Expansion or bust....
Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:35 am
My good mate Rik E Boy makes some good points on a regular basis, one comment he made in an email trail this morning was most accurate and warranted further discussion.
Vladimir Dimitriou sold us a pup when he gave Gold Coast and GWS licences. To “grow the game” he said, well, we might have 9 games every weekend but the “game” itself isn’t growing. Granted, the best teams playing their best football is brilliant to watch in this high scoring, fast moving era that we are in but the competition, despite the talk it will be as even as it ever has, there’s a gulf growing between the top and the bottom and the sides in the middle look stuck. At least for the short term.
Hawthorn built a solid unit under Clarkson as they traded in the likes of Gunston, Burgoyne, Gibson, Hale, MvEvoy and Frawley to compliment the Roughead, Franklin, Hodge, Mitchell, Lewis group. While they were bringing in the readymade talent the sides chasing them were struggling to make inroads. Sure, Sydney took Franklin and Tippett, the Cats took Dangerfield but that’s in recent times. The likes of Collingwood, Fremantle and St Kilda, who have all played in Grand Finals since the Hawks won in 2008 were going backwards as the Suns and Giants raped the drafts and took on any free agent who cared for some sunshine or money.
So the Hawks carry on their merry way as Sydney and West Coast have a crack, fall short and go back to the drawing board and the likes of St Kilda, Fremantle and Collingwood fall from the top end of the ladder to the top end of the draft in no time.
Then the likes of Brisbane, really poor for several years now, struggle to hold onto anyone with a game as the kids can’t wait to get out of there. Carlton enters it’s 4th rebuild in 7 years, North hang on and hang on and hang on to a faint hope the prelim finals might be their second last week of the year before they too clean out the cupboards and fill the nursing home.
Essendon do themselves in while Richmond and Port, through a bit of recruiting and a couple of goods picks in the draft managed to stay mid table without really falling ( bar Port in 2011 ). Port also made the most of the work done in 2013 to grab a couple of big names as Ryder and Dixon saw Port as a “destination club” with a future. All the while Hawthorn top up, pick and choose and stay there for the last dance. Nobody could catch them, nobody could challenge them as the Suns and Giants built squads full of 1st round picks and everyone else hoped to snaffle some quality late in the draft or recycle fringe players from elsewhere.
Now, the Suns clearly got their set up all wrong. Their free agents didn’t work out, try these on for size. Nathan Bock, Nathan Krakouer, Karmichael Hunt, Jarrod Harbrow, Campbell Brown....oh dear. No wonder.
The Giants, with 2 year to look on, got theirs right and it started at the top with Sheedy, Williams, Cornes, Brogan all coming in with hard heads and not giving the kids an inch. It’s paid off, well, it’s about too.
Now look where the Hawks are. They took their hard earned club culture and tore it to shreds when they moved Mitchell and Lewis on to get T.Mitchell ( who can’t kick over a jam tin ) and O’Meara who has already missed with a “knock to the knee”, Vickery, lol, and Henderson from Adelaide’s B grade. With no 1st round pick this year ( that is St Kilda’s as part of the O’Meara deal, thank you very much say St Kilda ) and the likes of Gibson, McEvoy, Burgoyne, Hodge, Frawley all looking shot the next tier in Puopolo, Gunston, Breust, Smith and Shiels aren’t getting it on a silver platter anymore and doesn’t it show. How the might have fallen. Hawk haters line up, they’re cooked and they won’t be back any time soon.
So while the Hawks win 3 in a row to lay claim as the best of the modern era it begs the question. With the talent spread so thin elsewhere in the competition how would the Hawks of 13/14/15 stack up against Brisbane from ’03, Geelong from ’07 or Collingwood from ’10? I’m not sure they’d be wearing 3-peat t-shirts if it wasn’t for the Suns and Giants taking the best of the best for as long as they have.....and I'm not sure the Hawks are as mighty as we thought they were.
Discuss...
Vladimir Dimitriou sold us a pup when he gave Gold Coast and GWS licences. To “grow the game” he said, well, we might have 9 games every weekend but the “game” itself isn’t growing. Granted, the best teams playing their best football is brilliant to watch in this high scoring, fast moving era that we are in but the competition, despite the talk it will be as even as it ever has, there’s a gulf growing between the top and the bottom and the sides in the middle look stuck. At least for the short term.
Hawthorn built a solid unit under Clarkson as they traded in the likes of Gunston, Burgoyne, Gibson, Hale, MvEvoy and Frawley to compliment the Roughead, Franklin, Hodge, Mitchell, Lewis group. While they were bringing in the readymade talent the sides chasing them were struggling to make inroads. Sure, Sydney took Franklin and Tippett, the Cats took Dangerfield but that’s in recent times. The likes of Collingwood, Fremantle and St Kilda, who have all played in Grand Finals since the Hawks won in 2008 were going backwards as the Suns and Giants raped the drafts and took on any free agent who cared for some sunshine or money.
So the Hawks carry on their merry way as Sydney and West Coast have a crack, fall short and go back to the drawing board and the likes of St Kilda, Fremantle and Collingwood fall from the top end of the ladder to the top end of the draft in no time.
Then the likes of Brisbane, really poor for several years now, struggle to hold onto anyone with a game as the kids can’t wait to get out of there. Carlton enters it’s 4th rebuild in 7 years, North hang on and hang on and hang on to a faint hope the prelim finals might be their second last week of the year before they too clean out the cupboards and fill the nursing home.
Essendon do themselves in while Richmond and Port, through a bit of recruiting and a couple of goods picks in the draft managed to stay mid table without really falling ( bar Port in 2011 ). Port also made the most of the work done in 2013 to grab a couple of big names as Ryder and Dixon saw Port as a “destination club” with a future. All the while Hawthorn top up, pick and choose and stay there for the last dance. Nobody could catch them, nobody could challenge them as the Suns and Giants built squads full of 1st round picks and everyone else hoped to snaffle some quality late in the draft or recycle fringe players from elsewhere.
Now, the Suns clearly got their set up all wrong. Their free agents didn’t work out, try these on for size. Nathan Bock, Nathan Krakouer, Karmichael Hunt, Jarrod Harbrow, Campbell Brown....oh dear. No wonder.
The Giants, with 2 year to look on, got theirs right and it started at the top with Sheedy, Williams, Cornes, Brogan all coming in with hard heads and not giving the kids an inch. It’s paid off, well, it’s about too.
Now look where the Hawks are. They took their hard earned club culture and tore it to shreds when they moved Mitchell and Lewis on to get T.Mitchell ( who can’t kick over a jam tin ) and O’Meara who has already missed with a “knock to the knee”, Vickery, lol, and Henderson from Adelaide’s B grade. With no 1st round pick this year ( that is St Kilda’s as part of the O’Meara deal, thank you very much say St Kilda ) and the likes of Gibson, McEvoy, Burgoyne, Hodge, Frawley all looking shot the next tier in Puopolo, Gunston, Breust, Smith and Shiels aren’t getting it on a silver platter anymore and doesn’t it show. How the might have fallen. Hawk haters line up, they’re cooked and they won’t be back any time soon.
So while the Hawks win 3 in a row to lay claim as the best of the modern era it begs the question. With the talent spread so thin elsewhere in the competition how would the Hawks of 13/14/15 stack up against Brisbane from ’03, Geelong from ’07 or Collingwood from ’10? I’m not sure they’d be wearing 3-peat t-shirts if it wasn’t for the Suns and Giants taking the best of the best for as long as they have.....and I'm not sure the Hawks are as mighty as we thought they were.
Discuss...