Jason Blake and Colm Begley of St KIlda collide with Grant Birchall of Hawthorn during the AFL Round 19 match between the Hawthorn Hawks and the St Kilda Saints at Aurora Stadium. Slattery Images
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says the disruption caused by a raft of players requiring off-season surgery was just one of several factors which ruined the side’s defence of its 2008 AFL premiership.
Clarkson says the Hawks will go into the 2010 season with a much fitter list, but emphasised they needed to improve dramatically in a number of areas.
Centre half-back Trent Croad did not play at all this year after suffering a serious foot injury in the 2008 grand final, while several other key players had interrupted campaigns following post-season operations.
“We had a fair amount of post-season surgery last year and we’ve had a little bit this year as well, but we’ve been able to get that surgery done a lot earlier this season than last,” said Clarkson on Wednesday before the club’s first pre-season training session.
“We’re anticipating by early to mid-November we’ll have the bulk of our squad out on the track.
“There are so many variables that influence performance and that’s certainly one of them.
“But we don’t make any excuses – we were poor in a number of areas.
“We’d gone from No.1 one in the competition in scoring goals from centre bounces to No.16.
“You can’t just put that down to injuries.
“We were poor in a lot of areas and we need to improve.”
Freud of Football
Roar Guru
Yep, have to agree with that. Crawford was the heart and soul of the club. Much like Buckley, harvey and Ricciuto were. Without him they have a group of talented players without the real figurehead.
Redb
Roar Guru
I think Crawford was more influential in the midfield that people remember. His delivery to the Hawks top class forward line made a huge difference in the 2008. I'd only rate Sewell as an A Grade midfiedler for the Hawks in 09. Redb
Kurt
Guest
Yeah, but Hawthorn still had a pretty good season and were worthy GF participants even if Geelong had a bad day. It's not like they snuck into the eight and scored a series of massive upsets to win the flag. That's what makes 2009 such a surprisingly crap performance.
Freud of Football
Roar Guru
I think Hawthorn 2008 was an enigma, they just performed so well and Geelong so poorly, the result at the end of the season is that the Hawks took the flag but for mine, Geelong were by far the better side throughout the season and with a mixture of bad luck and poor performance succumbed at the last.
Kurt
Guest
Well I suppose time will tell. I didn't necessarily expect another premiership but I certainly expected at least a prelim final berth. With our list and a good pre-season we realistically should be aiming top four in 2010, I guess it depends in part on Clarko coming up with plan B now that the midfield zone has been worked out.
Redb
Roar Guru
Hawthorn were a little like Essendon in 1993 in winning the flag as a young team. Injuries, poor form and a number of factors nobbled the Bombers for a few years after that. It took 6 years to be a contender again (1999). So by that logic the Hawks might have a shot around 2015 :-)