Hawthorn
Coach – Alistair Clarkson
2015 –
Points For – 1st
Points Against – 1st
Top 5 Best and Fairest
- Josh Gibson
- Cyril Rioli
- Sam Mitchell
- Luke Hodge
- Shaun Burgoyne
2015 Rising Star Noms
Billy Hartung (round 7)
Ins – Jack Fitzpatrick, Conor Glass, Ryan Burton, Kieran Lovell, Blake Hardwick, Luke Surman, Kade Stewart
Outs – Jed Anderson, David Hale, Brian Lake, Jonathan Simpkin, Matthew Suckling, Sam Grimley, Jared Hardisty
My Prediction
Annoyingly, they are one of the greatest teams of the modern era. Well coached and a chance to set themselves apart as possibly the greatest team if they win it all again. Three in a row is amazing, four in a row would be a miracle.
Early on you would think the forward line could be exposed. Roughead likely to miss the first half of the season is an issue as is Hale retiring. He is not a superstar but he has performed well as a ruck/forward. There will be a lot of pressure on Gunston who is a very good player but maybe has been able to hide slightly with Roughead getting the best defender. Bruest, Rioli and Puopolo make for a very good group of small forwards, they all operate very differently but between them average five goals a game. Very handy.
The mids is the area I would think is a chance to fall off slightly this year. Their three most profilic midfielders were Hodge, Mitchell and Lewis. All will be 30 plus this year although none really rely on legspeed. Whilst they have younger mids coming through and get run from the likes of Smith and Hill, they again get less scrutiny thanks to playing under the older players.
The backline is the best performed in the competition. They are disciplined and get the job done. Interesting to note that the chasing of Carlisle in the offseason would indicate they feel they are maybe a little short back there with Lakes retirement. Would be hard to argue with that as well. Frawley found his feet towards then end of the season and then you are looking at Spangher or Fitzpatrick after that. Going to be tough this year.
So all up it looks like they are primed to be knocked off the perch but you just wouldn’t bet on it. I would expect a slower start this year and better form in the second half of the season. They are still a top four team but perhaps slightly more vulnerable than previous years. Would expect 3-4 for mine. I dont think they will win four in a row.