AFL greatest team of the decade: Fans vote Hawthorn’s 2014 side as the best of the past 10 years
The votes have been counted and there’s a clear winner. We can reveal the greatest AFL team of the decade as voted by you. What made this Hawks unit so special? We spoke to a man who played with and against them.
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Former Sydney midfielder Ben McGlynn has tried his best to “block out” the 2014 Grand Final from his memory.
But it’s hard for him to completely forget what a dominant display Hawthorn put on that day and what an impressive year the Hawks had.
McGlynn started his 171-game career with Hawthorn before moving to the Swans at the end of 2009.
The 2014 Grand Final was his first big dance and his former side put on a masterclass, the Hawks breaking away to a 20-point lead at quarter-time on their way to a 63-point triumph.
The team that became known as the “Unsociable Hawks” was at its peak under coach Alastair Clarkson.
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“That was something they’d had for a long time and even in my time at the Hawks, that was pushed pretty hard from Clarkson, to play on the edge,” McGlynn said of the “unsociable” tag.
“That 2014 Grand Final was a classic example. The first quarter they came out and hit us pretty hard and we couldn’t really recover from that first quarter.
“Pretty much from 2012 onwards, after Hawthorn lost to Sydney initially, they were the team that everyone was trying to chase and copy. They were a pretty ruthless team that played on the edge but also had a game style that not many could work out and their skill level was elite from behind the footy.
“They were definitely the better team not just that year, but the year’s pre and post.”
The Hawks’ experienced line-up, which was added to through some clever trade acquisitions, provided opposition sides with no shortage of headaches across the ground.
“They had Jordan Lewis, Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Jarryd Roughead and then they added the class of Shaun Burgoyne and Josh Gibson and Brian Lake over the years as well,” McGlynn said.
“They had some real senior guys that lead by example but then they also had some young up-and-coming talent with the likes of Cyril Rioli and Luke Breust who were the cream on the top in the front half.”
Across his seven seasons at Sydney from 2010-2016, McGlynn played in just five wins from 14 games against Hawthorn.
“Hawthorn and Geelong were probably the two teams,” he said.
“We had some good battles with Geelong and we were lucky enough to break their winning streak down at Kardinia Park.
“They were obviously the two teams that were pretty dominant through that era but Hawthorn was definitely the better team.”
WINNER REVEALED
GRAND FINAL RECAP: HAWTHORN 2014 vs HAWTHORN 2013
WINNER: No. 1 HAWTHORN 2014
Coach: Alastair Clarkson (Brendon Bolton acting)
Captain: Luke Hodge
Won: 20. Lost: 5.
Premiers.
CHAMPION DATA: Ranked No. 1 for points scored, points from turnovers, points from stoppages and goals per inside 50.
Ranked No. 1 for disposal differential and uncontested possession differential.
Ranked No. 2 for kicking efficiency differential and No. 3 for disposal efficiency differential.
STRENGTH
One of the great premiership campaigns, achieved despite the off-season defection of Lance Franklin to Sydney, a spate of injuries to big-name stars including Cyril Rioli, Sam Mitchell, Josh Gibson, Brian Lake and Luke Hodge and the shock mid-season absence of master coach Alastair Clarkson, struck down by a rare health condition, Guillain-Barré syndrome. Just three Hawks made the All-Australian team in 2014 (Jarryd Roughead, Jordan Lewis and Luke Breust), a testament to the depth and game plan that kept the team ticking over through the winter before the Hawks hit their stride when it counted in September. Finished second on the ladder after the home-and-away season. Then accounted for nemesis Geelong by six goals in the qualifying final, hung on by just three points in the prelim against a fast-finishing Port Adelaide and thumped Buddy’s Swans by 63 points in the big one. Roughead, Breust and Jack Gunston covered comfortably for Franklin’s departure, booting 190 majors between them in a high-scoring team that averaged 112 points per game.
WEAKNESS
None of their own making. Clarkson had been planning for life without Franklin, but few clubs could have endured such a wretched run of luck on top of the loss of their superstar player and still brought home the bacon. Such was their impenetrable system, Brendon Bolton registered wins in all five matches he filled in for Clarkson.
RUNNER-UP: No. 10 HAWTHORN, 2013
Coach: Alastair Clarkson
Captain: Luke Hodge
Won: 22. Lost: 3.
Premiers.
CHAMPION DATA: Ranked No. 1 for points scored and points from stoppages, and No. 2 for goals per inside 50.
Ranked No. 3 for points scored from turnovers and No. 2 for points differential from turnovers.
Ranked No. 2 for disposal differential, uncontested possession differential and inside 50 differential.
STRENGTH
The pain of the previous year’s Grand Final loss, the recruitment of a key defender and the blending of one-time premiership heroes with a group of younger players made the 2013 Hawks a powerful force. Brian Lake won the Norm Smith Medal and also released the shackles on best-and-fairest winner Josh Gibson. Jarryd Roughead won the Coleman Medal, Sam Mitchell was unstoppable and the leadership of Luke Hodge and Alastair Clarkson was invaluable. Clarkson anticipated the impending departure of Lance Franklin at season’s end by making the club less reliant on him as an avenue to goal. After losing to Geelong (again) in Round 1, the Hawks reeled off 12 consecutive wins (equal to the club record in 1961) before the Cats struck again in Round 15.
WEAKNESS
The spectre of Geelong hung over Hawthorn in the years after the 2008 premiership, thanks to the “Kennett Curse”. Break it and the Hawks might unlock the chains that bound them. A seven-point loss and a 10-point loss to their nemesis in the 2011 regular season only added to the pain. Then a loss to Richmond by 41 points in Round 19 made the Hawks look vulnerable. As it turned out, those would be the only losses the Hawks had in a season that started the flag three-peat. A nail-bitter ensued in the preliminary final. A late miss from Geelong’s Travis Varcoe helped send the Hawks into the Grand Final and ultimately a trophy-clinching win over Fremantle.
LINE-UPS
(Note: Players who were not in both teams are in bold)
HAWTHORN 2014 GRAND FINAL SIDE
B: Grant Birchall, Brian Lake, Josh Gibson
HB: Matt Suckling, Ben Stratton, Sam Mitchell
C: Jordan Lewis, Will Langford, Bradley Hill
HF: Luke Hodge (c), Jarryd Roughead, Isaac Smith
F: Ben McEvoy, Jack Gunston, Luke Breust
Foll: David Hale, Liam Shiels, Shaun Burgoyne
Int: Matthew Spangher, Cyril Rioli, Paul Puopolo, Taylor Duryea (sub)
Coach: Alastair Clarkson
HAWTHORN 2013 GRAND FINAL SIDE
B: Ben Stratton, Brian Lake, Brent Guerra
HB: Shaun Burgoyne, Josh Gibson, Grant Birchall
C: Isaac Smith, Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis
HF: Luke Breust, Lance Franklin, Cyril Rioli
F: Paul Puopolo, Jarryd Roughead, David Hale
Foll: Max Bailey, Brad Sewell, Luke Hodge (c)
Int: Liam Shiels, Jack Gunston, Bradley Hill, Jonathan Simpkin (sub)
Coach: Alastair Clarkson
McGUANE’S VERDICT
This is a no-brainer for me. Hawthorn of 2014 was clearly better. The Hawks were arguably lucky to win the 2013 Grand Final against Fremantle, having recorded the same number of scoring shots as the wayward Dockers. Hawthorn had seven individual goalkickers boot 11 goals in that 2013 decider, with Lance Franklin only kicking one major. As good as Franklin was at Hawthorn, the Hawks had more diversity in their forward line in 2014 and it showed as they kicked 21 goals in the 2014 decider against Sydney from 10 individual goalkickers. The addition of ruckman Ben McEvoy in 2014, replacing Max Bailey, was also telling. Of the other inclusions in 2014, Matt Spangher provided good flexibility, Taylor Durya was a like-for-like replacement for Brent Guerra in defence, Will Langford came in for Brad Sewell in the middle and kicked three goals in the 2014 Grand Final and Matthew Suckling came in for Jonathan Simpkin and provided more versatility. The ins and outs are weighted in favour of the 2014 side.
WINNER: Hawthorn 2014
ROBBO’S VERDICT
An almost impossible task but I’m picking Hawks of 2014. That team was my No.1 seed at the start of the competition, not because of talent, but the circumstance and the team’s ability to conquer a series of issues in the preceding 12 months. The 2014 team lost from the 2013 team Lance Franklin, Max Bailey, Brad Sewell and Brent Guerra and they were replaced by Ben McEvoy, Matt Spangher, Matt Suckling and Will Suckling. Franklin was the huge change. Arguably the best player in the competition played for Grand Finalists and the result was a comprehensive 63 points. At various stages through the season, they lost Cyril Rioli, Josh Gibson, Sam Mitchell and Brian Lake for long stretches, the likes Luke Hodge, Ben McEvoy, David Hale and Jarryd Roughead missed key games and coach Alastair Clarkson missed five games with illness. They still came home with a 14-2 win-loss record. It was a powerful, resilient premiership and arguably the cub’s greatest.
WINNER: Hawthorn 2014
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LEWIS REVEALS WHY 2014 WAS HAWKS’ FINEST
From the outside, Hawthorn looked to be on its knees entering Round 11, 2014.
The Hawks were coming off consecutive losses to Sydney and Port Adelaide, were missing 2013 premiership heroes Sam Mitchell (hamstring), Josh Gibson (pectoral) and Cyril Rioli (hamstring) through long-term injuries and had coach Alastair Clarkson in a hospital bed with a rare viral condition, Guillain-Barre.
Doubts were growing about the side’s ability win back-to-back premierships, something the Hawks had failed to do after their 2008 triumph.
But the under-siege side managed to find another gear after assistant coach Brendon Bolton stepped in for Clarkson.
“Everyone just improved a little bit,” former Hawthorn star turned Fox Footy commentator Jordan Lewis said.
“No one thought they had to do what Sam Mitchell could do or what Josh Gibson could do. Everyone just wanted to improve their game by five per cent, which in total was enough to cover those guys for that period of time.
“Bolton, when he first came in, had this saying which I really love. He said, ‘You don’t have to be remarkable in this period, you have just got to be reliable’. That really rung true to me.”
Hawthorn had already faced enough hardship in the off-season, losing star forward Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin to Sydney during the 2013 trade period.
Franklin had kicked 60 goals in 2013.
“I understand the one soldier out, one soldier in philosophy,” Lewis said.
“But when you lose arguably the best player in the league, naturally you wonder if you can get back there again without him participating in your side.”
When Clarkson was hospitalised, there was little clarity about how long he would miss.
In the end, Bolton had the reins for five games.
The Hawks won all of them.
“I remember a leadership meeting with Brendon Bolton and he said, ‘You guys just tell me what you want from me’,” Lewis said.
“We said, ‘Don’t try and be Clarko because no one can be Clarko, you just try and be you, we’re not going to change things drastically’.
“From a player point of view and someone who had been there a long time, it was a breath of fresh air to be honest. It was just nice to hear from someone else during the season and also have things stay pretty much how they were from a performance and coaching point of view.”
Hawthorn finished the home-and-away season second on the ladder and entered the 2014 Grand Final against minor premier Sydney as underdog.
“We really enjoyed the fact that the media were doubting us,” Lewis said.
“For a long period of time we were the hunted side, so to go into a Grand Final as underdogs, we really relished that tag and to a certain extent it motivated us to prove people wrong once again.”
The Hawks won that Grand Final by 63 points over the Swans.
Given the doubts entering the season and the hardship faced during the year, four-time premiership player Lewis considers 2014 Hawthorn’s finest hour of his career.
“It showed the depth of that side in 2014,” he said.
“I don’t know if any other year we would have coped with that type of adversity.”
Originally published as AFL greatest team of the decade: Fans vote Hawthorn’s 2014 side as the best of the past 10 years
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