So many reasons to love last night...

[westdog54]

That first half. I don't think we made any glaring errors for the whole half.

The tackling intensity was unbelievable, the accuracy by foot even more so, and the decision making under what little pressure we had seemed to be spot on every single time.

The back 6 were magnificent. I don't think Harbrow and Hargrave missed a target all night. Gilbee was Gilbee. Lake and Morris gave their respective opponents the mother of all baths. Murphy is getting his mojo back.

Higgins had Hawks supporters around me in awe. Even they think he should be our next captain. How he got to our pick in the draft beggars belief.

Welsh got 3. Didn't have a lot of the ball, but his second efforts just kept coming.

Add to the list. There's plenty more to say.

[LostDoggy]

Welsh, Ward & Aker creating a 3 stooges epsiode :D

[AndrewP6]

Really liked our defensive pressure and tackling... the boys went after just about every ball...including in the last few minutes, which the Triple M boys liked.

The smother (I think by Griffen) which came after a turnover that could've lead to a score

Lake's blanket job on Buddy.

[boydogs]

Welsh, Ward & Aker creating a 3 stooges epsiode :D

Made me laugh that one :) Seriously though they need to talk to Aker about his decision making, last night he didn't know whether to play on or go back, kick on the left or go back around to the right, pass or have a shot. Looked like he rushed things a bit, but a great game nonetheless


Really liked our defensive pressure and tackling... the boys went after just about every ball...including in the last few minutes, which the Triple M boys liked.

The smother (I think by Griffen) which came after a turnover that could've lead to a score

Lake's blanket job on Buddy.

Yep it was Griffen's smother, best game since early in the year from my name sake :) Needs to work on his left foot though

The chasing was fantastic. I thought the tackling could have been better though as they were continually able to get a handball away to a teammate. There were a couple of passages of play where we laid 3+ tackles in a row and they still took the ball away

Brian should change his name again after last night to Brian Franklin having comprehensively owned Buddy :D

[AndrewP6]

Made me laugh that one :) Seriously though they need to talk to Aker about his decision making, last night he didn't know whether to play on or go back, kick on the left or go back around to the right, pass or have a shot. Looked like he rushed things a bit, but a great game nonetheless

Says a lot for the Hawks that Aker had time to choose from those options!:)


The chasing was fantastic. I thought the tackling could have been better though as they were continually able to get a handball away to a teammate. There were a couple of passages of play where we laid 3+ tackles in a row and they still took the ball away

Fair point, some of our tackles didn't stick... I liked our endeavour to tackle...

[hujsh]

That Griff's smother meant that Buddy still hadn't had an effective kick yet.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Higgins had Hawks supporters around me in awe. Even they think he should be our next captain. How he got to our pick in the draft beggars belief.


And Hawthorn had the nerve to ask for Higgins as a trade when we asked about Tim Boyle.

[Mofra]

One small thing I noticed last game.

3rd Quarter, Johnson has the ball, Hawks have one opponent who can effect the contest. Griffen runs hard for a handball receive in the F50.

Johnson loops the ball over, Griffen takes his eyes off the ball, scans the F50, then looks at the ball again when it gets to him.

He takes it cleanly, and because he scanned the F50, knows exactly how much time he has to stady & kick the ball. Of coruse, he times it perfectly & kicks the goal.

Situational Awarness is a term stressed to military aviators, it seems Griffen had that innate understanding of how important it was to timing & positioning. It probably sounds like such a small thing to notice but I was very impressed. A lesser player would have watched the flight of the ball, panicked when he got it, rushed the shot and possibly fluffed it.

[LostDoggy]

One small thing I noticed last game.

3rd Quarter, Johnson has the ball, Hawks have one opponent who can effect the contest. Griffen runs hard for a handball receive in the F50.

Johnson loops the ball over, Griffen takes his eyes off the ball, scans the F50, then looks at the ball again when it gets to him.

He takes it cleanly, and because he scanned the F50, knows exactly how much time he has to stady & kick the ball. Of coruse, he times it perfectly & kicks the goal.Situational Awarness is a term stressed to military aviators, it seems Griffen had that innate understanding of how important it was to timing & positioning. It probably sounds like such a small thing to notice but I was very impressed. A lesser player would have watched the flight of the ball, panicked when he got it, rushed the shot and possibly fluffed it.

Interesting observation.

[Sedat]

And Hawthorn had the nerve to ask for Higgins as a trade when we asked about Tim Boyle.
Pelchan could have had him if he wanted, but instead went for Dowler. His recruiting record is saved only by Rioli - some of his the other selections have been positively Richmond-esque (bearing in mind the Roughead/Buddy/Lewis draft was the work of Buckenara).

[ledge]

I cant help mention Gilbee and his mark and play on resulting in a Hawks goal, very comical to look at only because it was game over long before, but seriously what was he thinking, he knew the player was there because he touched him to run off.
Hilarious in the fact it was more of a Lake "Brian" fade!
I just watched it again on HD one and wow a lot of small inspiring things, Akers tackle, Hills tackle, this kid is going to own games in the future.
Lake was just awesome beating Buddy one out every time.
These things really up the confidence of other players.
Looking at our team we have so many players who could win games on their own now.
So many things by so many players it was awesome, welcome to football 2009 style Hawks.

[Cyberdoggie]

I cant help mention Gilbee and his mark and play on resulting in a Hawks goal, very comical to look at only because it was game over long before, but seriously what was he thinking, he knew the player was there because he touched him to run off.
Hilarious in the fact it was more of a Lake "Brian" fade!
I just watched it again on HD one and wow a lot of small inspiring things, Akers tackle, Hills tackle, this kid is going to own games in the future.
Lake was just awesome beating Buddy one out every time.
These things really up the confidence of other players.
Looking at our team we have so many players who could win games on their own now.
So many things by so many players it was awesome, welcome to football 2009 style Hawks.

Not sure what happened there, Gilbs seamed to speak or hear something from the umpire which perhaps confused him. Still it did look like a brain fade.

[Mantis]

And Hawthorn had the nerve to ask for Higgins as a trade when we asked about Tim Boyle.

He did some brilliant things on Saturday night and in fairness I should have given him votes such was his effect on the game. Wasn't his fault that he spent almost the entire last qtr on the bench with his feet up.

I loved the left foot goal in the 2nd qtr and the one handed mark when he pushed Campbell Brown out of the contest with ease (I thought he was supposed to be He-Man??). Those two pieces of play just reaked of absolute class.

[Ozza]

Everytime I thought the night couldn't get any better something else would happen, Buddy dropping an easy mark, (the little sniper) Mitchell getting run down in front of us, Tom Murphy having a goal kicked on him the moment he went to a new opponent. I couldn't think of any team I'd more want to do that to. It was awesome.

Shame TCD was home sick (a notable absence from Aisle 34) - how are you feeling now Barry? That should have eased the ailment a bit surely!

[Ozza]

He did some brilliant things on Saturday night and in fairness I should have given him votes such was his effect on the game. Wasn't his fault that he spent almost the entire last qtr on the bench with his feet up.

I loved the left foot goal in the 2nd qtr and the one handed mark when he pushed Campbell Brown out of the contest with ease (I thought he was supposed to be He-Man??). Those two pieces of play just reaked of absolute class.

The left foot goal was jaw droppingly good. He made it look easy - but running flat out and hooking it around on the left - gee thats skillful. A Hawks supporter mate (who is not a typical arrogant Hawks supporter) texted me straight after it - just saying, 'can we have Higgins?'.

He is such a good footballer.

[comrade]

He did some brilliant things on Saturday night and in fairness I should have given him votes such was his effect on the game. Wasn't his fault that he spent almost the entire last qtr on the bench with his feet up.

I loved the left foot goal in the 2nd qtr and the one handed mark when he pushed Campbell Brown out of the contest with ease (I thought he was supposed to be He-Man??). Those two pieces of play just reaked of absolute class.

Of our 3 young, gun midfielders (Cooney & Griffen), could Higgins end up the best?

[Mantis]

Of our 3 young, gun midfielders (Cooney & Griffen), could Higgins end up the best?

I don't really care in the end, but it might be fun watching them battle for the no.1 position.

All are different in many ways, but gee they have some talent. I can't wait for the day that these 3 are at the peak of their powers.

[The Coon Dog]

Shame TCD was home sick (a notable absence from Aisle 34) - how are you feeling now Barry? That should have eased the ailment a bit surely!

Still not well Ozza, thanks for asking. Back off to the doc's today so hopefully I'll know more later on today.

[Mofra]

I loved the left foot goal in the 2nd qtr and the one handed mark when he pushed Campbell Brown out of the contest with ease (I thought he was supposed to be He-Man??). Those two pieces of play just reaked of absolute class.
To be fair, it was as much about timing & judgement as it was about strength. Having said that, Higgins did look pretty strong in the contests last night. He may be developing the "Griffen Shuffle" which will make him even harder to tackle.

Can't pick any midfielder on the Hawks list who comes close to Higgo for class.

[Mantis]

Can't pick any midfielder on the Hawks list who comes close to Higgo for class.

I don't think they are alone in that respect.:)

[Ozza]

Still not well Ozza, thanks for asking. Back off to the doc's today so hopefully I'll know more later on today.

All the best mate. Actually Dad and I both nearly didn't make it - he was crook also and I did my knee at footy on Saturday - so we were walking wounded but glad we decided to get there.

[ledge]

Hope its nothing serious Baz, keep us informed.

[The Coon Dog]

Hope its nothing serious Baz, keep us informed.

Nah, just a chest infection, with a rotten cough, hopefully these new anti biotics work without the side effects.

[aker39]

Nah, just a chest infection, with a rotten cough, hopefully these new anti biotics work without the side effects.

Take a double dose to be ready for Friday nights game.

[LostDoggy]

Did say last year that talented, undisciplined teams may have their moment in the sun, but they never maintain their level for very long. Hawthorn, and Franklin in particular, was never going to make the most of their talent or be able to stay at their peak for very long with their off-field lifestyles and crappy attitudes.. I did say that they had better win last year when they were 'up' because that would be their only opportunity for a long time, credit to them for stealing the GF, but I think they'll just be dangerous floaters for the next decade.

[LostDoggy]

One small thing I noticed last game.

3rd Quarter, Johnson has the ball, Hawks have one opponent who can effect the contest. Griffen runs hard for a handball receive in the F50.

Johnson loops the ball over, Griffen takes his eyes off the ball, scans the F50, then looks at the ball again when it gets to him.

He takes it cleanly, and because he scanned the F50, knows exactly how much time he has to stady & kick the ball. Of coruse, he times it perfectly & kicks the goal.
Situational Awarness is a term stressed to military aviators, it seems Griffen had that innate understanding of how important it was to timing & positioning. It probably sounds like such a small thing to notice but I was very impressed. A lesser player would have watched the flight of the ball, panicked when he got it, rushed the shot and possibly fluffed it.

Great observation Mofra - now I totally know why I love my namesake! His poise and balance (when he's on) is an absolute pleasure to watch. I know we have discussed this type of stuff on this forum before, but I believe that type of awareness is a natural gift of ability, and is much harder to teach and/or learn.

[westdog54]

One that I just remembered after watching the replay (something I'm still not sick of doing).

Johnno's rugby union 'chip 'n' chase' late in the last quarter with no teammates in front of him. Almost came off too, the kick was that well weighted. Matt Giteau would have been proud.

[comrade]

One that I just remembered after watching the replay (something I'm still not sick of doing).

Johnno's rugby union 'chip 'n' chase' late in the last quarter with no teammates in front of him. Almost came off too, the kick was that well weighted. Matt Giteau would have been proud.

He also did the old ‘Kevin Bartlett’ handball to himself, that sucked in Sam Mitchell.

[Twodogs]

One that I just remembered after watching the replay (something I'm still not sick of doing).

Johnno's rugby union 'chip 'n' chase' late in the last quarter with no teammates in front of him. Almost came off too, the kick was that well weighted. Matt Giteau would have been proud.



Yeah I remember that. It's just a shame that it was Franklin he had to have the foot race against, a couple of years ago Johnno would have burnt anyone in the AFL in that race for the ball but he's lost a yard or two the last couple of seasons.

[Ozza]

Yeah I remember that. It's just a shame that it was Franklin he had to have the foot race against, a couple of years ago Johnno would have burnt anyone in the AFL in that race for the ball but he's lost a yard or two the last couple of seasons.

I haven't noticed Johnno lose any of his pace. In fact, when he burnt off two Richmond players a few weeks ago to run in and kcik one from the goal line it reminded me how quick he still is.

[Twodogs]

I haven't noticed Johnno lose any of his pace. In fact, when he burnt off two Richmond players a few weeks ago to run in and kcik one from the goal line it reminded me how quick he still is.



Yeah but they were only Richmond players...:D



He's still pretty quick but he doesnt have that uberpace past the first 5 or 10 metres that he used to have. A couple of times this year he's tried to pull off his signature play-the one where he will edge his opponent under the ball in the marking contest and then turn, gather and speed away at pace toward goal-and it hasnt come off.

[westdog54]

Yeah but they were only Richmond players...:D



He's still pretty quick but he doesnt have that uberpace past the first 5 or 10 metres that he used to have. A couple of times this year he's tried to pull off his signature play-the one where he will edge his opponent under the ball in the marking contest and then turn, gather and speed away at pace toward goal-and it hasnt come off.

He's still got the explosive acceleration but his top pace has fallen away quite a bit. I can't see that he's got too much run left in those legs. They've done so much already.