Ex-Hawthorn coaches and players dominate senior coaching ranks

Sorry to 'rain on your parade' there mate Port never played in the 2003 GF, Brisbane beat Collingwood, for a 3peat. Port has played in 2 Grand Finals 2004 beating Brisbane & 2007 losing to Geelong.

The focus of this article is all wrong. The real reason for this prevalence is Alistair Clarkson, not Hawthorn. You could argue the Hawks showed great character in identifying him and supporting him, but don’t forget either your former and now current president wanted to demote him to the VFL coaching role. If he hadn’t won in 2008 he never would have been supported long enough to get to 2013. Kennett would have torched him. Here’s an alternative take on your listing too. 1. Hardwick – great man manager, players love him and play for him. Tactically not that sharp. Learned all his man management skills from Chris Fagan. 2. Beveridge – only flourished once he got out from under Clarko’s thumb 3. Clarko – well, he is a genius. But that’s all to do with him, not Hawthorn. 4. Simpson – can he actually coach? A lot of people seem to think he’s not much good at the Eagles. Way too tolerant of poor efforts, and needs to put a broom through his side. 5. Cameron – big question marks as well. Has crashed his orange lamborghini into the wall twice in finals now. 6. Bolton – happy smiling face, but all he’s shown he can do so far is make Carlton slightly less terrible, but still terrible. 7. Fagan – the real power behind the throne. Psychiatrist and coach par excellence. 8. Dew – learned all his footy at Port Adelaide, and his signing was all to do with Clarko’s brilliance in seeing he was exactly the player they needed for finals. 9. Brad Scott – this is about as tenuous as it gets. ‘Hawks’ great Leigh Matthews too, take your hand off it, he never coached a day in his life at Hawthorn as senior coach, his coaching greatness was from his stints at Collingwood and Brisbane. Honestly if this is the sort of self indulgent back slapping we can expect as Hawthorn teaches the rest of us cretins how to play football I’d rather remain proudly independent of Dingley and remain independently rubbish.

"We didn't turn up" is never an excuse for losing a Grand Final. Teams who don't turn up on Grand Final day don't deserve to be in future Grand Finals.

Name a team who has managed their way out of a threepeat era more successfully.

You're kidding yourself, Dean . . . 'and few teams suffered as much loss due to players lost through free agency'. Who, apart from Buddy, did Hawthorn lose in this period? No player of note. Everything else you put forward supports my take on things. Their slide is a result of these past actions and methods!

Similar to the Canberra Raiders in the NRL, with several club and rep team coaches who were all at the Raiders at some point.

"Cmon Dean,we can’t be putting asterisks next to Geelong while overlooking Hawthorn getting home GFs and the compromised drafts" Yes we can. None of Hawthorn's A-graders came through compromised drafts and the MCG tenancy was something Geelong could've had if they weren't so wedded to their let's-play-in-a-park attitude. Geelong could move to the MCG any time they want. But they won't, because then they'll have no excuses when they keep losing finals there.

"I’d also argue you didn’t have to face teams as good as Saints in 09 and Magpies in 11 to win your flags." Maybe Hawthorn's opposition only looked inferior because the Hawks were so far superior to them. Remember that the Swans side of '14 was said to be on the verge of a dynasty until we showed how soft they really were.

I would probably go Voss over Hodge, and I loved Hodgey as much as anyone. The thing is, there have only been a few players who have pulled on a pair of fotty boots that have been better than Voss. Voss was the best player in the best team and the best in the league for a few years. Hodge had to fill a number of roles for the Hawks and was unbelievable in all of them, but meant that while he was probably the most versatile player for a while, he probably wasn't considered the best in any given position, save 2010 where he was as close to the best player in the competition as you could get without being that. So Voss for mine.

I really don't understand the consecutive argument either, and my degree of hatred for a club or player (and I really hate Geelong and especially Paul Chapman) were perfectly correlated to how good they were. Although I would argue that Hawks did better in the big time games (marginally) I can't imagine a club inflicting more frustration on me than Geelong. Those 11 wins in a row were the worst 11 games ever because 10 of them weeenso close and we lost every one of them! The 2013 Prelim was all the more satisfying though as a result. Being 20 points down at 3/4 time against your bogey side and winning was unbelievable (thank you Shaun Burgoyne). So to summarize some random thoughts, I think Geelong were outstanding and whether they won three in a row or three in five years is irrelevant. They were an amazing team that this Hawks supporter is glad existed. You can't have a hero without a villain...

Fair call re Saints being the dominant team in 2009. My memory had missed their long unbeaten run. My thought at the time was that they were peaking too early, which probably colored my comment. I don't disagree that the Swans capitulated, but that was after the hawks hung in there at the beginning of the game and then physically smashed and intimidated them for the next quarter and a half. It's easy to forget that the Swans were leadin halfway through the first quarter by a goal and our first two goals were long shots on angles by Poppy and Bruest, and Bruest's in particular was a clutch kick. If we don't kick them it is a different story. Even two mins into the second quarter afte McGlynn goaled, Swans down by only 14. for the physicality of the way the Hawks belted the Swans, just look at the footage of Roughie pummeling Hannebury. The 2014 GF is probably (IMO) the best game the club has played. I find it frustrating when all my Swans supporter mates in Sydney say that the Swans didn't turn up that day and if hey had, they would have won. No, they turned up, were winning early on, couldn't shake the Hawks on the scoreboard and were then pummeled to within an inch of their lives. Rant over.

Cmon Dean,we can't be putting asterisks next to Geelong while overlooking Hawthorn getting home GFs and the compromised drafts. Having said that Hawthorn were far superior to Geelong,we don't need asterisks bacause they were a better big game side,Geelong were a good side though. Personally I'd go Brisbane over Hawthorn,but I can see the Hawthorn argument. Hawthorn were a tough and skilful side across the board,Brisbane were harder and had more top end champions. They had some similar traits,when push comes to shove I'd like to see a Voss vs Hodge challenge,fans would have differing views how that would turn out but it would be good for football to see,Geelong never had anyone like that which is probably a big difference between the clubs. Hawthorn,Brisbane is a tough call,Geelong aren't even in the reckoning. All great sides though.

Similiar achievements? 4 will forever be a greater number than 3. Geelong had their chance but a combination of choking in 2008 and Thompson losing his marbles over Ablett and other pressures he faced denied Geelong the chance of been regarded the best ever. Consecutive premierships throughout all sporting codes is highly regarded. Hawks contested consecutive Premierships winning 3 straight after the 2012 Prelim final tampering by Demetriou.

The same is likewise true of Geelong, they were vastly stronger from 07-11, yet able to beat Hawthorn in the years after, and "seriously challenge" as you say. It's almost like both sides had similar achievements, huh? I'm having a laugh at "consecutive", that has to be every Hawthorn supporter's favourite word, as if it's of any significance. Geelong reached a prelim in 2004 and have only missed finals twice since. Looking forward to seeing how you blokes go in 2018 without Hodge. As for "hefty astorix", I think you need to take the tinfoil off.

Didn't know Port made gf in 2003. I thought Collingwood got smashed by Brisbane in that one..

I agree with most of what you've said, but I think you're forgetting the Saints in 2009 were a dominant side, who only lost a couple of matches at the end of the season when they had a top two spot sown up already. Why were Freo of 2013 better? Geelong had no strong opposition in 2007, I agree, but I can't help thinking the Swans capitulated in that 2014 final. I remember a H&A MCG game that was a close between them, late season.

Geelong were not good enough to win consecutive grand finals and the Hawks team of 07-11 were vastly inferior to the Hawks team of 2012-2015 so that says a bit of the standings of opposition considering the Hawks were able to beat Geelong in 07,08 and seriously challenge in the following years. Geelong also had Thompson, the Weapon and consulted with Dank. The same trio that would end up working together at Essendon. Their involvement places a hefty asterix on Geelongs premiership era.