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A “premiership hangover” has been bandied around for two years, but after watching the Hawks’ Round 5 clash against Geelong, the Hawthorn team of 2008 has lost its flag winning flair.
Since that dynasty crushing day in 2008, the Hawks and Cats have strung together five nail biters, all of which Geelong has narrowly won.
Winning in 2008 with one of the youngest lists in the completion had many pundits assuming they would only get better, but looking back, Hawthorn were fortunate Stewart Dew, Xavier Ellis, Michael Osbourne and Luke Hodge all picked the right day to play the game of their careers.
Since that heart breaking day for complacent Geelong supporters, only Luke Hodge remains a permanent fixture in the team. Besides Dew, the Hawks have also lost Shane Crawford, Robert Campbell and Trent Croad to retirement while Campbell Brown and Mark Williams are at new clubs.
Contrastingly, from that day, Geelong has only lost Tom Harley and Max Rooke to retirement and Gary Ablett to the Gold Coast. Mark Blake continues to toil away in the VFL.
The difference between the two sides on the weekend was Geelong had only lost one A-grader winner. The Hawks had lost three (league average is five). This doesn’t include Robert Campbell, who was critical to Hawthorn’s structure.
Despite possessing the most dominant forward combination since Matthew Lloyd/Scott Lucas, the Hawks have played the last two seasons missing key elements which took them all the way in 2008.
The loss of Trent Croad meant the Hawks played the entire 2009 season without a ‘monster’ full-back. Adding to their lack of defenders, the loss of Robert Campbell to early retirement promoted Brent Renouf to starting ruckman. Stephen Gilham and Renouf are admirable defenders and ruckmen respectively but they aren’t premiership winners in such key positions.
Campbell Brown taking the second tall each week is a whole other discussion.
On the weekend, Croad had been replaced by Josh Gibson, Crawford by Shaun Burgoyne, Dew by Matthew Suckling, Campbell by David Hale and Brown by Cameron Bruce. Only Burgoyne is an upgrade.
Yet with all the incoming experience to replicate the departing, the Hawks still made errors of errant handballing and missed tackles. A Travis Varcoe run in the third quarter from centre half back to kick a goal from the goal square exposed the fragility of the Hawthorn rolling zone when players can’t hold their ground.
Unity – this is what is missing from the conquering 2008 team.
Narrowly escaping what would have been an embarrassing loss to the Eagles in round four, on top of squandering a half-time lead against the Crows in Round 1, the bookmakers still have Hawthorn instilled on the third line of betting for the premiership.
On paper, Hale and Gibson have filled large holes in the Hawthorn line-up but from what we’ve seen this year, Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead, Sam Mitchell, Luke Hodge and Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn’s ‘star five’) have been placed into a random 17 others. Unsurprisingly, the class and talent of these five can still win games against Richmond, West Coast and Melbourne. All bottom eight teams in 2010.
With the game evolving at a frantic pace, the tactics of 2008 can no longer be implemented successfully. The difference between Hawthorn and Geelong/Collingwood is that the kids filling positions 15-22 have all cemented their spots in the team.
Ellis, Osbourne, Rick Ladson and Brent Guerra are week-by-week players while Clint Young, Grant Birchall and Chance Bateman are now worse players than in 08’ yet solid fixtures in the team.
Since that against-all-odds day, Renouf and Rioli are the only players to have improved.
After the New York Giants upset against the perfect-season New England Patriots in Superbowl XLII, Hawthorn seized on the most opportunistic final in my living memory, and credit to them.
Like the Giants, the Hawks have done nothing since.
It’s time to move on from the successes of 2008. Having the best forward setup in the league means nothing if the delivery is poor. Melbourne boasts one of the league most powerful defensive triplets in James Frawley, Jared Rivers and Colin Garland yet they struggle because they can’t get the ball through the midfield.
A team is only as good as its weakest player.
The Hawks have developed a beauty in Suckling but if the Hawks are to be true contenders and not mere pretenders, Gibson needs to do more than spoil the ball, Birchall and Ellis need to run the ball out, Renouf needs to learn how to kick and the Hawks need to find a new crumber since Rioli looks very natural in the midfield.
Throw in some Shane Crawford inspiration and Campbell Brown grunt and the Hawks might start to justify their position in the third line of betting.
Unless the majority of players outside Hawthorn’s ‘star five’ step up, this team will resemble nothing of 2008.
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