In a city where conversation is regularly framed by the sporting landscape, Melbourne’s famed changeable weather is arguably a gift of Mother Nature’s sense of humour.
Sporting opinion clouds and clears the airways of the Victorian news cycle with the fleeting disturbance of a Nick Kyrgios tantrum or Kevin Bartlett opinion.
If you don’t like it, wait five minutes.
For Hawthorn fans the wait might be a little longer.
For the best part of a decade Hawthorn have lived above the Monday-to-Friday parapet of white noise that is *expert* analysis and Facebook memes.
Four premierships in eight years – including a hat-trick of titles – will do that. The Hawks were untouchable, on and off the field.
You couldn’t so much as shout ‘power’ in their faces without being vigorously cast aside and discredited. Certainly don’t do it in an Adelaide train station.
The Hawks did everything well. Whether you liked it or not.
Most didn’t.
Brutal efficiency rarely wins many admirers outside of the club’s four walls and the Hawks swaggered with the sort of arrogance that paves the way for greatness.
For sporting purists it was a (brown and) gold standard in dynasty making.
For everyone else it ruined their winter weekends; least of all September.
The resentment that grew in between the gaps of sporting purism and Hawthorn support is now measurable in the levels of schadenfreude that has appeared on social media following Hawthorn’s 0-4 start.
A horrible winter at the trade table has only further served to empower the social media trolls with the number of Ty Vickery memes an effective unit of measuring Hawthorn’s decline.
Just how it has come to this – just 18 months after clinching a premiership hat-trick – has been poured over this past week and shedding the spotlight will take more than a win this weekend against a West Coast side that routinely roll over at the MCG.
From an outsider’s point of view it is strange to see Hawthorn cast into this dynamic. What’s most alarming is that they’ve been complicit in their decline.
Every great era comes to an end – it is the nature of the AFL’s equalisation policy – but in their haste to fast-forward through the usual restoration period that follows Hawthorn instead appear to have booby-trapped their future.
The headline act was the departures of Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis and while list manager Graeme Wright made a reasoned statement as to why they were ending their storied careers elsewhere, the messy nature of Lewis’ exit was the first sign the Hawks had not fully calculated the risk they were taking on.
There was a naivety about the decision that Hawthorn had never before displayed during Alastair Clarkson’s tenure, like allowing the kids to finger paint over a Monet rather than yesterday’s newspaper.
Now the legacy of Clarkson’s masterpiece is in very real danger of being tarnished.
Vickery has unwittingly become the punchline to the winter’s mis-steps and the pathway towards restoring the lost ground is further complicated by the fact Hawthorn’s desire to re-generate as quickly as possible with Jaeger O’Meara and Tom Mitchell also saw them give up their first-round pick in the next draft.
If that pick falls first on the board, as is now increasingly more possible, the joke will only grow more painful.
After effectively being absent from last year’s draft Hawthorn face the double whammy of an ageing list and no young players to replace them.
Hawthorn fans will at least be spared the ignominy of facing Mitchell this weekend but the inevitable crossed paths await. Even more sobering is the realisation that one day Mitchell and Lewis will step out for their final game to the acclaim of a different club.
The image of Mitchell waving goodbye to his career in front of an adoring crowd at the new Perth Stadium is difficult to conjure up. Yet it will almost certainly happen.
So too Lewis being chaired off the MCG in red and blue.
It doesn’t need a football purist to argue that such moments should be Hawthorn moments. A chance to reminisce over one of the great eras among their own.
The truth is those moments are lost to Hawthorn and any hope they might be palatable in any sense will come if the Hawks are winning at the same time.
That, of course, may yet happen. To write off this Hawthorn team is to forget it is still filled with multiple premiership-winning players and led by one of the great coaches of the modern era.
But the fact remains that the narrative around this Hawthorn team is now about vindicating what happened last winter at the trade table.
While media narratives won’t much bother Clarkson and his backroom team – wins are the only currency that counts to them – after watching their leaders unceremoniously shipped out the Hawthorn players could be forgiven for feeling some level of disconnect from the task.
And in the back of their minds will be the knowledge that if Hawthorn are to stay relevant in the draft then trades will have to be made for picks.
Professionalism and pride dictates any sportsman worth their salt plays to win every time they step onto the field of play, but it’s harder to be invested in repairing the damage of off-field decisions as opposed to going all-out for a premiership.
Especially if you know the club is willing to move you on at the right price.
It’s a millstone that, at the back end of some glorious careers, these players hardly deserve and for the moment at least appear disinterested by.
Nineteen
Guest
How many games will O'Meara and MItchell play for the Hawks? 150? 50? Who knows? All I know is that you can't draw sample of four games and conclude what their playing careers will look like. What the detractors are saying is "I've seen 3% of their playing career at the Hawks and this is how they will play for the rest of it." Sam Mitchell wasn't Sam Mitchell in his first game. Lakey when interviewed with Mike Sheean said in his first season at the Hawks he got yelled at all the time in the back line and the only decent game he played was the one where he won the Norm Smith. Even Lakey wasn't Lakey in his first three years! (Yeah I know he was Harris!) We are following a similar course as Carlton but eighteen months behind. Next year will be worse and it's going to be five years of pain. Look at it as one long preseason: note which kids are standing up but expect to lose.
SmithHatesMaxwell
Guest
Last year the Hawks were slow and soft and two of the slowest and softest culprits were Lewis and Mitchell. Mitchell was old too. He won't play after this season. Well, he might but it will be a big mistake. Nothing wrong with getting O'Meara and Mitchell. It was the right decision. Getting nothing at all for Mitchell, Lewis and Hill was not. Clarko showed his impulsive streak. Couldn't wait to get them out the door. Didn't care that he was getting nothing for any of them. Then in an act of desperation to be competitive in 2017 he sells the farm to acquire O'Meara and Mitchell. There are no bullets left in the chamber for the Hawks. They're going to hand pick 1-5 to the Saints for nothing. Have to wait until 2019 to get themselves a gun. Hasn't worked out. I gave Clarko the benefit of the doubt because of this track record, but it's apparent now that he's set the Hawks up for 5 plus years of pain. You see more forward planning from some degenerate stuffing $50 notes in a pokie machine.
James
Guest
Saying this can potentially tarnish Clarksons legacy is going way to far for me. His legacy will never be tarnished (based on results). He will always be at least a 4 time premiership coach. Nobody talks about Leigh Matthews in 2004-2008 and dismisses his prior achievements. He is and will always will be regarded as one of the greatest all time coaches. Just like Clarkson will.
Ryan
Roar Rookie
It's tough for young players to develop when you are getting smashed every week. Also, no one can really nail every pick. If you think back to how bad they were they have done a decent job of fixing the culture around the club and becoming competitive again.
Ryan
Roar Rookie
I think they wanted the fast rebuild that Geelong had after getting Dangerfield. The difference is that Geelong phased out their veterans slowly. Hawthorn got rid of two of their key midfielders this year and will probably lose Burgoyne, Hodge, and Gibson this season as well. Plus Geelong had a better crop of young players than this Hawthorn team. They were giving games to Motlop, Hawkins, Duncan, Guthrie etc while the champions were still there, so they didn't see the huge drop off that Hawthorn is going through and remained competitive while rebuilding. Hawthorn took the risk of being able to compete while rebuilding like Geelong and Sydney have done but they messed it up with bad trading.
Paul D
Roar Guru
To a certain extent I think it wouldn't have mattered who they chose during that period, Melbourne were that terrible I think Fyfe would have been delisted by now if they'd picked him some of those players might have done quite well at the Hawks or Sydney say, although Toumpas would have been a spud at any club I'll give you that
Don Freo
Guest
Scully and Watts have turned out OK. Trengove was excellent until injury.
Don Freo
Guest
I expect Daniel Wells will prove you wrong about him...starting this weekend.
Don Freo
Guest
O'Meara is a wonderful kick. You needn't worry there. Absolutely nothing wrong with the O'Meara pick up. He is worth a number one and he didn't cost you that. How you thought Henderson or Vickery were going to be useful is beyond me. Someone speculative for nothing might have made sense...Morabito, for instance...but a number 88 or 91 draft pick would be better than Vickery or Henderson.
DeanM
Guest
Their side was largely made up of draft concessions, Voss and Akermanis just 2 of them. The merging of 2 teams with Brisbane picking over the bones and trading of Fitzroy players giving them 1 way or the other Mal Michael, Johnson and J Brown father son. Plus the benefit of an extended playing roster and an inflated salary cap. Despite all these leg ups they still won less grand finals, contested less Final series in a row, Finished with less wins and a lower percentage and won against significantly weaker opposition win loss and percentage. Take a look at the Collingwood team of spuds they went up against. Only Essendon were strong and still 3/4 of the Hawks Grand final losing opponents were statistically better. Brisbane after all those draft concessions reached a Prelim final and then got the merger. It would be like comparing it to the Hawks after the 2008 season only they would have had even better players with all the concessions. Give that Hawthorn team all the leg ups Brisbane got and they may have won 8 straight.
dylillama
Roar Rookie
'humility' - noun: the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank, etc.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Yes, they had such fantastic role models at the club in 2012 in guys like Cale Morton, Mitch Clark, Colin Sylvia, Ricky Petterd, Colin Garland, Brent Moloney, Liam Jurrah, Stefan Martin, Jeremy Howe, Neville Jetta – honestly, their list was garbage and the only way to rebuild was bring in senior talent, anyone who was any good had long since left Melbourne's problems were that bad that doing a Jewish stocktake and starting again was the only way they were ever going to move forward
Mark
Guest
Lions 3peat would absolutely flog Hawks 3peat. Sorry.
Birdman
Guest
yup - 4 flags to his name
Birdman
Guest
"I wouldn’t say Melbourne have picked badly" hmmm... first round picks 2007 to 2012 Cale Morton, Tom Scully, Jack Tengove, Jack Watts, Lucas Cook, Rory Taggert, Jimmy Toumpas, as the old guy in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade said after the nazi drank from the poisoned grail "he chose poorly" which about sums it up for mine.
Mark
Guest
Trading is done a lot closer to summer than winter. Or did you have a "winter" quota to fill?
Birdman
Guest
he's not called the Golden Fist for nothing but yes he picked the wrong option a couple of times on Sunday
Birdman
Guest
maybe but as I've said below, Vickery was cover for Roughy and Ceglar who were both out of the equation during trade week. as it turned out with Roughy getting the all clear, they may have just grabbed a cheap ruck like Minson or Vardy and left Tyrone with the Tiges. Oh well
Brian
Guest
Cyril definitely played 2013. From memory I think he scored 2 goals in a low scoring win over the Dockers.
Cat
Roar Guru
Vince and Lewis were brought in from outside after Meblourne realised they screwed up by gutting their entire list.