The Hawks have started the season in the worst possible fashion, 0-3, with the Gold Coast Suns belting them from pillar to post on the weekend.
Discussion surrounding the club has got substantially louder, and various theories have been suggested for the possible causes.
One that keeps popping up is the loss of Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis, which may have upset the senior players and they are now no longer motivated; Alastair Clarkson has lost them.
As bad as those three losses to start the season may have been, this theory is nothing more than people jumping to conclusions.
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All last week there was speculation that the Collingwood players weren’t playing for Nathan Buckley, then the Pies win on Friday night and suddenly the dialogue changes: the group played for Buckley, they have spoken out for him, they are loyal to him.
Where did the questions go that existed a day or two earlier?
Naturally, Hawthorn’s loss of Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis hurts, they were two greats of the club and the game. But to suggest Clarkson lost the senior players as a result is both unfair and extremely unlikely.
The Hawthorn players have always had great admiration and respect for Clarkson, not just because of his clear coaching ability, but also because there are never any false pretenses. They know where they stand, and they know when there is a conversation to be had Clarkson will be the one to have it.
A recent example is Luke Breust. Hearing of trade rumours, he contacted Clarkson, knowing he would be told exactly what the situation was. Clarkson told him exactly where he stood, assuring Breust that his name had not once entered any discussions for trades. Breust went on to say that is the great thing about the club and Clarko: there was no doubting his word.
The unfortunate reality for the Hawks is having such a bad start to the season coupled with the fact Lewis and Mitchell are no longer at the club seems to suggest a massive psychological effect.
But teams can perform poorly for any number of reasons, it is not always because players are upset and angry. Players leave clubs all the time, and more will continue to leave. If players leaving, no matter how good they were, caused a coach to lose their playing group, then clubs would struggle to get anywhere.
We have seen three rounds, let’s not make conclusions that can take a season to learn.
Birdman
Guest
still too early to call that trade a bust but he would need to start doing something very different to repay the faith shown to date.
Brian
Guest
Vickery has been a flop but no doubt when they recruited him they did not expect Roughead to come back. So he was recruited to avoid playing a finals series as we did last year with Schoenmakers or O'Brien as the tall marking forward.
Brian
Guest
Lets wait another 5 weeks and see where we are. If its 0-8 or 1-7 then sure play the youngsters but I would wait another 5 weeks.
Birdman
Guest
yeah, Hawks should have thrown a fraction of Vickery's pay packet at Preuss from North - he exactly the type of tall that we need esp. with Ceglar out long term. Also agree that that blistering first qtr against the Crows shows the Hawks still have the talent just need to find consistency.
Stewie
Guest
They gave up all their draft picks up to pick 70-something last year, plus their first and second round draft picks this year (they have I think GWS' second rounder this year from memory). They've sacrificed a lot of draft currency for a 23yo who has barely played in the last 2 years, Tyrone bloody Vickery, and a one-dimensional (albeit brilliantly so) inside midfielder. Not sure it's the best bet, and i wouldn't take it unless I had excessive amounts of faith in the young players I already had.
Giddy
Guest
They were just down on confidence which comes when some of the best players in your team for the last decade are missing. They took it up to Adelaide who are the new benchmark so they're not that terrible. They will prob spend a couple of years near the bottom, but those draft picks they gave up for those players shouldn't be too much of a loss. Really tom Mitchell was a bargain for pick 14. People forget you still have to be lucky in the draft. They've given up 2 unknown 1st rounders and a 2nd rounder. For 2 guys that should finish there careers as top 5 from their draft. It's a bet I'd take as a recruiter. I don't know about Vickery but. They could prob have not gone for him and kept Sam Mitchell and Lewis and have one solid crack at the premiership this year
Stewie
Guest
This only seems like half an article. Would've liked some discussion on their broader list management, namely throwing all their eggs in the JOM/Titch basket, at the expense of drafting young players this year and arguably next, with St Kilda holding their now very valuable first round pick. Once Gibson, Burgoyne, Hodge go, maybe as soon as this year, they have very little to build the next generation around. Well, at the very least it won't be a short rebuild. Burton looks the most promising, and Stewart and Lovell have shown flashes, but it's really not enough. Signs aren't looking good at this stage
Birdman
Guest
Agreed Jason. The so-called damage to Hawthorn's culture is a confection of the media (Caroline Wilson is perhaps the worst offender on this occasion) as both Mitchell and Lewis have been very public in their gratitude for the opportunities given them at their new clubs while Breust was among the first of the free agents to lock himself into a contact extension. The playing list unfortunately has a number of structural issues particularly in the ruck (desperately missing Ceglar) and half back (Gibson in particular) that are yet to be resolved. Would like to see players played in their natural positions and some more new blood given a chance.