Carpe Diem

The opportunity is there, time to grab it boys

Sep 03, 2024

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One of the greatest characters in modern film, Robin Williams’ immortal portrayal of John Keating in Dead Poets Society said it best.

“Carpe Diem boys. Seize the day, make your lives extraordinary.”

It is by this motto that the Hawthorn Football Club and its fan base should treat this year’s unlikeliest of finals campaigns.

Hope always springs eternal in September for footy fans, but there is a temptation in Australian society in particular to temper expectations and not get ‘too ahead of yourself’. The makeup of our list and the way it has improved so rapidly leads itself to thinking that this finals series is somewhat of a ‘taster’ and that there will be plenty of these opportunities in the future.

But what if there aren't?

Footy is an EXTREMELY hard and unpredictable sport. Obviously, I believe the club is extremely well placed to challenge regularly well into the future, but who knows what is to unfold in the coming years in regard to injury, form and our draw?

On Friday night, we may just find seven straight quasi Elimination Finals to be one too many and run out of gas after what has been an unbelievable four months. The honourable collapse that I think many expected at some stage to come may happen.

But we will NEVER go into a finals series this way ever again.

We are currently completely airborne with youthful fearlessness. We have played badly once in 15 weeks. HokBall is alive, along with the fever pitch level of excitement of the fanbase. We are riding an unbelievable wave. The club is so united from top to bottom in every facet – the men’s playing group, the AFLW team, front office, footy department – you name it. Just look at Rob McCartney’s words in the rooms post Round 24.

This wave has also been pushed by the club’s elite social media team.

I’m 31 and a younger millennial, but the way this social team has tapped into Gen Z culture to make fun, engaging and snappy content has made the Hawks the most fashionable team in the comp. Don’t underestimate how much our younger cohort of 15-25 year old fans appreciate and love this. It helps our crowds, our engagement, and in turn our ability to attract players and sponsorship to our club. We’ve gone from one of the most bland socials teams in the AFL to posting animated videos of what ‘HokBall’ is that involves a 20ft tall Nick Watson. Slay.

The weight of expectation in the coming years will be different. Teams will put more and more time into ‘working us out’ as we become a bigger threat, rather than the jack-in-the-box surprise we are right now.

Momentum is a powerful thing in sport and life. I believe the advent of the pre-finals bye has made it more possible than ever for teams to make a Grand Final from outside the top four, as the extra week off I feel actually hinders the first week Qualifying Final winners. They play once in four weeks from the end of round 24 to the day of the first prelim.

The introduction of the bye has helped teams outside the top four - but was needed.

Since the pre-finals bye was introduced in 2016 – the 2016 Bulldogs, the 2019 Giants and the 2021 Bulldogs have all made the last Saturday in September from outside the top four.

In the previous 16 seasons to the introduction of the bye (since the current system was introduced in 2000), it did not happen once.

Let's look at some data

Since the Port loss we are 11-2 with a percentage of 160%;
In those 13 games, we have cracked 100 seven times, and 90 nine times;
In the last six weeks, we have won five games by over 10 goals. The last four sides to do this made Preliminary Finals;
We are the number one rated defence and offence in the AFL in that time. Heading into the finals we are currently second on the AFL ratings system (behind the Bulldogs!);
We are the only club in the league to have had seven players kick 20 goals (Watson has kicked 18.25);
Near 20.
We are just ridiculously even across the board, which is such a big factor behind our consistency. It’s often said in finals that your bottom six has to lift. I’d be hard pressed to even name our bottom six players right now, let alone a projected top six for the Peter Crimmins Medal.

An old footy coach of mine, the late great Lance ‘Springa’ Spaulding, said to me as a nervous 17-year-old before a senior game for North Hobart against Glenorchy:

‘Natta, if you’re going to make a mistake today, make it a glorious mistake.’

What he meant by this, is to always back myself and my ability. He didn’t care how big the balls up was, as long as I was looking to be daring and play the game the way he asked me to - to bring my strengths to the table and play with attacking flair. I played OKAY that day and we won. I’ve never forgotten it.

I have likened Springa’s words and mentality to the way Hawthorn have played their footy in the last four months.

The opportunity

The opportunity in front of this Hawthorn side should not be understated or tempered. We should believe. Sam Mitchell has repeatedly said the goal of this build is to play a style that will stand up to the rigours of September pressure. This is the first test, a big test indeed in the Dogs, but one that I believe we are up to.

Mitchell hasn’t shied away from the task either. Since the Carlton game, where he said to the group ‘our goal is to win seven games in a row’, it is apparent that we are not here to make up the numbers, and the whole group is dialled in.

Ginnivan posted ‘5 to go’ after the Tigers win.

CJ posted ‘4 to go’ after the weekend.

We are here to win, now.

Mitchell said last year at the PCM that there was ‘no speed limit’ on how quickly this group could get to where we wanted to go. I don’t think any of us thought it would be this quick, but we may have just caught lightning in a bottle. Who knows.

So, my message to the Hawthorn faithful is to lean in and embrace it. Seize the Day. Tell your mates you believe we can win it. It may bite you, but it will be one of those glorious mistakes. Days like these are what being a football supporter is all about.

These opportunities might not come around often, and certainly one not as unique as this.

Knock off work early Friday, reserve that table in Richmond before you head to the ‘G or invite your mates around for that barbeque and enjoy our boys being back where we belong as a club on the biggest stage of all.

Go Hawks.