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Hawthorn could have become the greatest

19th August, 2014
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Roar Guru
19th August, 2014
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1325 Reads

This week delivers another gripping match as old foes as Hawthorn and Geelong reacquaint themselves in the quest for a top-two spot and home ground advantage come finals time.

These two sides have dominated the competition since 2007 and that is in no small part to some wonderful drafting by both clubs. But a quick glance at the years leading up to their current eight-year hold on the AFL shows a missed window for Hawthorn.

The Hawthorn juggernaut was built on the back of the 2004 national draft when the Hawks selected twin tower forwards Jarryd Roughead and Lance Franklin with their first two selections at picks two and five. Throw in potential future captain Jordan Lewis at pick seven and this was the base that the rest of the team was built around for the next decade.

The final pieces were put in place at the 2007 draft table, with dynamic forward Cyril Rioli taken early, and Stewart Dew a speculative late pick. He would have a huge influence in the 2008 grand final.

But the 2005 and 2006 drafts were a case of what could have been for the Hawks. It probably cost them winning numerous flags between the 2008 and 2013 successes and creating a dynasty not seen since the Demons in the 1950s.

In 2005 the Hawks looked set to dominate the draft with five selections within the top 22, but only one would be a success. While Xavier Ellis, at selection three, was a premiership player, he was often injured. Towards the end of his career he was not in the best 22.

Instead of Ellis Hawthorn could have had one of the best midfielders in the game Scott Pendlebury, or a strong key forward in Josh J Kennedy. Hawthorn fans may point to the previous year’s draft as to why Kennedy wasn’t selected but that made the pick six selection of Beau Dowler even more curious.

Too small to be a key forward but not quick enough to run through the middle, Dowler was cast aside after 15-odd games when quality players Mitchell Clark, Shaun Higgins, Nathan Jones and Shannon Hurn were still available.

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Grant Birchall at pick 14 was a rare winner while Max Bailey at selection 18 was a quality player but cursed by injury. Rounding off was Beau Muston, who like his namesake Dowler did not last long at Hawthorn, while players like Bernie Vince and Garrick Ibbotson were taken soon after.

The depth in this draft continued with the Hawks’ final father-son selection of Travis Tuck. Taken at 38, Kangaroos skipper Andrew Swallow was still available at pick 43, key Port back Alipate Carlile at pick 44 and Mathew Stokes at pick 61.

The following year was an unmitigated disaster for the Hawks, with not one of its five selections still at the club. Clearance king Josh P Kennedy is now doing reasonable things at Sydney.

The Hawks were keen on another power forward and used pick six to select Mitchell Thorp, who through a combination of injury and poor attitude would last only three seasons. It’s now time for Hawks fans to close their eyes and imagine that not only could Pendlebury have been lining up in the middle but he could have been paired with Joel Selwood, who went at pick seven.

In another cruel twist for the Hawks, pick seven was owned by Geelong and Selwood would dominate the centre square with his courage and fortitude on his way to becoming an AFL great. So not only did they miss out on the game’s best current captain but he fell into the waiting arms of the Cats. He is one of the main reasons Geelong enjoyed 11 straight wins during the “Kennett Curse” era from 2009 to 2013.

Even skipping down the order a few more spots and Collingwood got their premiership centre half back and fullback in Ben Reid and Nathan Brown, who the Hawks could dearly use right now. The Demons and Tigers used picks 12 and 13 on James Frawley and Jack Riewoldt. Rounding out the selection failures with Brent Renouf at pick 24 and Jarryd Morton at pick 33 the Hawks could have had any of Chris Dawes (28), Kurt Tippett (32), Todd Goldstein (37), Will Schofield (50), Lindsay Thomas (53) or Robbie Gray (55).

It is true that every club experiences draft hits and misses, and I’m sure Hawks fans will care little about these two missed drafts considering that two flags have been delivered, but it is interesting to think about what might have been.

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