Are we "hard" enough

[PaulP]

Agree Pauly, IMO every footballer is hard and tough given the game they play (ie by default).
We need to be "harder" off field IMO, that is more ruthless and not hanging onto nice guys who perennially injured for far too long. Then we all sit and wonder why what appear to be silly selections by the MC occur. Just Imagine if we had players of the footballing calibre of Martin, Marchbank and Cunningham available every week. I would hazard a guess and say that would be worth a couple of extra wins a year (the difference between making the 8 or top 4).

No doubt.

I have at times wondered about the difference between perception and reality, and whether people are led by labels and the media. One catchphrase that immediately comes to mind (there's a few others) is the "unsociable Hawks." I mean, what exactly is this, and how does it manifest itself on game day ? Did our players cop more knees in tackles and more whacks in the head when we played them ? Did they try and cheat the rules more than other teams ? Was it more sledging, more slamming players into the side fence, more whinging to the umpires etc ? And if any of these things are true, what corrective actions did our club take, and if not, why not ? Sometimes I really think the media just give something a name and a direction, a bit of marketing wizardry, and the sheep invariably follow.

I should also add that our our current coach is probably the toughest most uncompromising player of his generation. I'm quite confident that if this hard/soft business was really a thing, he would be asking for more players like him.