Finals Week 1 – Hawks Cop Karma whack from Cats and other Final Results!
by Gary Caulfield
Great to see the Cats get over the line against Geelong’s nemesis the Hawks obviously.
But please help me explain why nobody ‘called out’ Isaac Smith for smiling before he took the final kick & then missing it?
That really summed up these arrogant Hawks & surely he got his karma whack for it.
Matt Stevic did not disappoint as a notorious Hawks favorite either with the most obvious deliberate rushed behind since the Hawks forced a rule change after the 2008 Grand Final & not paid of course.
And surely the Hawks tactic of shepherding the man on the mark will force another rule change next season now.
It has finally got out of control.
As it got to the point of ridiculousness when Sam Mitchell literally charged at Joel Selwood at one point with the only intention of forcing a 50m penalty.
When do tactics under handed like this actually bring the game into disrepute?
The Sam Mitchell kneeing was outlawed, as was the rushed behind supposedly & the ducking rule which seems to have diminished the Puopolo factor ever since too.
All Hawks initiatives & all banned.
Surely Umm, Clarkson Umm, can Umm, take some Umm, blame for this Umm, despite the fact he Umm, has a great record as a coach Umm…
Obviously he speaks far more coherently to his players than he does the Media.
Anyway, can you please explain why the Buddy Franklin punch to the chin of Mumford hasn’t been replayed & exposed as much as the Hawkins one earlier this year that he got suspended for???
As it seems to be exactly the same to me.
Head High ( direct hit to the chin), Stumbles him backward, Intentional, Forceful & Impactful, yet nothing at all so far???
Ridiculous!!!
What do you think?
About Almanac Admin
Gary if only we could wheel out a cheery ripe Diesel Williams. How good would it be to see him belt Mitchell Lewis and Hodge the smug pricks. If the Giants are the new Pies than Hawthorn are the new Carlton. At the start of the year I wanted them to make history. Now I just want to see them humiliated
cheers
Tony
I’m not sure he did smile. Wearing the mouthguard makes it look like youre smiling when in fact you are just taking a deep breath.
I just love it when people get stuck into the Hawks for arrogance , dirty play , favouritism from umpires, being boring etc etc . Can’t help thinking – well , assuming actually – that if it was their club with Hawthorn’s record there would not be a word of criticism , perhaps at most a very mild one.
To quote the great John Kennedy snr, “People come up to me and say, “‘The Hawks – they play the game too rough!’ And when people come up to me and say that – I LOVE IT!” Yes, there were a few niggles but they were by both sides, with J. “Ducker” Selwood et al. outstanding in their tactics against Mitchell, even if they were outside the rules. No complaints here: if that’s what you have to do stop Mitchell, that’s what you’ll do. He can look after himself and generally give as good as he gets.
As for an umpire deliberately favouring Hawthorn – what is this…high school!? No umpire favours any club deliberately – unless, of course, he wants to eliminate any chance of umpiring a Grand Final.
And to (wilfully?) misinterpret as arrogance a polite and probably nervous smile from Isaac Smith to an umpire reminding him not to run off his line is about as low as commentary can go, but is in line with the Hawthorn envy/hatred that oozes through the Almanac writings of the Geelong mafia. Whence this angst, certainly not reciprocated by the vast majority of Hawthorn fans? Its origin can surely be found in the 2008 GF, a match the Cats lost comfortably by 26 points but for which they thought they had only to turn up to win. This result has been the source of all feline angst since. Get over it and try to rejoice in a great era of rivalry between two fine clubs instead of whinging, even when you win…
K Carroll – yes I agree. the rivalry is magnificent. We will look back upon it in years to come and rejoice that we lived through it and saw some of the best contests you’d ever wish to see. Friday’s game was just another instalment. Down to the wire, hearts racing, bodies clashing, bravery everywhere, exhausted players. Siren! Someone has to win.
I agree with you K Carroll. I was at the game, a Hawthorn supporter with my 10 year-old son at his first ever final (and we’d flown down from Brisbane for it). And it was a cracker! Despite the result, and the emotion of the final few seconds overwhelming my boy, afterwards, walking through Fitzroy Gardens, the two of us genuinely felt better for the experience, having witnessed first-hand one of the great finals of recent years.
I’m quite sure Isaac Smith’s grin was not hubris.
Of course it wasn’t, but it was still good for a larf….especially when it made Ike look such a dead ringer for Alfred E Newman…
K Carroll take a deep breath & calm down – what
a load of crap !
I am surprised that no one has mentioned that with out a doubt the Thug Hodge lost them the game.
The cowardly attach on Selwood meters behind play in the near center of the ground was thankfully seen by an Umpire & the free paid. The aforesaid Thug then argued with the Umpire & copped a 50 meter penalty that put Selwood in range & he dobbed it – 6 points . What did they loose by – 2 points.
What a hero that Hodge is.
Bob Morrow, a Geelong bloke also gave away a stupid 50m penalty that resulted in a Hawthorn goal, so it was even.
One aspect of that last 30 seconds that nobody has mentioned so far, here or in the media: what was Breust thinking when he kicked into the oncoming Geelong defender? I see no reason to rule out the possibility that he did it deliberately, knowing it was the last outcome anybody in the arc would have allowed for, and the ensuing two seconds of chaos while everybody worked out what the hell had happened may be enough time for somebody to get loose?
The smile was not arrogance (as much as any of us can tell another’s motivations from facial expressions). Much more likely to have been nervousness / mouthguard / response to comment from passing teammate / recognition that he had just found himself in a truly odd position / fake it until you make it.
Hawks (and other clubs to a lesser extent) have been shepherding the man on the mark for years. The trouble is it is technically against the rules but there is no penalty attached. I think it would be entirely reasonable to make a rule change to attach a free kick to it. It would remove the farce of the umpires repeatedly asking the Hawks players to stop doing it and being ignored because there’s nothing they can do other than hold up play.
The game was unsociably brilliant! And a pleasure to watch. Though, it’s been amusing to hear some Hawkers complain about the niggling by Geelong players in the context of the Hawthorn unsocial invention.
Smith missing was probably more about technique than arrogance – he missed a similar shot at the game’s start.
The shepherd on the mark should go the way of the handball point, but there’s already a rule against shepherding unless the ball is within 5 metres. Or is there a grey area about this interpretation I’m missing? Meaning it only applies when the ball’s in play? It would call on the umpires to judge 5 metres, but I’m sure there are frees that could be paid. That will go some way to stopping it.
And, Gary – regarding your last post – if you want more ammo, you may have noticed the Cats wearing their away strip?
@Paul Spinks: Yes, many thanks for the reminder Paul & please watch this space on that one! And in reference to my post last week, GWS now have a Home Final for their Prelim at Spotless, while the Cats will play their Prelim & Home Final ( even against an Interstate team this time ) at the now neutral MCG!