Hawthorn dismisses the idea but has time caught up with the reigning premiers?
JORDAN Lewis dismisses the notion, but it can’t be ignored. Has time caught up with Hawks, asks Mark Robinson.
Mark Robinson
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JORDAN Lewis bristled on Tuesday night when asked whether the Hawks were vulnerable.
He felt the question was offensive and dutifully dismissed it.
He mumbled something about the past three years and let his answer hang in the air.
Lewis was referring to three premierships, of course, and with that kind of recent history, self belief is not lacking at the Hawthorn Football Club.
They are crazy times when the question is even asked of the Hawks.
It’s a Round 1 phenomenon to ask kneejerk questions and make blunt statements.
Already we have Fremantle gone. Too slow. New rules will kill them.
Collingwood is gone. Not good enough and Travis Cloke is finished.
Richmond struggled to beat Carlton, so they can’t make the eight.
Sydney was wiped but now will make the top four. Bulldogs are sexy and won’t be beaten at Etihad Stadium. And Melbourne can now aim to play finals after dismissing Greater Western Sydney, who are now looking brittle.
Amid all that were the Hawks.
They were beaten by 30 points by Geelong and lost Luke Hodge for five weeks.
He joined Jarryd Roughead, Liam Shiels and Brad Hill on the sidelines after they lost Brian Lake and David Hale to retirement at the end of last season, and the kids aren’t good enough to fill their roles.
Unquestionably, the finger pointing at the Hawks smacks of want rather than rational opinion.
People are jealous and they have been waiting for the team to stumble.
Clearly, the dynasty has to end at some point. It’s not if, but when.
Suddenly, the Round 2 match-up against West Coast at the MCG today is pivotal to the season.
It might be crazy, but it’s also real.
Yes, this is all conquering Hawthorn, but history tells us early season losses puts a team on the back foot.
In the past five seasons, only the Sydney Swans (2014) have made September after losing their first two matches of the season.
If the Hawks are 0-2, they then face the Western Bulldogs at Docklands. If that’s another loss, only North Melbourne (2007) and Melbourne (2006) in the past 10 seasons have played finals after losing their first three matches of the season.
Again, this is Hawthorn and if even they were 0-5, very few would be brave enough to say thanks for the memories.
Hawks premiership player Campbell Brown reckons the early-season judgment of the Hawks is ludicrous.
The Geelong loss needs perspective, he said.
“They missed the finals and have been eyeing off the Easter Monday game for a long time,” he said. “It was their game to stamp themselves in top eight. The Hawks are four or five weeks behind where the Cats are, and that was a massive statement for Geelong, whereas it was just another Easter Monday game for the Hawks.
“It was a big game, but it might take a couple of weeks for the Hawks to get that groove back, and when it does, it’s hard to stop.”
Overcoming seasonal turbulence is not foreign to the Hawks.
In 2014, they lost key playmakers Cyril Rioli, Sam Mitchell, Josh Gibson and Lake for extended chunks of the season and coach Alastair Clarkson missed five games after being diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome.
At the start of that season, they also lost Lance Franklin to Sydney.
That season, they won 20 games, lost five, which included two losses in the last 16 games and culminated with the premiership win over the Swans.
Arguably, it was Hawthorn’s greatest premiership.
The Hawks have redesigned character and they’ll need it to win a fourth flag.
“Hawthorn’s mentality is to weather the storm,” Brown said. “Massive self belief. Last year they didn’t go back-to-back wins until Round 10, and in those losses they still maintained their confidence all the way through. They knew to stick to the processes. They have enough good players there to win enough games to finish top four, and when they finished top four last year, that’s when the belief really kicked in.”
He said the injuries were massive and upset their structure, “but internally their belief wouldn’t waiver at all”.
What if it’s 0-3?
“I’d say they have some work to do,” he said. “But they could easily come out and beat West Coast and all of this won’t be spoken about at all.”
And if they lose to Dogs?
“Call me back ... but at this stage it was only one week, so I wouldn’t get too concerned.”
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