Analysis Why are we so successful?

[Manila_Hawk]

I hate threads like this.

Past glory is no guarantee of future glory.

Melbourne won in 1955,1956,1957,1959,1960,1964...
.... I am sure that their supporters thought there was another one just around the corner.....

 

[Furn2]

Free agency.

 

[Brant]

I'd like to hear your theories on how & why our amazing club has enjoyed such unprecedented and sustained success over the decades, when other clubs have struggled so badly.

Hawthorn's won 13 flags since 1961 at an average of one every 4.5 years. Compare that with the other extreme, St.Kilda, who've won nothing despite fielding teams containing the likes of Lockett, Barker, Loewe, Winmar, Harvey, Riewoldt, Milne and Hayes during this period. Even a club like Richmond (every Bigfooty thread MUST contain reference to Richmond right?) only scraped 6 flags in that time and were a basketcase for thirty years, and then you have minnow strugglers like Melbourne, Norf and the Doggies who fail consistently.

The draft & salary cap exist to make Hawthorn's exceptionalism impossible yet since being implemented five of our flags have been won in the AFL era, admittedly four in a single run of success and the other at the tail end of another, yet still we've managed to win a flag every decade. That suggests despite its worst fears the AFL has a "Hawthorn problem" it is unable to solve, as we snatch precious Premierships away from its' preferred interstate & "big 4" recipients on a consistent basis.

This leads to an obvious followup question, how likely are the identified reasons behind our success likely to continue into the future?

Favoured by the umps, mainly.

 

[FisherHawk]

Culture, talent? Arthur, Crimmins, Kennedy, Clarkson, Matthews, Tuck, Dunstall, Hodge, Mitchell, Parkin, Jeans, Knights, Dicker, Langford, Crawford, Cook, Hudson, Dipper, Ayres, Roughead, Brereton, Kennett, Moore, Eade...

 

[HairyO]

View attachment 812873

My Dad grew up Essendon. Swapped to Hawthorn in the 50s because he loved what Kennedy was doing.

Brought his brothers with him and broke my grandfather's heart.

 

[Crock]

Astute management and good succession planning

 

[Argy]

The only important question is: How do we maintain success?

 

[Randy Campbell]

The only important question is: How do we maintain success?

Come what may you'll find us striving.

 

[bris tarangau]

My Dad grew up Essendon. Swapped to Hawthorn in the 50s because he loved what Kennedy was doing.

Brought his brothers with him and broke my grandfather's heart.

Your grandpa should be proud of his son. He has brought an aura of sporting success to the family

 

[HairyO]

Your grandpa should be proud of his son. He has brought an aura of sporting success to the family

Then one of his brothers moved to following Carlton.

 

[Randy Campbell]

Then one of his brothers moved to following Carlton.

You can choose your family but not your blood.

 

[goldfinger]

#freekickhawthorn

Obviously.

 

[Dewnior]

Zones and free agency

 

[Gralin]

there is only one answer to this... Cos Hawthorn

I'm disappointed it took so long for someone to mention the obvious

 

[Carl Spackler]

#freekicks

 

[Roddy]

Hawthorn gonna hawk...

 

[cryptor]

Would have to be the people. Particularly the leadership both on the football and business sides of the club.

Our club heads include people with very strong personalities and who have some absolutely top notch skills. A perfect recipe for egos to clash and poor decisions to be made based on that.

Instead we see the constant pursuit for improvement. Challenging the norms. Always seeking to learn. And truly investing in people.

Clarko is just one example of this, but a good one we can all see. He's forever looking for ways to innovate and is always prepared to challenge industry norms. Despite being the clear best coach in the league for years he continues to spend his "off-seasons" traveling the world looking to expand his knowledge and develop his philosophies. And he sees the value in investing time into developing those who work under him even if it ultimately means they are head hunted by other clubs.

The club has created an environment that is attractive for the best people to want to work at. For people to want to work hard and improve. And for people to not be afraid to challenge their superiors.

 

[rdhopkins2]

Great coaches. Kanga, Jeans, Clarko We’re the mighty, fighting Hawks. Never surrender. Strong leadership. The 4 Kokoda Pillars culture.

Great players. One for all and all for one. Teamwork is the thing that talks. The club is bigger than any individual.

Great supporters. Riding the bumps with a grin. Never accepted the merger and signed as members. We love our club.

Great facilities. Waverley Park a trailblazer. Hello Premiership nest Dingley. Come what may you’ll find us striving.

Dedicated staff. We play to win.

13 premierships makes a pretty happy team at Hawthorn!

 

[Tall poppy Syndrome]

Because of the Hawthorne effect?

“In psychology the Hawthorne effect refers to the tendency of some people to work harder and perform better when they are participants in an experiment. Behaviour changes due to the attention subjects receive from the researchers, rather than because of any manipulation in dependent variables”.

This could mean that we’re suckers for Clarko’s experiments like the cluster. The team goes all in and performs better accordingly.

Or it could mean we’re shameless hussies for attention. We love the spotlight (finals) and perform disproportionately better in them.

Or it could all be bollocks.

Either way, keep asking the question A Cut Above because when we’re under the research microscope the Hawthorne effect kicks in.

 

[Pessimistic]

I hate threads like this.

Past glory is no guarantee of future glory.

Melbourne won in 1955,1956,1957,1959,1960,1964...
.... I am sure that their supporters thought there was another one just around the corner.....

‘that’s the thing. We looked headed the same way but broke the back in 2008.

 

[Leeda]

Because of the Hawthorne effect?

“In psychology the Hawthorne effect refers to the tendency of some people to work harder and perform better when they are participants in an experiment. Behaviour changes due to the attention subjects receive from the researchers, rather than because of any manipulation in dependent variables”.

This could mean that we’re suckers for Clarko’s experiments like the cluster. The team goes all in and performs better accordingly.

Or it could mean we’re shameless hussies for attention. We love the spotlight (finals) and perform disproportionately better in them.

Or it could all be bollocks.

Either way, keep asking the question A Cut Above because when we’re under the research microscope the Hawthorne effect kicks in.

the hawthorn effect is inspiring.. it is also tedious because we have won before.. but carry on people.. we can't get enough inspiration..

 

[Carl Spackler]

Because the umpires favour us.

 

[Roddy]

I can just imagine opposition fans' heads exploding if they happen to be reading this thread....

 

[Drewy79]

My take on the recent success is two things- good drafting in the mid 2000's that set up our success between 08-18, and acquiring players through trade and free agency for what would be considered 'unders' if compared to the success they went on to acheive.

That success continued because we drafted well with what late picks we had left after trade. Not many clubs manage this, hence the 'bottom out' effect felt by so many clubs after a successful era. Much like the swans (until very recently anyway), we simply made every post a winner. The fact that we have had a great coaching team obviously helps.

 

[play2win]

we do things the hard way.

never complain, never explain.