Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold has total belief in his players, not some much-hyped curse.
So when he was inevitably asked about the breaking of the 11-game losing streak against Geelong, also known as the Kennett Curse, Newbold directed the media to his outspoken predecessor.
Newbold took over the presidency two years ago from Jeff Kennett, who famously declared in early 2009 that Geelong lacked the mental toughness of the Hawthorn players.
Soon after Kennett’s inflammatory comment, Geelong started the amazing streak that ended with Friday night’s epic preliminary final at the MCG.
Asked if he planned to speak to Kennett in the wake of the five-point win, Newbold smiled and replied: “I never acknowledged the curse.
“That’s you blokes (media), so you’d better call him, not me.”
Newbold admitted he felt flat at three-quarter time, when Geelong had a game-high lead of 20 points.
What happened next capped off an all-time great AFL final.
“How gutsy the boys were, that was right up there,” he said.
“You win games sometimes when you play pretty football – we didn’t play pretty football today.
“But it was outstanding just in terms of our endeavour and basically just not giving up.
“Eventually Geelong succumbed and we put our noses in front.”
After losing last year’s grand final to Sydney, Hawthorn have now fought their way to another crack at a premiership.
“Today’s not the scalp – next week’s the scalp,” Newbold said.
“As a club, obviously, (there’s) a lot of emotion winning a close game like that.
“But it’s quickly refocussing on the job that has to be done next week.
“There’s no use getting too excited this week.”
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
The AFL has made a mid-season change to the contentious holding the ball rule after weeks of backlash from coaches and fans. AFL hierarchy…
We hit the first round of byes (if we forget the horrendous fixturing of earlier this season), with all clubs having played 11 of…
The Geelong midfielder is NOT going to the Crows!
If the Dockers want to make a statement and confirm their September credentials, it starts with a big game against the Premiers on Friday night.
Charlie Cameron should take plenty away from kicking five goals in an obliteration of Richmond against the Hawks.
West Coast coach Adam Simpson has rubbish a bizarre claim that the Eagles and Fremantle are at 'no disadvantage' by having to regularly travel…
