📝 Notes from our second match sim against the Dogs
Pre-season match number two is in the bank as we count the days to Opening Round
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It was a game of two halves… how many times did we hear that in 2024, and how often should we expect to hear it in 2025?
A fairly flat opening term. Held the fort in the second. Flexed some muscle in the third. And despite getting in front, couldn’t close it our in the last.
But there was plenty to be happy about - it is a pre-season game after all, and we showed that our list will not only be up to it, but will also bat deep.
And while the naysayers are claiming that the house is already burning down before our eyes, the reality is that the key ingredients are there to see - as they have been throughout the Summer.
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So what does it all mean?
Let’s start with some key observations from Ethan Weiss - and some commentary from the Apple Tree.
🍔 Some Weiss family takeaways
Sic is BACK
EW: Our captain James Sicily showed signs of his All-Australian best from two years ago - the whole day he was hitting players on the chest, and taking important intercept marks when we needed him. Sic played the majority of the game down back, and despite an inconsistent year last year, he looked like he was ready to get back to the A+++ player we know he can be, with 24 touches and seven marks for the day.
AW: Interesting to see some of the negative commentary around Sic’s game online including that he looked lazy, half-hearted and did not take the game seriously. But I side with Ethan - his kicking, his piercing plays across the ground and through the middle and his control from the backline was a direct result of having Tom Barrass and Josh Battle on hand. Ready for a huge season IMO.
Have we just bagged the best defender in the comp?
EW: It was the first time we saw Tom Barrass play in Hawthorn colours, and boy did he look good in those colours. He was especially dominant in the first quarter when the ball was going into our backline, and in the first eight minutes of football had six 1v1 wins, and four intercept marks. While he didn’t do too much on the stats sheet after quarter time, his presence was clearly noticeable and if any Hawk fans had any doubts about us acquiring him, they should be gone after watching his display.
AW: Ditto. As per my pre-season prediction an AA spot beckons. So does Vice-Captaincy.
Sam Frost and Defensive Unit
EW: For the first time, we got to see what a team with Josh Battle, Tom Barrass and Sam Frost looked like. Now, we’ve talked about Barrass, and while Battle made a couple of mistakes with ball in hand, there was still plenty to like. But the interesting one was Sam Frost. Frosty made quite a few errors and was beaten quite often in the air. He looked quite uncomfortable. Frosty had three goals scored on him by opponents in the first half but during the second half while we were dominating, he picked up a bit and took a nice one-handed chest mark.
AW: Still not sure how everyone gets a game - especially with Blake Hardwick to slot back in, but it is great to know we have a full contingent of back-ups in every defensive position.
Midfield Unit
EW: The more that the game went on, the better our midfield unit got. The main mids at the centre bounces were Will Day, Jai Newcombe and James Worpel, with Connor Nash, Cam Mackenzie and even Dylan Moore getting good runs through at points of the game. Worpel shone, having 28 touches, 10 clearances and a goal to his name. In the third quarter alone those six players in the midfield had 47 touches between them, and kicked two goals. If we play the way that we did in that third quarter against Sydney, then the likes of Heeney, Gulden, Warner and Rowbottom won’t know what’s coming.
AW: Applied little to no pressure in the opening quarter - our midfield unit was horrible. Third quarter turnaround was led by Jai with Day and Moore the others of note, while Worps definitely had the best four quarter effort. We had better come ready in the centre in the opening term next week.
Run and carry signs are there
EW: There were some great signs of run and carry footy on display and it was great to see the likes of Massimo D’Ambrosio, Karl Amon and Jack Scrimshaw running down the wing and off half back. They seemed to constantly have the ball, and Amon and D’Ambrosio’s efficiency was incredible. We look like we like to use the corridor like we did last year, and hopefully we get to see some very exciting play this year with our run and carry.
AW: No disagreement here. Amon and Sicily the distributors from half back with Scrimshaw, Mass and Josh Weddle adding the extra dash. Love to watch it and will be another feature of our game in 2025.
🔫 Some additional rapid-fire thoughts from Weissy Snr
Quite a bit of sloppy ball use - particularly early. Get that out of the system - we do NOT want to see that at the SCG;
We need another big body up forward. Mabior Chol worked hard, but we clearly lacked the presence of another big man. Need to craft the game plan to suit a smaller front six until Calsher Dear and Mitch Lewis are ready to return;
Further to this - Max Ramsden and Will McCabe still need a decent amount of time at Box Hill before they are ready. Personal opinion, but not sure either are actually ready;
The Wiz doesn’t need much of a sniff to have an impact. But his set shot at the death shows that his goalkicking still needs some work.
Harry Morrison and Finn Maginess each did enough to justify a spot in the team for Round 1. The selection squeeze will be fascinating.
Josh Ward added a great dynamic when he came into the game but again, may feel the pressure when 30 players have to be squeezed into 23 spots on Wednesday night;
Will Day can play;
The window is open.
How we lined up (for those DreamTeamers playing at home):
FB: Battle, Frost, Maginness
HBF: Weddle, Battle, Amon
C: Watson, Newcombe, Sicily
HFF: Macdonald, Gunston, D’Ambrosio
FF: Chol, Moore, Ginnivan
R: Meek, Day, Worpel
IC: Scrimshaw, Mackenzie, Ramsden, Morrison, Ward, B. Macdonald, Nash, McCabe
🗣️ What Sammy said at half time:
“We’re lucky actually that the scoreboard looks like it does - they have been far better than us. We needed a bit of a shock to the system that first part of the game and we looked a bit better that quarter, but we’ve got some work to do.
“A couple of guys will come out of the game now and we will get some minutes into some others - probably change a couple of things structrally just to get a look and be preparing for the Swans.
“Obviously we will need to be ready to play on a wider, shorter ground, so we will do a couple of things a bit differently now, but I don’t think it matters too much if we try a bit harder and put a bit more effort in than we did in that first half.”
What you said on socials:
🗣️ What Josh Battle said:
“It was a close one - we were off a little bit early in the first half and we didn’t really match their effort - I thought they came out really strong and we were under the pump early, but I thought we bounced back a little bit better after half time.
“That’s two weeks in a row where I got to build some synergy with the backs - we were under the pump early and they had a fair few entries so it was coming in hot, but it’s a great group out there and I absolutely love playing with the boys down there.
“We need to keep driving high standards and we know we need to go to another level this year and next week’s a great test against one of the best sides in the comp.”
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Thanks for the update Weiss senior and junior. Love your optimism. Loath to make any comments of note in February, but the things that have stood out for me in the two games to date were:
1. Our skill level in both games has been well off. The biggest improvement after round 7 in 2024 was our ball use and that, as much as anything, was behind our rise last year. No matter the personnel, if we use the ball poorly, we'll struggle.
2. We wondered how the back line would line up when all were available, and it's clearly a work in progress. The ability to nullify small/medium forwards looks weak without Hardwick there. While we were undersized last year, this was also an advantage as it gave us speed and run from the back. At some stages yesterday, we had Barass, Sicily, Scrim, Battle and Frost in our back 6. This just won't work and using these players, together with Impey and Amon to maximum effect is Sam's first challenge of 2025.
3. Again, we were superior in clearances but failed to turn this into territory dominance, as was the case last week.
4. Two weeks in a row, we've started very poorly, with very little intensity and but for poor kicking by the opposition would have been facing a near insurmountable deficit.
This time next week, the heart rate will be really starting to pick up. Thanks again for the article.
Andrew and Ethan ... first of all, it's great to have another Hawthorn father/son combination in the mix and you were both spot on with your summaries of the game.
Secondly, after watching the Hawks play, do you both as a rule usually spend time together "talking footy" to discuss and analyze the game and the team's performance?