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It was surprising the number of AFL pundits and fans who tipped the Hawks would be vaporised by Sydney in yesterday’s grand final. Many of us are too quick to write off our champion teams.
I have been guilty of it myself.
When Geelong were bundled out of the finals in week one in 2012 and yet another of their champion players retired in Matthew Scarlett, I expected them to become a middle-tier side.
They spent the next two seasons hurling eggs at my face as they finished second in 2013 and third this year. Unfortunately, I am not the fastest of learners.
Even though one month out from the finals I tipped Hawthorn to win the flag and their skipper Luke Hodge to collect the Norm Smith Medal, I second guessed myself yesterday, plumping for the Swans by 11 points.
Like many others, I got affected by the hype. The Hawks were an ageing side past their peak. The Swans were better than in 2012 when they knocked off Hawthorn. The Hawks backline was undersized. Sydney had too much firepower. Sydney had more midfield depth. Sydney had more of everything. These were common themes in the lead up to the grand final.
I forgot the reason that I had originally tipped Hawthorn, not Sydney, to lift the cup – because the former was a ‘team’ in the truest sense of the word, engineered and instructed by one of the best coaches in AFL history.
This Hawthorn outfit, which has been driven by the same core of players since their first of three flags in 2008, stands with the recent Geelong and Brisbane dynasties as one of the greatest in history.
To lose the best forward in the competition to the side which beat you two years’ previous, and yet rebound from that setback to smash your Lance Franklin-led foes is an extraordinary feat.
Despite the best efforts of Franklin, who performed admirably kicking four goals, the Swans were dismantled by a champion team.
At the heart of this wonderful performance, yet again, was a group of veterans who have formed the nucleus of this phenomenal Hawthorn outfit throughout their glorious era.
Hodge will finish his career as not just a triple premiership player but as one of the most accomplished and inspirational captains Australian rules football has seen.
His longtime offsider Sam Mitchell was instrumental yesterday, as was fellow midfield veteran Jordan Lewis. Either of that pair would have been worthy winners of the Norm Smith.
And what about their fellow three-time premiership player Jarryd Roughead, who has continued to live in Franklin’s shadow despite his former teammate now being based thousands of kilometres away?
Roughead’s five-goal bag yesterday was a crowning achievement in what has been a remarkable finals campaign by the versatile forward.
But it was not just Hawthorn’s old stagers who powered them to victory. The Hawks have a plethora of stars with many seasons left in their careers.
They have two of the best young goalkickers in the land in Jack Gunston and Luke Breust, plus damaging speedsters Brad Hill, Cyril Rioli, Isaac Smith and Will Langford.
Why were some of us doubting them again? And, of course, all of these fine players – there are many others I haven’t mentioned – are marshalled by an innovative genius in coach Alastair Clarkson.
After 10 seasons at the helm, Clarkson has three premierships to his name. There will be plenty of people predicting that his side will be reeled in next season by the star-studded Swans or the fast-rising Port Adelaide.
They may well be. But Clarkson won’t be resting on his laurels, content with the finest premiership win of his coaching career.
He’ll be back doing what has made him such a brilliant coach – analysing the patterns of the game and predicting where next it will head. Then he’ll renovate his side’s game-plan once again, ensuring his opponents are never quite sure what to expect.
One thing we can all expect, however, is that Hawthorn will not suddenly fall off the map, even when in the coming seasons they lose champion veterans like Hodge, Mitchell, Lewis, Shaun Burgoyne and Brian Lake.
Hawthorn have built a stellar winning culture similar to what we have seen develop at Geelong, especially if Clarkson remains in charge – surely he will field huge offers from rival clubs in future years – the Hawks will continue to be a top-tier side for years to come.