I reckon I could get a kick playing against us.
And just as well they can with the lack of success since then!
We need a Charlie Dixon type
1 Like
The âline in the sandâ game is such rubbish folklore - self-serving Dermie wannkery.
After this so called âturning momentâ in Round 11 2004, Hawthorn went on to lose the next 9 games and finished the season second last, recording only subsequent wins over Bulldogs (who finished 3rd last) and Richmond (who finished last). They then only went 1 better in 2005, finishing third last with 5 wins. And 11th in 2006, still getting belted with a percentage of 85%. They didnât truly arrive until 2007. The âline in the sandâ game was just a blip amidst a long period of mediocrity, which still resulted in a 10 goal loss⌠I donât get it all.
14 Likes
Well they turned themselves around as a club and have gone on to win 4 flags. While we have gone nowhere since that match. It may only be symbolic but it was the day they decided as a club that they werenât going to stand for being crap any longer.
3 Likes
Last part summed it up. Our club doesnât care about bring good or crap. They get 60k+ members regardless. We have become the New York Knicks, got a huge, ingrained supporter base do the owners donât need to improve the team, they have the cash flowing in already
2 Likes
We have a team of nice, marketable guys which is great. Iâm proud of Dave Myers and Joe and Tippa when I hear them interviewed - or any of the others. They are pleasant and articulate and represent and market the club beautifully. However, thatâs all well and good OFF the field but we need a serious dose of white-line fever ON the field or we will become the laughing stock of the league. The articles ridiculing EFC this week make me sick. The coaching staff need to harden up too. Lloydy has stated openly that he believes Woosha to be the best all round option for us as coach, but also that he is not a good game day strategist. Well, get someone in the box beside him on game day to assist him. Thereâs no shame in that. The shame will be if we keep producing performances like the last couple.
2 Likes
The line in the sand
I hope that is from the supporters max 10k show up to the next match
The only thing the Hawks really took out of that game was realising that, however hard they fought, guys like Beaumont and vandenberg and everitt and Nathan Thompson were not taking them anywhere.
The only 2 of their stars in the side at that point were Hodge and Mitchell, plus a couple of others who played the 08 side in their last years - Bateman, Osborne and Williams.
Before they got good, they traded out a bunch, changed head recruiter, changed coach, changed game style. You could pretty well argue the real turning point was the off-season after 2004.
Iâm not ruling out us taking something similar out of last week. The club should have had that realisation late last year. The club should have had it in pre-season. It will sink in, eventually.
Action is required
4 Likes
The fact we have to ask if itâs a line in the sand moment means itâs not a line in the sand moment.
The line in the sand moment, should have been Lloyd demolishing Sewell to send us into the final.
It was the ultimate sacrifice of a captain, to put the team needs ahead of his own. We should have used this sacrifice as a metaphor for what we need to do for this club. It should have been used as what this club stands for.
I think Lloydâs response post-game made that sacrifice meaningless.
He effectively gave up football after it. He put his head in the sand and was shameful for doing it. That remorse and shame spread through out the club, and the soft underbelly of the club continued.
Even Dermott Breteton described it as one of the greatest Captain sacrifices heâs seen.
4 Likes
Yeah, theyâd recruit him and try and turn him into an inside mid.
I wonder how many lost games it took from that point on, till the members were calling for the coach and support sacked and the board over-thrown. I wonder what would have happened if they had decided that Clarkson didnât have a clue, and couldnât coach since they were losing all these games.
From that game in 2004, Hawthorn people say the wheels were set in motion to turn the clubâs fortunes around, no more Mr Nice Guys ⌠the genesis of the unsociable Hawks? Change (on / off field recruiting, resources etc) was gradual as Clarkson rebuilt the club from the ground up. Yep, the line in the sand game is very real for Hawthorn. Much like the Hawks saying P Salmon was so good that he was included in their team of the century ⌠they have much to thank Essendon for.
2 Likes
Brereton was the one who went down and made it a line in the sand. Think it was when Johnson buried their ruckman (Campbell?) that was the tipping point for him. I think Brereton was a board member at the time? Would love for someone to grow a pair and tell the players exactly how we feel and make them shape up or ship out. We need more Devon Smithâs and less soft â â â â â
2 Likes
Yep.
And remember when our CEO told the players theyâd put in an unacceptable performance?
Public apology. Soft as butter.
Anyone who is unwilling to bleed for this club should be farked off, let alone those unwilling to break a sweat or stand by a hard call.
2 Likes
All we want each week is a consistent performance, to know that the boys are busting their guts. When we see players lazily jogging after opponents, allowing easy marks and not competing that is the most disappointing thing.
Itâs not about just winning and losing itâs about whether you can come off the field honestly believing you tried your absolute best.
As a member and supporter I am sick and tired of going to games each year and seeing our performances fluctuate so wildly from week to week, it staggers me that we can play well against top sides and then never show up against the teams we are touting as matching up well against. This has been going on for a decade now and itâs disgusting.
1 Like
YeahâŚbut they beat us 5 of the next 6 games. And thatâs what it was mainly about, not being our â â â â â .
Everyone beat us from 2005 onwards⌠it was hardly a Hawthorn thing.
1 Like
About 8 losses on the trot, then Schwab copped it.
End of the year Dicker got pushed by kennett, Piciaone and Nathan Thompson copped it.
They got in Clarkson & Franklin/Roughead/Lewis, and theyâre away. A year later Pelchen takes over from Buckenara and does a nifty job filling in the rest of the list gaps.
Had they picked Tambling / Tom williams / John Meesen in 2004?? theyâd probably be ruing letting Nathan Thompson and Piciaone go.