Autopsy Round 5, 2025: Hawks refuse to join Gather Round

[CobberRodgers]

The two positives I’m going to take out of last night are:

1. That we are crystal clear into how teams will try to beat us.

Whether we can negate that is yet to be seen.

And

2. We are also crystal clear on our bottom few not being premiership standard. If we’d kept winning we may have overrated them and that would have been dangerous. There’s reasons why Sam is still trying to improve this list quickly.

 

[MC_9]

Impey's form is a concern. He was so important to our ball movement last year, but has been well down this year. A lot is being left to Amon, with work being put into Mass most weeks.

We really need another avenue to improve our ball movement.

 

[Louis Litt]

Good reality check.

...and to Sam...Whatever you said/did to prep the players,,,don't ever do that again.

Port are going nowhere again this year, so O.K. they get to flap their arms around and their supporters will be content with that. 2nd half demonstrated how the best teams can get over them even if they get a jump.

Biggest concern, (but secretly my only highlight) Gunners and Bruest were the only two that looked likely to score. Sicily great as a forward, gave us a sniff.

Otherwise..pathetic team performance all around the ground when it mattered.

Viddiot - do you think there is a composure like Geelong under Chris Scott.
Yes we now have a target on our back. Hinkley has shown the comp how to dismantle us.
Not sure about McKenzie after tonight - over fan and fumbled the ball.

 

[FB19]

I don’t know what to say about that. Hard to watch against that awful side. We are just going even in the first 4 weeks so 4-1 is great but we need to be a lot better in august. At least we didn’t give a contender a win.

 

[Harper_Hawk]

Just can’t handle the psychological game yet. Whether it’s in the coaches box or on field? It’s something we need to work on to have the complete game. Hinkley knows and knew it. Easter Monday will be the same test again. No hiding from it.

 

[Sturty]

Good lord that was bad.

 

[Lickmesocks]

Just can’t handle the psychological game yet. Whether it’s in the coaches box or on field? It’s something we need to work on to have the complete game. Hinkley knows and knew it. Easter Monday will be the same test again. No hiding from it.

The test on Easter Monday will be real.

There will be no let up.

Scott and his Geelong group hate Hawthorn with a passion so we better be ready for it. They are going to bash and crash us and really test us physically.

 

[Harper_Hawk]

The test on Easter Monday will be real.

There will be no let up.

Scott and his Geelong group hate Hawthorn with a passion so we better be ready for it. They are going to bash and crash us and really test us physically.

Geelong will smell blood in the water. That’s how I see this game. Mitchell needs to show the football community what he’s really made of in the coaches box.

 

[Liverbird]

Mentality of the players was just wrong.

No fight meant we lost the contest and were out numbered around the ball.

It is a simple game but if you do not show fight to be in the contest and win the ball you will not win in competitive sport regardless of who you play.

We are 4-1, and with another team that builds up the Hawks games as a massive grudge contest, lets see if the coaches and players can bring the right mindset and be ready with some fight this week.

Clarko called it tougher for longer for a reason, Mitchell need to find his own variation.

It was only 1 loss but being 71 points down to bottom 6 dross like Port, is as Mitchell said himself, unacceptable ... full stop.

Time to respond Hawks. Blow up the Cats and all will be rosy again.

 

[eldorado]

Wiz did the same to a Giants player in our previous game.

If we dish it out, we've got to be able to take it when someone dishes it back.

What Wiz did was very different. He was faking the opponent in order to create space. Holding the ball out as if he was going to handball that way...The goal was a long way from certain. The fake helped create some space, it was a football thing.

Rioli's was not a football thing. It was just goading.

He can do what he likes, and CJ was dumb to give them another goal, but it's not correct to equate the two actions...

 

[Fulgent]

That was beyond frustrating. And against Port. Again.

Mitchell preaches doing the simple things well, which we couldn't do.

We got ahead of ourselves and got a reality check. We'll learn from it and hopefully be better.

A lot of players looked off the pace and fumbly. Our confidence dropped away pretty quickly and confusion set in, so hopefully we learn from that.

 

[Blackhawk42]

Weak as piss

And if anyone thinks we’ll knock off the Cats…………….

We'll get smashed I feel. Had pencilled it in for a loss when looking at the early season fixture.

Might be a few demons after whatever the hell last night was.

 

[KOLOKOTRONIS]

You can’t be 60 points down in any game and expect to be a top 4 contender.

We had the form and players to cover Day. We were out worked.

Expected better and expected to win. High stakes.. we crumbled badly.

Haven’t lost at the G in a while. I think Geelong will bring us back to earth very quickly.

These are the growing pains.

KOLOKOTRONIS

 

[MrPremiership]

1. We've been up for a long time. Due for a blemish after the last 20 games we played

2. We've been winning ugly for last 2-3 games, something was going to give eventually

3. That was Port's Grand Final

 

[unitedhawk2]

Three take-outs on the morning after:

1. I’m still in shock. Did not see that first-half performance coming. It’s not as if we haven’t been been pressured this season. Essendon and Carlton both applied tremendous pressure and we not only withstood that but repelled it with our own counter-pressure. Genuinely at a loss as to what happened last night. Did we over-think it with a conscious effort to not get sucked into a confrontation? Don’t know.
2. I love Finn as a third-generation Hawk but, if he is to be part of our best 22, he has to have a virtually full-time tagging role. Otherwise, it’s becoming hard to argue against the proposition that he presents a net negative.
3. It’s time for HH, even if both Worps and Nashy are fit for the game against the Cats. We’ve been smashed in the clearances so far in 2025 and that’s not a sustainable way to win games on a consistent basis against the better sides, notwithstanding our much-vaunted outside run. HH can help us with getting first hands to the ball - and dishing it out to advantage.

 

[Crankyhawk]

While I appreciate the positivity around HH, wasnt he in the midfield rotation during the 0-5 start in 2024? I’d have him in if nash misses but I’m not expecting much.
Connor Mac in for Ginni.
Scrim for CJ perhaps, or for Finn and move Sicily forward

 

[Yardie]

That sucked.

But we've got 4 wins in the bank. It's the right time of the season to learn a lesson.

First half was so bad I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
The team definitely pushed right to the end though which was great to see.

Moore, Worpel, Newcombe, Meek - instrumental in the fight back.

It is what it is. Not the worst game I've ever seen.

A lot of people were saying they would be happy being 3-3. We are 4-1 at the moment and have some things to work on. Last year this game was the one that sparked our run. Hopefully it galvanises the team and we move forward.

 

[Mr Lizard]

Suck it up. Get better. Let's go Hawks!

 

[Hawk88]

Yes its disappointing but its only one game... the doomsdaying is way over the top

Even when we were in our three peat era we would sh** out a horrible performance once and awhile

I will be more concerned if we throw out the same performance against Geelong this week

 

[CobberRodgers]

While I appreciate the positivity around HH, wasnt he in the midfield rotation during the 0-5 start in 2024? I’d have him in if nash misses but I’m not expecting much.
Connor Mac in for Ginni.
Scrim for CJ perhaps, or for Finn and move Sicily forward

He’s had another 12 months with an elite organisation since then. We’ve got to give him a go at some stage and it’s not working in the middle at the moment so it may as well be now?

Maginness, Morrison, CJ out.

Scrimshaw, MacDonald, Frost in.

Then play HH for either one of Nash (in) or probably Ward.

I’m not a huge fan of having Sis oit of the D50, but they’ll tag him, Scrim is back, and Chol is on his last legs and needs another marking target next to him, so maybe Sis goes forward this week.

 

[hawk for 37]

No answer for the physical games of Butters, JHF & SPP. Not last night, or last year. (SPP did not play in final & would of caused us grief).

If we played them next week, I don’t see how we stop them either. Total lack of respect for these players in here and we don’t even have a mid who you would rank above Butters and JHF. Day maybe equal to, but that ain’t happening for a long time.

Great start to the year with a 4-1 start. However, we are only one team of about 8 chasing the clear cut flag favourites in Brisbane.

Current ladder place is about right in the seedings.

 

[Bugs1977]

Ginni is missing something. His body language looks off and something doesn’t look right. He looks to have lost that happiness he once played with.

It's gotta be the crack in his ankle that he was talking about in the doco. Would hate to think we're playing him injured but you're right that he seems like a shadow of himself atm.

 

[Yardie]

Just can’t handle the psychological game yet. Whether it’s in the coaches box or on field? It’s something we need to work on to have the complete game. Hinkley knows and knew it. Easter Monday will be the same test again. No hiding from it.

Sometimes you have you lean in on the emotion and not treat it like BAU. Port got the jump on us cause Ken surely would have leaned in on it.

 

[Buttonsticher]

We are so much better than that. Disengage cruise control boys and strap in cause the race has started. Cliche I know but a kick up the bum every now and then can do wonders. Maybe drop the 'kick to the oppo' part at training. Wear the mouth guard to, from and during training.

 

[hardway]

Lots of disappointing things to come out of that game. The thing that was the ugliest was the kicking and decision making from players that should be a lot better.