At this stage of the year - that first quarter effort will be very instructive. I'm sure it will get several long looks from first the coaching panel and then the players.

I'd much rather the guys have quarters like that now, than in the season proper.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

I don't know how you can draw conclusions one way or another from that match.

All I can 'guess' is that we are still a bit green and if we are missing a few or have a few players down on form then it can throw our whole system out of whack.

There was still a few players that I'd like to see a bit less of once the real business starts to get going.

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Just because I'm offended, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

We didn't have WIGGINS

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#DonTheStash

Losing sucks. Losing without WIGGINS sucks big time.

I feel for Hawthorn.

look it was just a practice match.. it meant nothing to the players more than getting a solid work out....

The Haws played with their reserve team and we played the first Quarter with a Switched off mentality....


What bothered me is that everytime we take a Step forward, We go two steps backwards....Some of the things the boys did were unacceptable and has to be addressed. As Supporters, we really thought that we were over those Fatal Skill Errors and decision making, but some Players just cant get rid of old Habits....

if anyone knows where i could download a copy of this game, please pm me.

it would be very much appreciated.


cheers
gez

The contrast between the skill level we showed last week and this week was massive... I thought I was watching Carlton circa 2006 the way we were playing in the 1st qtr. I half expected to look up at the coaches box and see Den Den and Libba behind the glass...

It was great to come back from 30 down early in the 2nd qtr to win by 4 goals, but seriously.... we shouldnt have been in that position in the first place. If the Hawks had their full side on the park, they would've spanked us by 10 goals plus again...

We might yet sneak into the finals this year, but today prooved that we are still miles behind Hawthorn and Geelong...

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James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

And we will find out more next week.

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"our electorate seeks less to be informed and more to be validated." Sad times.

Yes, yes we will.

A win against dawks and gaylong would be a boost for the players. a win is a win, even in the nab cup.

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"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on". -Winston Churchill.

Hawthorn don't want to play in Congupna next week. They put a side on the ground that they thought would beat us.
Thornton's first twenty minutes were an abject disaster but he did better later on.
This was the first time I have seen Hawthorn play their rolling zone and it looks great. It seemed that every time we took possession of the footy in the first qtr, they had two defenders sweating on the tackle. It looks as though the only way to reduce the pressure is to play a short-by-foot game so you get the mark but that means sublime foot skills and even then you have to play on quickly to avoid the run and flood.
It was noticeable that when we started hitting targets by foot that the whole game changed.
Their injuries played a part, no doubt in the comeback but you can only beat the team you are playing against and we did that.
I thought some of the umpiring decisions were pretty ordinary but they evened out in the end. Hampson's 'goal' in the last is an example. Fev needs to shut up and stop arguing with the umpires every time he thinks he deserves a free. Umpires are only human and Fev will never get all the frees others get while he mouths off.
Our fitness looks good and we will overrun teams again this year
Garlett and Robbo are finds and if we get the chance to elevate Garlett he will play senior footy this year. He is uncany and I am sure there were two of him on the ground at one stage. He bobbed up everywhere. Robbo wa a bit quieter than the week before but still should play Round 1 IMO.
I don't like Houlihan down back, where he played a lot. He missed a couple of shots he would normally get when he drifted forward.
Jacobs is coming along nicely and so is Hampson. He needs to hold his marks better, though.
I'll take the win and we'll see how they go next week. Good to have hard hitouts.
We still have to find spots for Kreuzer (Jacobs), Scotland (Anderson), Carazzo (?) Wiggins (Hadley?) Yarran (Fisher?) Walker (Armfield or Johnson?) 206 (Fisher, Hampson or Cloke) Setanta (might struggle but I'd still like him at CHB and Waite running riot)
AND anyone who says the players weren't trying has never played a team sport.

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Let slip the Blues of war (with apologies to William Shakespeare) (and Sir Francis Bacon, just in case)

The usual "Hawthorn was missing X Premiership players" article in the HS today.

I wish these idiots would do some research and realise no Premiership team will ever play together again, if so it's extremely rare. All clubs have a 20-30% turnover of best 22's each season, even Grand Final teams.

Crawford has retired.
Croad is missing half the year with injury.
Renouf was lucky to get a game and hold his post late in the year.

So in real terms the Hawks missed Hodge, Franklin, Lewis, Ladson, Dew, Ellis and Osbourne. Still a strong list obviously but only 3 of those IMO are stars you can't replace. The Hawks do have good depth in the midfield with Tuck and Kennedy coming through but I can see the season starting 50/50 for the Hawks in the first 2 months with no defence to speak of and many suspensions the first few rounds.

As for us Blues, Scotland, Warnock, Kreuzer, Yarran, Walker, Carrazzo missing, none are really stars that can't be replaced as this stage, although the talent is obvious in 3 of them that could see them rise to star status quite easily in 2009.

I guess what I'm saying is it's a new season and I hate the way "some" media portray results based on lasts year form. Both teams had players missing yesterday, both teams had important structural players missing, we won on the day in a pre-season game and our kids showed more than their kids, yet we don't hear about it other than Hawks missing X Premiership players.

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Mjonc signing off at 8888

i missed the game entirely, as i'm not in the country. i have read all the posts on this topic, and it seems very encouraging.
but i was wondering if one or two of you could take the time to give me a good summary of the entire game? the HS and Age have very little about it on-line.

this would be very, very much appreciated

regards

travellin' bender

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my last one was rubbish

To give the HUN some credit (*shudder*), the article about the match did include this as the third para:

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

You can only beat the team that shows up.

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"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa

So guys who nail GF wins grow on trees? Switch on the 3rd quarter of the GF & ask yourself how many players in the competition can turn a GF in one quarter.

..pfft who here has a copy of last years GF!? to me it didn't even happen.

Good team the Hawks.

Well, according to the great Grant Thomas, Clarkson didn't want to play Geelong next week, so the hawks weren't keen on winning the game yesterday.

There are only so many times that man can go to The Well of Controversy before it dries up.

Anyway, on both club's current status, you'd expect hawthorn to have more depth than us at the moment. So absolutely no surprises that they should put up a good fight despite missing more quality players than we did.

On a side note, I get the feeling hawks fans expect a Brisbane-like dynasty. They hear that Al and Pelchen planned to win the flag in 2009, so they figure that '08 was a bonus win to add to their next two or three. But they could just as easily be like Essendon* of '93: one surprise flag, then.... nothing.

Plenty can. Doesn't mean Dew is a star, that will win you games every week.

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Mjonc signing off at 8888