Season 2020 - Hawthorn

Football Discussion Non Essendon Stuff
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Hawthorn

Coach – Alistair Clarkson

2019 –

Points For – 11th
Points Against – 3rd

Top 5 Best and Fairest

  1. James Worpel
  2. Ricky Henderson
  3. Jaeger O’Meara
  4. James Sicily
  5. Blake Hardwick

2019 Rising Star Noms

Mitchell Lewis (Round 18)

Ins – Will Day, Finn Maginness, Josh Morris, Emerson Jeka, Sam Frost, Jon Patton, Michael Hartley

Outs – Grant Birchall, Kaiden Brand, Darren Minchington, David Mirra, Tim Mohr, Marc Pittonet, Jarryd Roughead, Ryan Schoenmakers

My Prediction

Hawthorn keep threatening to fall of the cliff but somehow it just never happens. Their outs again this year look better than the players they are bringing in but they have a system and somehow no matter who they bring in, it just seems to work. Eventually though, the continual weakening of their playing list has had an impact. They are no longer a challenger for the premiership but remain competitive.

The backline gets the job done every year and perform above the rest of the team. They benefit from an all team defensive philosophy. Frost will be an interesting addition this year because he has never struck me as an intelligent footballer but he will be relied on less than he was at Melbourne. Frawley and Sicily will still hold the main defensive posts with Hardwick and Impey giving good run.

The midfield will welcome back Tom Mitchell this year and they need him. Last year they looked light without him. Scully and O’Meara will benefit from another year of football and along with Worpel, give them a solid core. Henderson looked good last year and they still have Smith and Burgoyne in their rotations. There is plenty of quality in the midfield for Hawthorn but there are also concerns. O’Meara and Scully still have questions over their bodies and no one seems to come back from an injury like Mitchells easily.

The forward line is light on. O’Brien is a massive tease who looks like he has all the tools but goes missing a lot or often plays stupid football, Lewis looked good in patches last year but has a long way to go. Wingard is a selfish footballer who despite his talent, has never achieved consistency. They have Bruest and Puopolo as smalls. The forward line reads better than it performs. Patton will be interesting this year, I don’t feel he adds a lot to their list outside of risk.

McEvoy is a quality ruck but I thought he showed signs last year of his body starting to look a little busted. He wasn’t as mobile as he had been. They have Ceglar as his backup but he is really just a backup. They need McEvoy to get it done. There isn’t much to add about the coach, he has proven himself over a long period of time. I would question his avoidance of the rebuild as he hangs on hoping for another shot at glory but he keeps finishing around the mark.

Hawks have weakened their playing list but at the same time will strengthen with Mitchell coming back and Scully and O’Meara with more games under the belt since their injuries. I am not sure they will drop this year but I don’t see them being a challenger either. Will be around the eight again. I think they are likely to finish between 8-10

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Wees and Poos best 22

B: Michael Hartley , James Frawley, Ben Stratton©

HB: Blake Hardwick, James Sicily, Jarman Impey

C: Isaac Smith, Tom Mitchell, Tom Scully

HF: Chad Wingard, Mitch Lewis, Jack Gunston

F: Paul Puopolo, Jon Patton , Luke Breust

FOLL: Ben McEvoy, James Worpel, Jaeger O’Meara

I/C: Shaun Burgoyne, Ricky Henderson, Liam Shiels, Finn Maginess

Emg: Sam Frost, Tim O’Brien, Daniel Howe

Hawks would have liked Irving Mosquito coming through to replace old Puopolo in the forwardline, Good work Dodoro.

Finn Maginess will impress. Not sold on Day being ready this year looks a bit light on.

I back Hartley to make the team ahead of Frost…maybe thats my Essendon Bias, but Clarkson would love his delivery by foot.

If Mitchell gets back midfield looks a lot better…if not then Clarkosn will have shiels with more game time and Daniel Howe in a more negative role to shut the game down. Plus Scully and O’Mearas bodies should be more battle ready after spending more time with the Hawks fitness staff.

I rate Worpel, he had a good year, now needs to back it up.

I rate Mitch Lewis as a forward prospect ahead of O’Brien who feels like he has been around for ages and not done much.

Clarkson will have this Hawks lineup fit and battling out for a finals spot no doubt…prediction 6-12th

Interesting how many games they get out of Patton, if He goes down then O’Brien in or maybe they send siciliy forward and Frost comes in which gives them more cover for KPP.

Mids solid, Backs solid, forwards lacks KPP power, if General Patton manages to overcome injury and fire then its solid too.

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Well the last couple of years has shown that getting Mitchell back is not necessarily going to be the answer.

Richmond won 2 premierships in 3 years with an effective, but not a champion midfield. They did not need a Mitchell, they did not need a McEvoy. Geelong thought they had the dreamteam midfield in 2018, but even in 2019 it was not good enough to win them a flag. Collingwood with a champion midfield got to a grand final, yeh, but the midfield is not the be all/end all.

Hawthorn now has poor/ suspect bookends and lots of aging “stars”

We worry about Hurley and Hooker. We have 2 over 30. Imagine what the Hawthorn people think. They have 7 players over 30 including a 37 year old, they just cannot continue to improve with such a list demographic.

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Dingley Dawks

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Cue @efc1robbo

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Fold and die

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Fark them

The more punching of walls by the angry dwarf the better

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Think you might be underselling them a bit there.

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I have to say I like their aggressive list management policy, give it a while their youngest listed player will be 28. The AFL’s retirement village.

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Bottom 4 for clearances and hitouts in a premiership year? I think Richmond concentrate on either winning or halving one on one contests, by avoiding committing too many players to crowded stoppage situations where clearances are rarely clean cut and to advantage. Of course chopsticks plays in the midfield on rotation, but goes forward and kicks goals at twice the rate of Mitchell. Mitchell could not take a mark, let alone an contested mark to save his life.

Mitchell is a slippery accumulator who won a Brownlow, Martin is a brilliant all round powerhouse.

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l would back almost anyone to be a better defender than Frost. Biggest spud l have seen since Vickery was running around the ground.

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You saw Vickery running?
I just remember him falling over.

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My guess is that Pinchy Stratton and the boys will finish a very competitive 13th and Little Al will internally combust, but sound quite rational by Monday night on 360 (which I won’t be watching).

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Would definetley consider playing Ambrose or Townsend as a forward against the hawks with their sole focus to make Strattons life Hell.

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Our players are too nice, they need to get angry and nasty without losing control of themselves. What do the scribes call it ? " unsociable" ?

Honestly, what a miscalculation. Pinchy Stratton as captain ? He was so poor last year, leading by example was an absolute joke. He should be replaced this year. Gunston should get the job. Sicily needs to demonstrate he can control himself before he is even considered.

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Article today indicating that McEvoy has trained as a back man all preseason.
It then goes on to list Sicily, Frost, and Frawley as their other key backs.
No mention of Hartley- their other key back.
Seems he’s as forgotten there as he was with us.

Or Clarkson has a cunning scheme.

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Patton - if fit - could be their most interesting acquisition for a few years. Small ball forward lines (ie speaheaded by Gunston) work if you have real control over rhe footy, but they’ve not had that focus on skill level for a few years.

Patton gives them a dump-long option and should draw a couple of defenders.

Will be mid pack, 6th-10th ish. Again.

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Worst captain at the Dawks since Vanturdburger.

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You be a brave man to not back this team into minimum play finals but I think top 4 this season

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Top 4 ???..for realz ?

I don’t think so !