When Sam Mitchell injured his hamstring against St. Kilda in Round 7, it was the beginning of an injury crisis that threatened to derail Hawthorn’s 2014 campaign.
In that same game Norm Smith medalist Brian Lake also suffered a calf strain.
The following week against Sydney, Josh Gibson and Cyril Rioli both suffered injuries and Jarryd Roughead got reported and subsequently suspended.
Captain Luke Hodge didn’t play. That’s six players that would rank among Hawthorn’s top ten most important.
The Hawks followed up the loss to Sydney with another loss against Port Adelaide. Even the coach, Alastair Clarkson, was forced to the sidelines due to illness. All of a sudden the premiership favourites were being questioned by some, and totally written off by others.
In the five weeks since then, Hawthorn have won five on the trot. Thanks to Adelaide’s upset win over Port, the Hawks are now back on top of the ladder.
One of the measures of a great team is how they cope without their best players. Hawthorn have shown that within their club the personnel is not as important as the system. Like any strong organisation they have a set of policies and procedures that, when followed, ensure success.
Whether it is established leaders such as Mitchell, Hodge and Roughead, or younger players like Jack Gunston, Luke Breust and Bradley Hill, each player knows what is expected of them. They each have a role and have been taught to perform it, regardless of the circumstances.
The season isn’t about to get any easier for Hawthorn. While Mitchell is likely to return this week to face North Melbourne, he will need a game or two to return to his best. Gibson is still up to a month away and Rioli’s latest hamstring injury might keep him out for the rest of the year.
Couple that with games against Sydney, Fremantle, Geelong and Collingwood still to come and their stay in top spot may be short lived.
There will be no cause for alarm within the club, though. The Hawks know that their best has the measure of every other team in the competition and they are capable of displaying it no matter who they have on the paddock.
Their resilience in the face of adversity in the last two months epitomises the character of a great team. If they manage to make it through to the end of September and claim back-to-back flags, they will go down in history as one of the greatest teams of our time.
Bosk
Guest
Aww... someone's still upset over last year's GF methinks.
Bosk
Guest
Agreed. This is probably because when Hawthorn & Geelong meet in finals both teams play with finals intensity, something Geelong -and only Geelong- have been doing on every occasion since the clubs squared off in 2008. Put simply those H&A games have meant an awful lot more to Chappy and the Cats than they did to the Hawks and I think we can all remember why. It's also true that Geelong's use of the corridor has worried the Hawks' defense in the past. Tellingly, of the past 12 encounters the only game in which Brian Lake took the field for the Hawks resulted in a victory to Hawthorn.
Michael huston
Guest
I think because between Mitchell, Hodge, Sewell, Lewis, Smith etc there are few games where they've all had a stack of the ball. I've noticed in many Hawthorn games it's usually one or two of them that are match-winners. When you look at Collingwood, when you have Swan, Pendlebury, Beams and Sidebottom getting huge numbers on a weekly basis. Hawthorn are more attacking, and don't require that core engine room as much as other teams.
Josh Pinn
Roar Pro
Even with their injuries the midfield still had Lewis, Burgoyne and Sewell. Pretty handy.
Steele
Guest
The midfield is consistently underrated. Odd for a reigning premiership team.
Josh Pinn
Roar Pro
The forward line is the best in the league for my money. I reckon Breust will go close to B&F this year. He's been outstanding.
Brian
Guest
The most impressive two this season have been Gunston & Breust. No other forward line could lose Franklin & Rioli and keep kicking winning scores consistency. We'll still a lot to go our way this year especially with such a hard draw, we could still easily finish 5th thanks to Geelong's dream draw. Annoyingly this year and 2012 feel like our best years when we fire I truly think we can beat anyone but there's an awful lot of players who need to come back, stay injury free and play well. Mitchell, Gibson, Rioli, Lake, McEvoy.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I like Spangher (who doesn't) but his body just doesn't seem to like playing regular AFL football.
Don Freo
Guest
In fact Mitchell hasn't had even one possession for 8 weeks. (Macca will find that stat) They should trade him. West Coast will swap him for Brad Sheppard or Josh Hill.
Josh Pinn
Roar Pro
Ceglar is keeping McEvoy out of the team, who was brought over to be the no. 1 ruckman. He must be doing something right. Matt Spangher is another one who is held his own in the absence of a few key defenders.
Cat
Roar Guru
First they play in round 22. A game that may very well be important to both sides finals positioning.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I agree with Don. Ceglar has worked hard, grabbed his opportunity. Agree that it's easier to be part of a winning side, but you can't just airily dismiss it by saying "oh it's Hawthorn they'd make anyone look good"
Don Freo
Guest
Mitchell hasn't been at Ceglar's feet. Ceglar has been impressive because of his around the ground work. Rioli and Hodge are not making him look good there. Ceglar is making himself look good. That's why McEvoy has to wait to make his return.
Cat
Roar Guru
They have done well but it is also far easier to bring in average players to a top team, Ceglar would still be exposed horribly in a lesser team. Having your mitchells, Rioli's, Hodges etc at your feet would make most rucks look at least passable to good.
Paul D
Roar Guru
It's amazing how Hawthorn keeps managing to get the best out of players that other teams overlook or discard. Witness Ceglar this season, he's been a very solid pickup in the ruck, and they've bought him for the draft equivalent of $10. Bargain. Their depth has been demonstrated this year, and there's plenty of it. A very well set up club.
Jacques of Lilydale
Guest
If Hawthorn can beat Geelong any time it is always in Finals, for that club losing to geelong in home and away games is pretty much par for the course, but come finals, aka last years Preliminary they ran Geelong down in the last term. If the stakes are that high, Hawthorn seem to have the character to send doubts in the Cat's collective mind set. 20 points down at the last change with a GF berth up for grabs they dug deep, lifted the curse in one of the games I will never forget. It was an epic. Hawthorn vs Geelong, bring it on. The Grand Final seemed a little anticlimactic if that was possible. That Prelim would have been one of the epic GF's if circumstances allowed it. The Dockers aren't Geelong and the hawks accounted for them and it was pretty much over at the final change. I don't think Geelong have kept the momentum going this year, but I think Hawthorn are on a mission.
AR
Guest
If the Hawks were to play Geelong at anytime, I would have thought it would be in finals.
AB
Guest
I agree that the Hawks have shown amazing resilience and this would be one of the great premierships if they can go all the way. But to do that, I reckon they need to do two things: keep winning so they they finish in the top 2 and avoid an away final against (in diminishing order of difficulty) Sydney, Port or Freo. Second, they need to avoid Geelong in the finals. Forget the Kennet curse nonsense, Geelong is just a team whose style of play matches up well against the Hawks. Of course, whether or not we get a Hawks vs Geelong final is not something the Hawks can control at this stage.
Josh Pinn
Roar Pro
Even if they do lose a couple of those games they should still finish top four. Once the finals start they will definitely be the team to beat.
Michael huston
Guest
Hawthorn are tied with Sydney for the best team in the comp, though I think Hawthorn should be a hair in front in terms of flag favourites, simply because they look the most dangerous. Theres a light at the end of the tunnel with their injuries, with only Gibson, Mitchell and Rioli the only key players out, and their run home isn't as hard as people seem to think. They only need to show up and commit to flog North, same with Adelaide, easy wins against the Bulldogs, Melbourne, brilliant records against Collingwood and Freo, the easiest game they'll have against Geelong in years, and a home ground advantage over Sydney. That isn't to take away from them at all. The reason all of those games are so winnable is because Hawthorn are brilliant; any other team and at least half of those matches would have question marks. Everyone knows their down right extraordinarily difficult to beat when they're at their best (which they almost are), with only Geelong and Sydney being able to do so in the last few years. Back to back flags look more certain than a flag for another team.