104 points, but they're not so different...
March 23rd 2008 08:10
I’ve been a Hawks fan since I quite literally picked them from a hat at the age of six. And, like all Hawks fans at present, I am excited, uplifted, and above all relieved that the last few years of disappointment and failure in the name of the long term have proved worthwhile. Watching our demolition of the Dees on Sunday was a treat, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d seen that very game before. The only thing is, this time, the Hawks won.
What was remarkable to me was how much I saw in the Demons everything that had set my Hawks back since their finals showing in 2001. As much as I enjoyed seeing Hawthorn dominate, a part of me felt for Dees fans everywhere – it wasn’t so long ago that I myself was in their position.
In my view – and I’m not alone here – things are not looking good for Melbourne. I base my own assessment on three elements that I recognized from Hawthorn’s not-so-distant past:
1. An aging and outdated list, particularly up forward.
Going into the game, I was worried as to how Hawthorn’s limited and youthful defence would stack up against big names such as Neitz, Robertson and Yze. What I didn’t remember was that Neitz was the Coleman medallist in 2002. Yze was an All-Australian and finished third in the Brownlow count in the same year. Robertson was the Dees’ best and fairest in 2003. That was all five or six years ago – a lifetime in footy. In 2004, Hawthorn’s forward line similarly consisted of potent names such as Nathan Thompson, John Barker, and Ben Dixon, all of whom were big-time goalscorers with imposing figures but who had been hampered by injury and were shadows of their 2001 selves. It wasn’t easy, and still isn’t easy, to admit, but Hawthorn had to let them go to become successful.
2. Overpossession
One thing Hawthorn specialized in over the past few years was overuse of the ball. The total amount of time spent chipping around the backline amounted to almost a week wasted every season. And invariably, one skill error would force a turnover and hand the opposition a goal. How many times over seasons 2003-2005 did I question if we even had defensive coaches? Similar patterns were emerging in the Demons’ clearances from the back half. Perhaps it was failure of the midfield to provide a target, or lack of confidence in their own skills, but Melbourne refused to kick directly, and often coughed the ball up under pressure caused by their own slow, indirect play.
3. Failure to provide a contest
Sad as it sounds, toward the end of the Schwab years, I became immune to massive defeats. The Hawks would put in a good half of footy, but as soon as it let a few goals slip the floodgates would implode, turning 30 point losses into 70 pointers. In one game in 2005, we conceded 100 points to Port in the second half alone! Even the infamous “line in the sand” game against the Bombers, where we claimed to want an end to being pushovers, was decided by over 50 points. If Melbourne is to avoid turning into the competition’s whipping boy, it must not lie down as it did on Sunday. Even though the game was arguably over at half time, 16 of the Hawks’ 23 goals came in the second half.
My advice to Melbourne fans, as one who most recently went through a similar period, is this – hang in there! It won’t happen in a season, but it will get better. Tough decisions will be made. You will need to lose players like Robbo and Yze who are becoming dead weights, and get to work on the batch of promising youngsters you have. Davey, Dunn, Petterd, Johnson, Bate, Newton, Morton… they will be the crew to lead your upcoming recruits of the next few years to the finals in three years time. In the meantime, there is no reason to stop following. Enduring seasons of pain make future successes so much sweeter, and no one likes a bandwagon supporter, anyway.
And it could always be worse – at least your coach didn’t predict you to win the flag this year.
What was remarkable to me was how much I saw in the Demons everything that had set my Hawks back since their finals showing in 2001. As much as I enjoyed seeing Hawthorn dominate, a part of me felt for Dees fans everywhere – it wasn’t so long ago that I myself was in their position.
In my view – and I’m not alone here – things are not looking good for Melbourne. I base my own assessment on three elements that I recognized from Hawthorn’s not-so-distant past:
1. An aging and outdated list, particularly up forward.
Going into the game, I was worried as to how Hawthorn’s limited and youthful defence would stack up against big names such as Neitz, Robertson and Yze. What I didn’t remember was that Neitz was the Coleman medallist in 2002. Yze was an All-Australian and finished third in the Brownlow count in the same year. Robertson was the Dees’ best and fairest in 2003. That was all five or six years ago – a lifetime in footy. In 2004, Hawthorn’s forward line similarly consisted of potent names such as Nathan Thompson, John Barker, and Ben Dixon, all of whom were big-time goalscorers with imposing figures but who had been hampered by injury and were shadows of their 2001 selves. It wasn’t easy, and still isn’t easy, to admit, but Hawthorn had to let them go to become successful.
2. Overpossession
One thing Hawthorn specialized in over the past few years was overuse of the ball. The total amount of time spent chipping around the backline amounted to almost a week wasted every season. And invariably, one skill error would force a turnover and hand the opposition a goal. How many times over seasons 2003-2005 did I question if we even had defensive coaches? Similar patterns were emerging in the Demons’ clearances from the back half. Perhaps it was failure of the midfield to provide a target, or lack of confidence in their own skills, but Melbourne refused to kick directly, and often coughed the ball up under pressure caused by their own slow, indirect play.
3. Failure to provide a contest
Sad as it sounds, toward the end of the Schwab years, I became immune to massive defeats. The Hawks would put in a good half of footy, but as soon as it let a few goals slip the floodgates would implode, turning 30 point losses into 70 pointers. In one game in 2005, we conceded 100 points to Port in the second half alone! Even the infamous “line in the sand” game against the Bombers, where we claimed to want an end to being pushovers, was decided by over 50 points. If Melbourne is to avoid turning into the competition’s whipping boy, it must not lie down as it did on Sunday. Even though the game was arguably over at half time, 16 of the Hawks’ 23 goals came in the second half.
My advice to Melbourne fans, as one who most recently went through a similar period, is this – hang in there! It won’t happen in a season, but it will get better. Tough decisions will be made. You will need to lose players like Robbo and Yze who are becoming dead weights, and get to work on the batch of promising youngsters you have. Davey, Dunn, Petterd, Johnson, Bate, Newton, Morton… they will be the crew to lead your upcoming recruits of the next few years to the finals in three years time. In the meantime, there is no reason to stop following. Enduring seasons of pain make future successes so much sweeter, and no one likes a bandwagon supporter, anyway.
And it could always be worse – at least your coach didn’t predict you to win the flag this year.
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