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Hardened silk: Celebrating the 2014 Hawks

Expert
28th September, 2014
6

For all the discourse about structures, zones, tactical match-ups and running patterns, football is an incredibly simple game. It usually comes down to one thing – who wants to win more.

That much was true on Saturday afternoon as Hawthorn obliterated Sydney in the grand final, propelled by a desire and intensity that the Swans couldn’t match.

The tone was set early as Hawthorn physically intimidated Sydney into submission. Dan Hannebery was annihilated in the first term, getting absolutely crushed in tackles by David Hale and later Jarryd Roughead.

Roughead’s bone-crunching spear on Hannebery was ultimately the defining moment of the grand final. It was Hawthorn’s hardness personified.

Once Roughy put Hannebery in his personal hurt locker, the young Swan – a hard-man of Sydney’s midfield – was effectively done for the day. He didn’t want a bar of Hawthorn’s physicality, evidenced by his uncharacteristic pulling out of a contest with Liam Shiels with 7:51 left in the first quarter.

It’s unfair to single out Hannebery though. The bulk of his teammates were similarly uninterested and ineffectual. Heath Grundy hearing footsteps and ducking his head in the first quarter is the most obvious example of Sydney’s softness on the day, and something that Grundy will undoubtedly hear about for the rest of his career.

Ultimately, outside of Franklin, Josh Kennedy, Adam Goodes and Nick Malceski, you’d be hard pressed to find a Swan who could have justifiably held their head high walking off the MCG. It was a stunning display of apathy from a team long renowned for their toughness and application.

As their captain conceded, it was a ‘disgusting’ performance from the Swans – who simply didn’t show up on the biggest day of the year.

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The 2014 grand final won’t however be remembered for the listlessness of the loser, it will be celebrated for the majesty of the victor. It was said countless times throughout the commentary on the day and every time it rang truer – this was Hawthorn’s masterpiece.

AFL history shows that all the great modern teams have a dominant grand final victory. Daniher’s Dons had 1985, Brereton and Dunstall’s Hawks had 1988, Voss’s Lions had 2003 and this generation’s Cats had 2007. Now Clarkson’s Hawks have 2014.

The one word I’d use to describe the Hawks of this era, particularly from 2011-14, is ‘clean’. Everything they do is polished. Their foot skills are immaculate, the best the game has ever seen. The timing and weighting on their in close handballs is football pornography and the speed and purpose with which they spread from the contest is breathtaking.

They even make grunt-work beautiful. Sam Mitchell has made an art-form out of extracting the football from congestion. Cyril Rioli makes tackling and smothering as aesthetically pleasing as highlight goals from the boundary. There’s a majesty in Luke Hodge’s toughness, a courage as admirable as it is completely and marvellously unreasonable.

As good as the likes of Roughead, Grant Birchall, Jack Gunston, Luke Breust and co. have been over the past few years, this iteration of the Hawks is defined by the play of four players: Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis and Shaun Burgoyne. Their blend of remarkable hardness in the contest and sublime silky skill outside of it has been symbolic of this Hawthorn team.

These four are the tone-setters for the Hawks; they drive the team and give them their identity. It’s only fitting that they were the four best players on the field on Saturday afternoon (sorry Twiggy Langford, you were fifth).

Remarkably, this Hawthorn team could be better next year. With Roughead (27), Breust (23) and Gunston (22) leading the way, the forward line is set for the next half decade. The old hands should be just as good too. While Hodge is 30 and Mitchell and Burgoyne both turn 32 next month, none of those players have ever relied on their pace and each should have multiple elite years left in them.

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Lake is the concern – he’ll be 33 entering next year – but the Hawks are the frontrunners to sign James Frawley, solving that problem. Hawthorn lacked continuity this year with long-term layoffs for several players, but still managed to win the flag by more than ten goals, so it’s scary to think what they could accomplish with more consistency next year.

The future, as it tends to be, is murkier for the losers. Adam Goodes, who was quietly terrific in the finals, could retire, and in a magnificent irony Nick Malceski could end up leaving Sydney for more money elsewhere.

The vaunted Sydney midfield, considered by many the best in the league, was exposed on Saturday and needs some tweaking. While Kennedy, Kieren Jack, Luke Parker and Hannebery are stars in their own right, none of them are elite ball users. The cleanness and precision of the Hawthorn’s aforementioned Fantastic Four was telling on the weekend as Sydney’s mids were punished for their lack of polish under pressure.

Sydney’s best ball-user in the midfield, Lewis Jetta, was their worst player in the grand final and needs to take a leap next year.

As bad as the Swans were on the weekend, there’s no need for a drastic overhaul, only minor refinements. It’s easy to forget that after 25 weeks they were the best team in the competition. Their depth of talent ensures that barring a catastrophe they’ll be a virtual lock for the top four next year. The bookies seemingly agree, having listed Sydney as the flag favourite for 2015. On paper that seems reasonable, but as someone who tipped against Hawthorn on the weekend, I won’t be making the same mistake again next year.

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