledged that the following "Starting 4" cannot be beaten (possibly equalled, but not beaten) by any side:
Everitt (AA ruckman), Crawford (silk), Hodge (silk), Mitchell (most centre clearances).
Back Up: Bateman (silk, but recently injured), Clarke (rated very highly by opposition coaches), Brown, Smith, Vandenberg, Lewis, Ladson, Sewell, Young, Guerra, Ries. These guys are the goods. Some are competitive with the best; all of them can destroy a moderate player on an average day. And all have off days.
More than 10. 14 plus Everitt to be exact. Sure, quite a few have weaknesses; look at recent premiership sides: quite a few have weaknesses, but together: quality.
THIS STARTING MIDFIELD IS WAY AHEAD OF ANYTHING HAWTHORN HAS STARTED WITH IN THE PAST 5-10 YEARS. 5 years ago we had: Crawford, Smith, Vandenberg, Lekkas, Tallis...
Key Forwards: Williams (23 y.o., 60+ goals @ 22; how many in history have done that? A: Not many - check the record books folks), Barker (??), Boyle (can mark; has only played 3 games; looks ready to play a season), Roughead (unproven, possibly 2nd yr blues, but capable of contested marks with the best in the comp), Dixon (not a 1st KPP, but a very good 3rd or 4th)
Key Backs: Croad (AA), Jacobs (fit for the first time? Essendon say he's better than Bolton, but was in doubt due to his back when he was swapped to Hawthorn for Rawlings, who had a sus knee), a youngster at FB (possible serious weakness, but there are options).
Plus: Campbell, Ries, Franklin, Miller, Taylor, Thurgood, Dawson (not a bad bunch of extras off the bench) - and some very highly rated first-years.
Injuries could kill us. But this is a Top 8 side. No questions. No excuses. I cannot understand why Hawthorn fans rate us bottom 4.
Coaches? The first MBA coach in the AFL (is it a bonus? who knows? but nobody in history has managed to change a list the way he has in 15 months), also as assistants: a premiership player @ 2 clubs / B&F and a captain / B&F.
The coaching staff said our weakness was hardness at the start of last year. We are now as hard as any. Now they're focused on skills. If they get that right this year... ???
Final 8? Hardly a delusion. Not a certainty. But very, very gettable.
Remember the Baby Bombers? (Feel free to spit at the memory.) When Sheedy took over at Essendon, he replaced captain Simon Madden (who would go on to win 2 more B&F's) with Ron Andrews.
Our coaches ain't stupid.
Our team ain't ordinary.
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West Coast had the better talent than the Swans in the midfield imo, quite clearly.
Didn't have the same team ethos as the Swans though. I reckon the Swans had the better attack and a much better rebound defensive set-up as well (Kennelly and Barry are suberb in these roles).
There's plenty of sides with quailty midfields and our midfield is still a work in progress.
As you say, there's still areas that need to be addressed (Bateman's inability to play out a full season for instance) before we can say we're really a gun midfield side.
There's nothing wrong with a rant but I can't say I agree with you other than there's areas where we are okay but not outstanding. We could go alright this year depending on injury and progress of the blokes you point to as back-up.
But if injury does hit and the back-up doesn't step up or takes a little while longer to come through (and remember, some of these blokes are still kids, it took Hodge until last year to really break out to be a top-line player).. we could struggle.. and struggle quite hard.
Fwiw, I reckon we are on the right track but can't see, when I look at other clubs lists and then look at our list in relation to theirs, where we can look at finals footy as a realistic option for this year.
Youngest list in the league with a few of our (Crawford and Everitt) real gun players at the twilight (i/e best might be behind them, or at least, consistent best) years.
I'd love to be wrong and for us to really come on strong and surprise the pundits but the odds are long on us for a reason, we don't rate with the football public because we've haven't done enough to deserve rating with the sides that are short-priced for the finals.
That'll change when we get some more games into the likes of B/L/F and the rest of the recent draftee's. But don't expect miracles from kids, it very rarely happens.
Didn't have the same team ethos as the Swans though. I reckon the Swans had the better attack and a much better rebound defensive set-up as well (Kennelly and Barry are suberb in these roles).
There's plenty of sides with quailty midfields and our midfield is still a work in progress.
As you say, there's still areas that need to be addressed (Bateman's inability to play out a full season for instance) before we can say we're really a gun midfield side.
There's nothing wrong with a rant but I can't say I agree with you other than there's areas where we are okay but not outstanding. We could go alright this year depending on injury and progress of the blokes you point to as back-up.
But if injury does hit and the back-up doesn't step up or takes a little while longer to come through (and remember, some of these blokes are still kids, it took Hodge until last year to really break out to be a top-line player).. we could struggle.. and struggle quite hard.
Fwiw, I reckon we are on the right track but can't see, when I look at other clubs lists and then look at our list in relation to theirs, where we can look at finals footy as a realistic option for this year.
Youngest list in the league with a few of our (Crawford and Everitt) real gun players at the twilight (i/e best might be behind them, or at least, consistent best) years.
I'd love to be wrong and for us to really come on strong and surprise the pundits but the odds are long on us for a reason, we don't rate with the football public because we've haven't done enough to deserve rating with the sides that are short-priced for the finals.
That'll change when we get some more games into the likes of B/L/F and the rest of the recent draftee's. But don't expect miracles from kids, it very rarely happens.
What we lack is maturity at both ends of the field; forward and defence.
Don't get me wrong, we do have a fantastic midfield and the cattle at both ends to be a fantastic team in 2-3 years, but having such a young forward and defensive set up, we are always going to struggle with consistancy this season.
8-10 wins is the most probable result!
Don't get me wrong, we do have a fantastic midfield and the cattle at both ends to be a fantastic team in 2-3 years, but having such a young forward and defensive set up, we are always going to struggle with consistancy this season.
8-10 wins is the most probable result!
Mr.Likeable
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I agree with the reservations expressed. I also think current expectation for Hawthorn is based a little too much on recent history, that's all. IF a couple of things "click" sooner rather than later, there is a real possibility of a very quick, decisive rise through the ranks. If those things don't click yet, then yes, we'll be also rans for another year - though exciting also-rans.
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