How Far Can Hawthorn Go This Season? | AFL 2024

seeing your team have as big a win as the Hawks did on the weekend there is obviously Elation involved but trying to be as non-biased as I can you know I can't help but feel sorry for Carlton in terms of they had all the injuries in the first quarter of course Martin foggy these guys went down I think Jordan Boyd hyperextended his knee in that first quarter as well and it does suck no one wants to see injuries from an opposition team you really don't maybe if it's a grand final I can understand that but it still doesn't sit great with me so on the one hand and even though neither team took their chances I still thought Hawthorne was a better team in the first quarter so for four quarters they were the better side not making any excuses for cartton but on one hand I can see the sympathy and the empathy for Carlton but on the other hand we are the happiest team at Hawthorne and we are the mighty fighting Hawks oh oh if you asked any Hawthorne fan what they thought Sunday's game was going to be like this result was not it if you genuinely thought we were going to rock up to the g&b carton by 12 goals you're lying and that's okay well it's not but you know what I mean but this was a result way out of left field the aforementioned injuries of course Charlie kerno when went through his fitness test and proved himself fit enough to play but was he but he did rolled his ankle but D it was a magical day to be a Hawthorne fan and I'm sure nightmare one for Carlton supporters but Hawthorne dominated across the board the numbers there on the screen just taking precedence there you look at plus 71 in uncontested ball plus 14 in marks inside 50 didn't turn the ball over at all marks inside 50 were extraordinary and as we all know now come the end of round 22 after being 0 and5 the Hawks are in the eight and the first thing that I want to touch on in kind of answering the question of this video of how far can Hawthorne go is looking at that top eight there's not a lot of Fear Factor there you think of Sydney only beat us when we were crap so what does that mean now probably not much and the only team there that really has gotten the wood over us in a massive way has been jalong they beat us by six goals when we were awful they smacked Us by more when we were good and that's a little bit of a worry but in terms of we've beaten the Giants we've beaten Freo yes we didn't beat gws last time we played them but it was so close as was the first game The Fear Factor may not be there as much and you got to think the Hawks learn from their 28o lead hopefully but you got to keep improving as a football club but you know how much form of the Bulldogs in you know not great form as I said we beat Freo uh we've beaten Brisbane allbe it at Marvel Stadium but it's still happened so not a whole lot of mass Fear Factor and I know you're probably thinking how much psychological damage did Port aday do I would like to think considering there's only been two losses from that game that the response was warranted I'm not saying it was because of me but if there's any credit that can be doled out I'll happily take some as we like to say but it was extraordinary the maturity that this group is showing considering that coming into this season not only did Hawthorne only have two players over the age of 30 none of them were parents and don't get me wrong that is a thing parenting brings maturity Tyler Brockman was the only parent last year and of course with twins but he of course went to West Coast and he's playing his footy there now and I do think that you can fall into quite an immature trap and the joy that it's been in watching this young group has been that that immaturity isn't in onfield performance it's like saying kids will be kids right it's the positive connotation of boys will be boys cuz they're happy they're up and about but what's so good is that they're able to do that cuz they work their asses off and that's what's pleasing is it's not coming from a place of we rock up and we're good Hawthorne's game plan is built on work rate which for a young team yay and it also makes us look at other teams either around that age bracket or even on the ladder hello essendon if you're listening is what makes Hawthorne fans and probably the club itself to be fair a lot happier about where things are at so hathorne have kind of revolutionized the Dual High half forward and they have three blocks that can be high half forwards that being Dylan who is a lock for the all Australian team Conor McDonald who had 25 touches 12 marks and seven score involvements on the weekend and Nick Watson who had something like four goal assists and 10 score involvements without hitting the scoreboard in a meaningful way himself now Dylan Moore we already know and no one would love to gush over Dylan Moore more than me but we kind of got to give some love elsewhere but the dovet and flyer Conor McDonald himself is getting a lot better at this because when Connor started his career he was a half forward that couldn't quite hit the scoreboard and could be a frustrating watch at times and he himself has kind of epitomized the maturity in this Hawthorne group he missed the shot against Collingwood in gather round that would have put the Hawks in front now does that mean that's why the Hawks lost the game no of course not they were down by six goals in the second quarter it's not Croc's fault right but he had that moment he's had another couple of moments another one that optimizes what's happened was Josh wed in the The Gather Round game against Collingwood he flinched in a contest ain't no one thinking he's soft cuz he's worked his ass off and by the way the highest rated player on the ground on Sunday against the blues was Joshy wed according to AFL play ratings which is cool but the AFL player rating system doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me because mimo de Ambrosio was the 15th rated Hawk and 21st rated player on the ground so you know take it with a pinch of salt as we like to say but it was an extraordinary performance and even from the Lesser lights if you will Harry Morrison who was the laate in was really good cam McKenzie old Sam Mitchell Jr right looked really good Sam frost was the only hawk that didn't go above 60% efficiency now yes part of that is fatigue and work rate from the blues who had their injuries I understand all that but this was a joy to watch as Hawthorne have been and again even in losses now no one wants to take joy from losses but barring the jalong game since going 0 and5 the Hawks haven't really being embarrassed jalong at Cadia Park the worst of it now you could argue humiliation is worse than embarrassment and that's where the port aad game comes in but again point of maturity we move forward we fult it again against gws how do you respond against another Contender you smack him so when you've got that level of response I'm not saying it makes the gws game okay but your ability to bounce back shows that you're on the right track you just wobble a little bit but that's okay right you're still on the road you're still on the track right you might have to Swerve a little bit but you're still on the road and there's no damage to the car or the train right so they're still in a really good place Hawthorne gave up Yoo in a fourth round pick for Lloyd Meek in a second one of the most valued trades of the year except it wasn't because masimo dambrosio cost the equivalent of pick 61 and pick 65 across two different drafts awesome James Sicily's Evolution as a modern and mature Captain has been really good to see and then of course as we said the young guys who are celebrating like no one's business are piling on but they're also creating internal momentum they want the next goal the next happy moment Watson who some recruiters were saying wasn't unselfish in his draft year he's bloody unselfish now Jack ginan is apparently the most selfish footballer of all time he ain't here and Sam Mitchell's ability to play position zones with ball in hand is leading to an overwhelming wave of critical and lethal ball movement whether it's Jack scrimshaw taking three steps out of the goal square and barreling it to the wing whether it's the China hand balls that ended up with Connor Nash kicking it to Watson handall to call Sher who by the way what a find he has been and he kicked the goal from the goal line whatever it's been now Hawthorne do have one glaring weakness one glaring weakness and it's when they turn the ball over between the arcs still a bottom six team in the competition from conceding score from turnover differentially so that's a little bit of a problem but young group heading into finals sometimes you got to live with these things so what are the connotations for finals now at this point in time if you're thinking DZ we still have to beat Richmond and North don't jinx us I get that and if we lose to either Richmond or North everything I've said in this video well not everything but maybe 70% of what I have said and will say for the rest of the video may not make any sense that's fine 17th and 18 you just got to win those games as we see with the Bulldogs and as we've seen with these teams that are losing the bottom six sides they're so detrimental to your season you can't deal with them until they happen so until they do good luck to them but if we are going to blame someone for this just blame my Ms who in the car said there are only two ways Hawthorne don't make finals and it's you shoot yourselves in the foot or claro stops you so thanks love appreciate it in a massive way but in the connotations of the Elder minations I should say of the top eight and we can still include CT here mean there are 11 chances or 11 finals matchups that can happen for all of the interstate teams that are on the ladder you are looking at playing them at the MCG or their home ground and considering the Hawthorne technically can still finish fifth come the end of the year so Hawthorne could finish fifth 6th 7th e8th or 9th or 10th but if they do play finals it's fifth sixth seventh eth there are 11 possible venue matchups that can happen and if it was up to me if I was to go in reverse order so from hardest to easiest kind of match up let's do the countdown the hardest one would be Brisbane at the gabber AWS away even though at manica we only lost by small margin Port Adelaide at Adelaide oval that home crowd would be difficult to deal with at Opus Foo as a team don't really worry me but again the perok home crowd and the two tall forwards if Tracy and Amos both play do worry me a little bit with how Hogan went and even though kerno went down he and Harry mcki were pretty dominant in that first quarter without quite putting it on the scoreboard Brisbane would still be the most difficult matchup cuz I'm not including Sydney in these matchups at all cuz they're not going to move from the top three I don't think but even Brisbane at the MCG would be a daunting task even though we're kind of getting into the realm of not too much Fear Factor along at the MCG I just think Hawthorne's Midfield would be primed and proper to take over and get past the cats for the first time this year gws at the MCG the wave the momentum that hawthor would be able to give makes this a pretty difficult matchup but again not one that's inducing a lot of anxiety I simply don't think Port Adelaide could beat us at the MCG more than two times out of 10 to be perfectly honest whilst the Bulldogs can match their opposition on I just think they would be beautiful to play in a first final three at the MCG would be a godand yes the two tall forwards is still a thing but if Hawthorne can overwhelm them with ball movement as essendon did late in their game from a fortnite ago as jalong did in that last quarter and as Hawthorne did to Carlton wouldn't mind that match up at all and after recent form somehow getting a banged up Carlton at the MCG would also be pretty ideal now you will disagree about the order that's fine that's what the comment section is for but there are all the ways that it could happen and the ladder will be decided as we all know in the last two gam so Hawthorne along with the others that are around that top four Mark and Carlton that are just below us have got their opponents there on the screen as you can see you can't get easier than 17th and 18th in terms of difficulty but someone like Foo May struggle Carlton even with their injuries could make their way in how are the Bulldogs going to go couple of good matchups there but not perfect ones as we know when I'm not considering essin cuz they've got I think Sydney and Brisbane uh Gold Coast I just don't trust at all to get the game going and the bombers have got um yeah Brisbane away as well and Collingwood sorry I've got Brisbane and Melbourne to finish their season so not really considering those in terms of how far Hawthorne can go a little bit like NBA playoffs your opponent matters so when Hawthorne went through their really dominant period I don't think Hawthorne fans even when we lost in 2012 against Sydney matchups didn't matter it's just whoever it was let's go get him now of course for an abundance of reasons in 2012 that didn't happen but 2013 the kennet curse was the only one that had anxiety and of course as we know from there yes Hawthorne played in close games anxiety inducing games that 2014 prelim against Port ad was the most nervous I've been at work and I was a chef for six years and I've had knives thrown at me pots pans you name it of being called things that you couldn't invent in the comment section that's not a challenge how far can the Hawks go with the right matchup can win a final and I actually think with the Right double matchup could play in a prelim but we also have to live in a reality where the Hawks could miss finals it's unlikely but it's thereabouts but I think that the ceiling for this Hawks team is a little bit like 2001 scaring the out of a prelim final side is probably the ceiling but the floor definitely has to be finals so much so that it would feel a little bit like a failure if the Hawks didn't make it not because of the vibe and not because of the game plan but because the only thing we had to do was beat the two worst teams in the competition and we couldn't get it done that at the end of the year would burn massively so the ceiling is scaring the out of a prelim side whether it's going up to Sydney and giving them a shake or something like that going up to the gabber a little bit like Carlton did and scaring the out of them for a little bit but the floor has to be finals and I genuinely think with the way that Hawthorne have done in big crowds these youngsters are going to rise to the occasion because it has been a really long time 2021 Melbourne would be the only one in a quite a while where a team has effectively come from nowhere even West Coast in 20177 w a final the Bulldogs in 2016 played in an elimination Final in 2015 of course when you win a three Pat you're expected to be there about Sydney didn't really come from nowhere even though in 2011 lost that semi-final I think to the Hawks from memory so it's not like they were bad beforehand and even when the Hawks came from the clouds from a youth point of view in 2008 had won the final in 2007 against the crows so it would be really rare and D Dre if the Hawks won the flag this year I'm not sure if it would be better than 08 and it's really shitty to go to try to compare Grand Final wins and if you're watching this not as a Hawthorne fan and you're going the fact you've got so many to choose from Daz and you are not even 30 yet you I totally understand that I'm not doing it to be factious or malicious in any kind of intellectual way but what I can say is that if the Hawks don't win the flag it'll be the best Hawthorne side I've seen and that I've enjoyed watching that didn't win a flag or probably didn't make the Grand Final if you want to exclude 2012 cuz we're belting the out of people for fun and that 2012 prelim was one of the most electric atmospheres I've ever been to whether that's footy Cricket or concert so how far can the Hawks go can they go is all the way will they go I feel like it's week two of the finals but who the hell am I to put a cap on this keep going boys this is a wild ride and if the Hawks make the finals Sam Mitchell could win Coach of the Year clarkco coached in six prelim years four grand final sorry five grand finals four four Flags didn't win coach of the year once that would be weird but where do you think the Hawks can go in September will they even get there who do you want them to play in a first final and why do you low key wish it was essin to knock them out of an elimination final comment below let me know like the video if you like the video subscribe if you haven't already to join the DZ talks footy family I hope you had a fantastic weekend what a weekend it was and I will be back in a couple of days with a brand new video for you to sink your teeth and your eyeballs into see you later