Autopsy Round 2, 2025: Hawthorn give Carlton the Blues

[Ned Ryerson]

Gee the salt mines over at the Saints board is excellent reading

Following in the footsteps of their petulant president.

 

[Leather Poisoning]

It was for chopping the arms… somehow. Got the tick of approval from Jack Riewoldt though

I recently saw Jack Riewoldt having a morning coffee and mentoring chat with Charlie Curnow, Sam Walsh, Patrick Cripps and some other Carlton dude.
You could tell from the commentary he's wanting these guys to do well

 

[Leather Poisoning]

Where they got the free kicks was costly for us …….. while Carlton fans whinging they got the rough end of the stick blah blah blah.

Ok 29-24 free kicks our way but with 55 more possessions, time in possession etc it’s about right!

Carlton fans annoyed that we get free kicks for them kicking the ball out on the full while ignoring they get 5 goals from free kicks that nobody can work out.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

I recently saw Jack Riewoldt having a morning coffee and mentoring chat with Charlie Curnow, Sam Walsh, Patrick Cripps and some other Carlton dude.
You could tell from the commentary he's wanting these guys to do well

Not sure why considering the club he played for are bitter rivals. Would have thought he would be revelling in their misfortune.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Carlton fans annoyed that we get free kicks for them kicking the ball out on the full while ignoring they get 5 goals from free kicks that nobody can work out.

Also getting a cheap centre square free kick which they were strangely quiet about. All the dropping the ball in the tackle they were quiet about to which I reminded a few of them about.

 

[Yardie]

P Cripps..... 3 votes

He can have 'em. We are chasing something more important.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Where they got the free kicks was costly for us …….. while Carlton fans whinging they got the rough end of the stick blah blah blah.

Ok 29-24 free kicks our way but with 55 more possessions, time in possession etc it’s about right!

You would think it was 29-9 the way these flogs were carrying on. At one stage they had more free kicks and they were booing . There used to getting looked after, the last 2 years they are top 3 for free kicks in the league.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

 

[Roddy]

Was that McKenzie's best game for the club? Great game from Battle too. Team pressure was insane all night from the Hawks. Well done, that was a great win

I'm close to describing McKenzie as 'a revelation'. Was excellent.

I love Worps, he's one of my favourite current players, but we're not missing him as much as I thought we might. And that says nothing about Worps, but says everything about our burgeoning depth.

 

[matey]

Also getting a cheap centre square free kick which they were strangely quiet about. All the dropping the ball in the tackle they were quiet about to which I reminded a few of them about.

That centre one I was bewildered but I heard something about us having 19 on the field with a bench mix up …….. but from reading Voss’s lips on a few occasions I’m sure he said “it’s like they’ve always got 19 out there”

 

[Yardie]

Most enjoyable Hawks team to watch since the 88-89 teams.

Did you sleep through 2013-2015.......

 

[Roddy]

Wow, they weren't even that bad. Their effort, intensity and pressure were solid, just lacked that polish.

I had multiple exchanges with Blues fans, on here and elsewhere, who said we'd beat them by 10 goals plus. I said I thought we'd win, but by nowhere near as much as that. And so it turned out to be.....

 

[JZedd]

I'm so happy we got the Chollcolates

 

[2008wasoverDEW!]

A seriously good win last night.

Some players mentioned that last week was one of the toughest games they have played in. Coming off a shorter break, we were up against a Carlton team that had been crucified all week for the Richmond loss.
It was clear that Carlton were desperate when they selected an underdone Curnow, but full credit to them for bringing the heat. It wasn't pretty, but that was finals-like football, and we found a way to respond when we were challenged. Another big tick for this group.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

 

[SSSSSS]

Frenchy only played 65% TOG.

Thought he was everywhere.

If he can get his fitness levels up to consistently play at 75-80% watch out.

 

[Yardie]

Wow, they weren't even that bad. Their effort, intensity and pressure were solid, just lacked that polish.

I had multiple exchanges with Blues fans, on here and elsewhere, who said we'd beat them by 10 goals plus. I said I thought we'd win, but by nowhere near as much as that. And so it turned out to be.....

I think people are struggling with understanding how good we are travelling at the moment. They see us as a 7-10 team.

 

[Kuuz]

Some interesting reading from last night re pressure - most sides see 200 rating or higher as elite pressure rating.

For example, in the first quarter, Carlton got to 218.

I saw our rating though in the first quarter - we hit 278. That is just insane.

 

[matey]

Watching us last night we have got such an even spread of contributors. This is becoming the norm. Probably one of the hardest things for the opposition coaches/players to deal with

 

[moginie]

If there's one positive about Day missing games last season, it's the improvement in other players having to play the sweeper role.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Watching us last night we have got such an even spread in contributors. This is becoming the norm. Probably one of the hardest things for the opposition coaches/players to deal with

We'd be a nightmare to coach against.

You could put a hard tag on Sicily in the backline and then Battle bobs up to be BOG.

Or put your best small defender on The Wizard and then Hardwick gets free to kick a couple.

Conversely a team like the Blues you know that their bottom 6 are mediocre so all you have to focus on is their top 6.

 

[unitedhawk2]

Three take-outs on the morning after:

1. Josh Battle is an A-grade star. I saw a stat during the coverage last night that indicated his direct opponent has kicked one goal in our three games so far. Someone compared him to Stratton the other day and that’s spot-on because, like our former No.24, he can lock down on smalls as well as talls, as Papley and Curnow would attest to. I’d go further and suggest Battle is Stratton-Plus because our new No.24 is also brilliant with ball in hand. We’ve got ourselves a veritable FA bargain!
2. This is going to sound harsh - and it very well might be - but I reckon Jai Newcombe, who was brilliant and indeed our best in the trenches, wouldn’t have been too happy with some of his decision-making when he found himself in space. A couple of examples come to mind: A down-the-line bomb from a free that Weitering gobbled up and was probably the first time the Blues star had any impact [were there really no other options infield for Jai?]; and then, when he burnt a 2-on-1 advantage in an open F50 and went for goal instead from 50 out. I’m sure Jai himself would’ve been the first to hold his hand up and acknowledge he holds himself to a far better standard than that. [Actually, upon further reflection, yes, I think I am being a tad harsh on Nuke!]
3. My partner made an observation in the third quarter, when scores will still almost level-pegging, that I’ve been much calmer while watching the Hawks this year than in the past year or two. She’s absolutely right - as usual! I feel serene and cool as a cucumber while watching us in action in 2025. We’ve had bursts of momentum against us in each of the three games so far but at no stage have I ever felt that we were in any trouble. Even though we’ve been far from our best, we’ve ended up relatively comfortable winners - and that, I reckon, should be a really scary prospect for supporters of the other 17 clubs.

 

[Maybloomer]

I think people are struggling with understanding how good we are travelling at the moment. They see us as a 7-10 team.

I actually feel for the 3 sides we've played this year, playing anyone but the Hawks and they might've been singing their song. Swans were primed for a win. Home game, new coach, big crowd. Bombers were fit and ready with a Cats win under their belt and the Blues were chasing redemption, pride and membership drive #2 and all 3 had the misfortune of drawing the Hawks. These coaches must hate Sam.

 

[Leather Poisoning]

I actually feel for the 3 sides we've played this year, playing anyone but the Hawks and they might've been singing their song. Swans were primed for a win. Home game, new coach, big crowd. Bombers were fit and ready with a Cats win under their belt and the Blues were chasing redemption, pride and membership drive #2 and all 3 had the misfortune of drawing the Hawks. These coaches must hate Sam.

I'm interested in how Essenon and Carlton follow up after playing us.

It's soul-crushing to try that hard and still fail.

 

[Sixpence]

I’ve heard them complain about the overturned goals but…that’s the point of the system. It would have given them three goals they didn’t kick.