Poor form and atrocious skills have left Hawthorn in a horrible situation, writes Mark Robinson

NAMES like Puopolo, Rioli, Breust, Gibson, Gunston, Frawley and Burgoyne read well, but their performances leave a lot to be desired, writes MARK ROBINSON.

Jarryd Roughead leads Hawthorn off the field. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

NOTHING ever stays the same. No matter who you are or what you are.

Two players who haven’t been on the end of the unsociable Hawks turned unsociable on Luke Hodge on Monday.

Call it symbolism. Call it opportunity. Call it Cats aggression.

Firstly, Sam Menegola slammed Hodge into the MCG turf in the third quarter in what is now called a sling tackle.

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Secondly, James Parsons, in his second game, elbowed Hodge to the head in the fourth quarter.

There’s no condoning either act and if you had to grade them, Parsons’ elbow was the dirtier.

It was a classic lift the elbow as you ran past an open opponent and was as cheap as they come.

Menegola could argue he thought Hodge had the ball, but either way, he was dumping Hodge as hard as he could whether Hodge had the ball or not.

Kudos to Hodge, too.

Jarryd Roughead looks dejected as he leads the Hawks off the field. Picture: Getty

Luke Hodge was clipped by James Parsons. Picture: AAP Images

The inspirational skipper didn’t take umbrage at the treatment. It reminded you of the great Allan Jeans who said of Dermott Brereton: “There’s a lot of myths and false images in football, but there’s no myth about Dermie ... he handed it out and copped a lot.’’

That is Hodge and, yes, it is a comment for the retired or the near retired.

As for Menegola and Parsons, they will be suspended. And even though coach Chris Scott won’t have the pair for next week’s game against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, you have to wonder if he would be pleased with the aggression.

Successful teams play near the line. The best teams often have players who step over the line.

That said, there was remnants of bygone Hawks.

Josh Gibson took out Tom Ruggles with a shepherd in the third quarter which to the naked eye looked high, but to the replay looked a copy-book block for his teammate.

Gibson was reported, but he would be unlucky if he was rubbed out.

Because it was a shepherd, Gibson didn’t tackle. He kept an arm tucked, hit Ruggles in the body and the impact meant heads collided after the initial collision. Just like the Jack Ziebell case, the footy world waits for the result.

In the end, this was a rout of terrific proportion.

Don’t worry about any more conversation about the Hawks’ era being over. It’s well over.

The margin was 86 points and if the Cats kicked straight in the first half, would have been 100-points plus.

Outside of the first 20 minutes of the third quarter, where the Hawks lived every inch of Alastair Clarkson’s pre-match mantra that spirit would be the key to any Hawks response from last week, his team laboured and then was lashed by the Cats.

It’s a strange and frustrating game, football, because the Cats kicked 5.12 in the first half and should’ve lead by 10 goals and then kicked 11.0 in the final quarter.

More will be written about Geelong’s defensive strategies over the coming weeks, but already Champion Data has flagged from a smallish sample size of four games that the Cats are defending deeper this season, and not so much with the press.

They strangled the Hawks from the first bounce and while some commentators — and even Clarkson — have spoken of the calibre of player on the park for the Hawks, names can’t beat reality.

Sam Menegola, Tom Hawkins and Daniel Menzel celebrate Geelong’s win over Hawthorn. Picture: Getty Images

Puopolo, Rioli, Breust, Langford, Gibson, Gunston, Stratton, Frawley and Burgoyne reads well, but their performances are clearly not to the level which we have seen consistently.

Poor form and some atrocious skills, which was also not a trait of the all-conquering Hawks of recent years, has Clarkson’s team in a horrible situation.

Time to play the kids and tap, say, Gibson on the shoulder and drop Puopolo?

These are the decisions Clarkson has to make.

The Cats, meanwhile, are 4-0, and if you’re only as good as your last game then they are in pretty good nick.