Lets not forget the great contribution the Tigers made to Hawks by overlooking Franklin for Tambling. They wouldnt be that scary without Buddy. The Hawks got lucky with that one. Rebuilding our midfield has been the priority for the last couple of seasons and I think we will be looking to recruit KP players in the next 2 drafts. Obtaining the PP for Freddy was absolutely crucial for us.

I find this all quite hilarious GWS included.

At the time of drafting Franklin he had a "few" off field problems and his under 18 carnival was average particularly that cold day at Kardinia Park where it looked like playing footy was the last thing he wanted to do. I would say at the time luck had very little to do with him slipping to 6. Now that he is a superstar the Hawks are lucky that they got him at 6. Ah hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Conversely if he turned out to be a party boy who could not play footy because of his off field behaviour then we would be writing how they wasted a pick and their recruiting manager is a dud. They are never unlucky, just lucky.

The point is woof that there are some things that you can control and some things you can't. There's no way Hawthorn could have forseen that the two key position prospects available that year would both be available at the time of their picks. The only way you can be sure of that is to have picks one and two. There's no doubt they were in a good position to pick up talent but the difference between the Hawks and other sides with good young lists at the moment is those two players, not the Grant Birchalls and Jordan Lewises of the world.

The fact that Franklin and Roughead have turned out to be two of the best pickups available over the last five years is great news for Hawthorn but also a lucky break. If either of the other teams in contention had taken them before the Hawks got a chance we wouldn't be having this conversation and the Hawks wouldn't be in contention for a flag.

What they did was good drafting but you can only pick from those available. The fact that both were available at the time of their picks was lucky.

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

Generally I'm quite happy with how our season has panned out so far.

The losses against Richmond and Essendon* were dissapointing however it is clear that this was largely due to a lack of match fitness.

I'm particularly happy with Kreuzer and the improvement shown by Bower and Jamieson in defence.

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There is no footy god

I'm over the strategy v lucky posts so I won't be discussing it anymore.
With a third of a season over looking at our list I think our forward line needs some serious attention if in 2-3 years time this group is going to peak.
I think as a club we should try and trade a player that will give us another first round pick. I won't name any players but obviously he has to be decent. With this draft supposedly having some depth and the likelyhood of future drafts being decimated due to 2 new football teams being introduced it will be now or never.