I’ve been screaming on social media to throw Weddle into the guts ever since the end of the 2024 season!
Wedds has all the skills, strength, height and cardio to do what Will Day did a few years ago, only with a stronger more durable body and bigger tank.
Josh has already played 2nd Ruck and torn the opposition apart, so imagine what he can do running through the midfield unencumbered with the ruck duties.🤯
This would also solve another problem of how do we fit Scrimshaw in the D50, with Weddle going into the middle, a spot then opens for Scrimma, so out defensive unit isn’t top heavy and both play very similar roles and are a similar height (Josh 191cm/Jack 194cm), so you’re replacing a like for like!
Weddle in the guts would give us another elite midfielder that we desperately need to go further up the ladder and win more finals, and we can do it this season, without requiring to trade in a Butters (who I personally love and would sell the farm to get!)…
And it would allow Scrimshaw to play in defence, who’s obviously too good a player to be playing in the VFL! It’d sort out our team balance and make us a more formidable team…
This was a great read thank you HI, something to cling onto during this bye round.
In terms of the temperature check, we're going ok, aside from the 5 goal loss to the Lions and the 9 goal loss to Collingwood we've been in every game and the losses to Geelong and Collingwood were highly commendable. In the losses to Lions and Collingwood, we were not able to sustain any pressure on the opposition and were on world record pace for absolute clangers - both of which can be fixed. Personnel wise, we also have some upside - hopefully Day returns and Sicily can find something near his best, both of which have the capacity to really lift our overall quality. We do have a tough fixture, playing the top four
One of the things about having a bye, is that it gives time to think! Watching our game against Adelaide and the aerial mismatch that Curtin was able to create, particularly inside 50, raised an interesting point. Do we have someone on our list who could play that role? Aside from Curtin, only Gelong with Blicavs and Dempsey (who plays tall) have a tall wingman, which makes such a player a genuine threat and real point of difference. Perhaps the obvious candidate is Josh Weddle, but his form and growth over these past two games playing almost exclusively as a utility defender has been outstanding. He's just passed 50 games and there's a good case for playing him predominantly in that role for the remainder of season 2025.
Recently, Jai Serong has spent considerable time playing on a wing with Box Hill and has acquitted himself well. The other player that may be an option as a tall wingman is Jack Scrimshaw. With the recruitment of Battle, the pending return of Sicily and both Weddle and Hardwick likely to be played largely as permanent defenders, Scrim has become somewhat surplus to requirements. Could he be repurposed as a tall wingman? Yes, he’d have to ‘learn the role’, but with his aerial ability, general mobility and exceptional field kicking, he has the attributes to become a unique and valuable player on one of our wings.
Butters is an amazing player and watching Melbourne try ad tag him last week showed just how hard he is to stop. One thing that worries me about Butters is his body and the way he plays. While there is now a trend to players playing for longer, especially those players for which leg speed is not an issue, it's not unforeseeable that he could hit 30 and be banged up.
There's a question that I'd like to pose to the HI crew - what would you do with James Worpel? We would probably receive a second-round pick, which could possibly be packaged with our existing second round pick to acquire a first round pick, thus giving two first round picks at this year's draft. With Butler developing as a midfielder, Mackenzie playing twos and Day still to return, it does feel as though we could cover his departure. The big caveat is having a high degree of confidence in Will Day's longevity. Without Worps we'd have Newcombe, Day, Butler, Ward, Mackenzie and Nash as our 6 mids, with Moore and possibly Watson for cameo roles. Longer term, I like Chris's post below about Weddle as a midfielder, but you'd want him to have a pre-season learning that role first.
Always enjoy reading your comments Stuart and you pose very good points regarding positions of players. It's a difficult thing that Sam and his coaching and development staff have to contend with week in week out as they have to balance out trying positional changes whilst still trying to keep the winning formula moving forward for the second half of the season and beyond. And of course, injury, sickness and the form of players plays a big part in their decision making too. I'm also hoping that the Club can work towards, sooner rather than later, getting the players who are out of contract to sign up which then obviously, will help with future planning of where the team are headed.
So pleased that our bye is done and dusted and look forward to the week ahead with more "Hawk Talk" from the HI team and community ...
A great mid-season opinion article and I think that most of us would agree with what was written. It's very much appreciated that you guys have taken the time to post this, as there is not as much Hawthorn content during the bye round, so thank you very much.
Whilst I'm looking forward to the second half of the season, my main thought at the moment is focusing on that I really hope that the boys don't suffer from the "bye curse" and come out fresh and ready to play against North Melbourne in Launnie tomorrow week. To state the obvious, they need to come out firing in the first quarter right from the first bounce so hopefully there will be no sign of a sluggish start and they can continue with their "home away from home ground advantage" and play the game on their terms and continue to improve on our winning record at UTAS.
Also, I (and many other HI's) will be waiting in anticipation for Brad's selection dissection article to drop next week that I'm sure will be very interesting considering there will be a few more players coming back from injury that will be available to choose from. Hopefully Mick, our wonderful Waverley Park (Bunjil Bagora) observer will be available to attend training this week and be able to provide an insight into how the boys look before they head to Tassie ... GO HAWKS!!!
I think we can give it a real shake if we have a fit Day and Lewis, however those are big intangibles. Another gun mid has to be our target in the off-season, I feel we finish the season about where we currently are on the ladder.
I’ve been screaming on social media to throw Weddle into the guts ever since the end of the 2024 season!
Wedds has all the skills, strength, height and cardio to do what Will Day did a few years ago, only with a stronger more durable body and bigger tank.
Josh has already played 2nd Ruck and torn the opposition apart, so imagine what he can do running through the midfield unencumbered with the ruck duties.🤯
This would also solve another problem of how do we fit Scrimshaw in the D50, with Weddle going into the middle, a spot then opens for Scrimma, so out defensive unit isn’t top heavy and both play very similar roles and are a similar height (Josh 191cm/Jack 194cm), so you’re replacing a like for like!
Weddle in the guts would give us another elite midfielder that we desperately need to go further up the ladder and win more finals, and we can do it this season, without requiring to trade in a Butters (who I personally love and would sell the farm to get!)…
Spot on. Couldn’t agree more. If ever there was a young Dangerfield type emerging it’s Weddle.
And it would allow Scrimshaw to play in defence, who’s obviously too good a player to be playing in the VFL! It’d sort out our team balance and make us a more formidable team…
This was a great read thank you HI, something to cling onto during this bye round.
In terms of the temperature check, we're going ok, aside from the 5 goal loss to the Lions and the 9 goal loss to Collingwood we've been in every game and the losses to Geelong and Collingwood were highly commendable. In the losses to Lions and Collingwood, we were not able to sustain any pressure on the opposition and were on world record pace for absolute clangers - both of which can be fixed. Personnel wise, we also have some upside - hopefully Day returns and Sicily can find something near his best, both of which have the capacity to really lift our overall quality. We do have a tough fixture, playing the top four
One of the things about having a bye, is that it gives time to think! Watching our game against Adelaide and the aerial mismatch that Curtin was able to create, particularly inside 50, raised an interesting point. Do we have someone on our list who could play that role? Aside from Curtin, only Gelong with Blicavs and Dempsey (who plays tall) have a tall wingman, which makes such a player a genuine threat and real point of difference. Perhaps the obvious candidate is Josh Weddle, but his form and growth over these past two games playing almost exclusively as a utility defender has been outstanding. He's just passed 50 games and there's a good case for playing him predominantly in that role for the remainder of season 2025.
Recently, Jai Serong has spent considerable time playing on a wing with Box Hill and has acquitted himself well. The other player that may be an option as a tall wingman is Jack Scrimshaw. With the recruitment of Battle, the pending return of Sicily and both Weddle and Hardwick likely to be played largely as permanent defenders, Scrim has become somewhat surplus to requirements. Could he be repurposed as a tall wingman? Yes, he’d have to ‘learn the role’, but with his aerial ability, general mobility and exceptional field kicking, he has the attributes to become a unique and valuable player on one of our wings.
Butters is an amazing player and watching Melbourne try ad tag him last week showed just how hard he is to stop. One thing that worries me about Butters is his body and the way he plays. While there is now a trend to players playing for longer, especially those players for which leg speed is not an issue, it's not unforeseeable that he could hit 30 and be banged up.
There's a question that I'd like to pose to the HI crew - what would you do with James Worpel? We would probably receive a second-round pick, which could possibly be packaged with our existing second round pick to acquire a first round pick, thus giving two first round picks at this year's draft. With Butler developing as a midfielder, Mackenzie playing twos and Day still to return, it does feel as though we could cover his departure. The big caveat is having a high degree of confidence in Will Day's longevity. Without Worps we'd have Newcombe, Day, Butler, Ward, Mackenzie and Nash as our 6 mids, with Moore and possibly Watson for cameo roles. Longer term, I like Chris's post below about Weddle as a midfielder, but you'd want him to have a pre-season learning that role first.
Always enjoy reading your comments Stuart and you pose very good points regarding positions of players. It's a difficult thing that Sam and his coaching and development staff have to contend with week in week out as they have to balance out trying positional changes whilst still trying to keep the winning formula moving forward for the second half of the season and beyond. And of course, injury, sickness and the form of players plays a big part in their decision making too. I'm also hoping that the Club can work towards, sooner rather than later, getting the players who are out of contract to sign up which then obviously, will help with future planning of where the team are headed.
So pleased that our bye is done and dusted and look forward to the week ahead with more "Hawk Talk" from the HI team and community ...
A great mid-season opinion article and I think that most of us would agree with what was written. It's very much appreciated that you guys have taken the time to post this, as there is not as much Hawthorn content during the bye round, so thank you very much.
Whilst I'm looking forward to the second half of the season, my main thought at the moment is focusing on that I really hope that the boys don't suffer from the "bye curse" and come out fresh and ready to play against North Melbourne in Launnie tomorrow week. To state the obvious, they need to come out firing in the first quarter right from the first bounce so hopefully there will be no sign of a sluggish start and they can continue with their "home away from home ground advantage" and play the game on their terms and continue to improve on our winning record at UTAS.
Also, I (and many other HI's) will be waiting in anticipation for Brad's selection dissection article to drop next week that I'm sure will be very interesting considering there will be a few more players coming back from injury that will be available to choose from. Hopefully Mick, our wonderful Waverley Park (Bunjil Bagora) observer will be available to attend training this week and be able to provide an insight into how the boys look before they head to Tassie ... GO HAWKS!!!
I think we can give it a real shake if we have a fit Day and Lewis, however those are big intangibles. Another gun mid has to be our target in the off-season, I feel we finish the season about where we currently are on the ladder.