10-04-2015, 12:47 AM
I don't know if Hawthorn can do it again, good as they are. They have a lot of self belief: it helps them hugely in games like yesterday. But they really haven't had many injury worries at all in any of their successes.
This year Carlton, Brisbane and Gold Coast were totally destroyed by injuries. We barely had enough players to play the final round, for example. West Coast lost most of their taller defenders before the season even started, which makes their success even more remarkable. Sydney were hot badly before the finals and Freo had their best defender (McPharlin) out and others struggling (Fyffe was playing with a broken leg, for God's sake!).
Did Hawthorn have these problems? No. Come September they had their key players fit and available, with very few unavailable players on their list.
How do Hawthorn do without Hodge and co? They often can manage without one of their guns for short periods, but when they miss more than that, they struggle.
Hawthorn have held up remarkably well. But will they in 2016? I hope not. Even so, their list will start to lose players, through age if nothing else.
One of the questions I would ask is how have they managed to keep their players on the field and relatively intact? It does say something about their fitness and medical staff. There also is a fair bit of luck involved. Will that last forever? Had Hawthorn limped into the finals like Sydney did with half a dozen champions out or crippled, then they would have made a very quick exit.
So, what can we do about it? The first thing to do is to learn from hawthorn's game plan and fanaticism. We then plan a team that is designed to beat them. But unless we can replicate their ability to stay on the park we are wasting our time.
I truly think that some other teams will get Hawthorn in 2016 because I cannot see them holding their team together physically. Brisbane went into the finals with a team of crocks looking for their 4th in a row. it ended very badly.
Here ended the lesson.
This year Carlton, Brisbane and Gold Coast were totally destroyed by injuries. We barely had enough players to play the final round, for example. West Coast lost most of their taller defenders before the season even started, which makes their success even more remarkable. Sydney were hot badly before the finals and Freo had their best defender (McPharlin) out and others struggling (Fyffe was playing with a broken leg, for God's sake!).
Did Hawthorn have these problems? No. Come September they had their key players fit and available, with very few unavailable players on their list.
How do Hawthorn do without Hodge and co? They often can manage without one of their guns for short periods, but when they miss more than that, they struggle.
Hawthorn have held up remarkably well. But will they in 2016? I hope not. Even so, their list will start to lose players, through age if nothing else.
One of the questions I would ask is how have they managed to keep their players on the field and relatively intact? It does say something about their fitness and medical staff. There also is a fair bit of luck involved. Will that last forever? Had Hawthorn limped into the finals like Sydney did with half a dozen champions out or crippled, then they would have made a very quick exit.
So, what can we do about it? The first thing to do is to learn from hawthorn's game plan and fanaticism. We then plan a team that is designed to beat them. But unless we can replicate their ability to stay on the park we are wasting our time.
I truly think that some other teams will get Hawthorn in 2016 because I cannot see them holding their team together physically. Brisbane went into the finals with a team of crocks looking for their 4th in a row. it ended very badly.
Here ended the lesson.
Live Long and Prosper!