With that having been said, who will win the wooden spoon? I saw a poll on Sportal's Australian site to that regard, and I would have to say that with advance apologies to Spartacus and goaldrush and other Hawthorn fans that frequent this forum, the Hawks have one hand on the greatly unwanted dishonour known as the wooden spoon. They are playing poorly (warning, spoiler alert) to the effect of [result]after losing to the team just directly above them by 86 points and according to the radio accounts on Triple M today, their players were playing with precious little desire[/result]. And on top of that, losing Shane Crawford with that broken arm is a major blow... he was one of their few players that was playing with any purpose. Hawthorn can forget about making the finals, avoiding the wooden spoon or making sure they get priority draft picks, whichever path they choose, should be their aim now. I'm not saying that Hawthorn's a lead-pipe lock to get the wooden spoon-- but based on current form, you could certainly build a case for them to get it.
Crawford out for basically the rest of the season, Mark Graham out for a month, Thompson depressed and Holland past it, I think the Hawks are a certainty for the wooden spoon. In fact, it would take an absolute miracle for them not to get it, especially when they're playing for themselves and not for each other. And as for their coach, the man who came out before the season and said they'd win the Premiership... I think it's time for Peter Schwab to go.
And as for my beloved Cats, so close and yet so far after another gallant performance over in Adelaide today. It's not hard to see why Port Power are so hard to beat over there, and although we tried really hard throughout the game, we just fell short when it mattered most in the last quarter. We certainly had our chances to win the game with Graham, Mackie and Riccardi missing set shots in the last term, but alas for us it was not meant to be and now we must make sure we dont drop our heads and lose to the pathetic Western Bulldogs next week in a game we should win easilly. As for my tipping, I got 6/8 to move up to 49 for the season. I missed on the Western Bulldogs and Kangaroos. (I'm gonna catch you William!)
so, how'd the lions do? [result] Brisbane 18.15 (123) Melbourne 12.11 (83)[/result] Pies win 2 in in a row, now, eye world domination... i mean the finals -crawford eyes a July return -St Kilda gives Carlton the Blues
And then there's this typically Photoshopped effort on behalf of the Herald Sun, something fans of the movie "Chicken Run" might get a giggle out of... I would agree that Schwab would have to go-- Hawthorn looked pretty good at the end of last season, which would have lent credence to Schwab's pitch of Premiership glory. But they have done absolutely nothing to prove the part there. And now Crawf looks like he's going from the role of "Bulger MD" to a patient, on that series of sketchy soapy send-ups on "The Footy Show" in the coming weeks, too.
The other scores from Sunday... The Carlton v St. Kilda match, at Telstra Dome: [result]Carlton 13.10 (88) St. Kilda 31.10 (196)[/result] The Saints' juggernaut continues... how soon will it be before they pin 200 points on someone, and will they lose a game this season? And a heartbreaker for the Cats at AAMI Stadium between Port Adelaide and Geelong: [result]Port Adelaide 18.8 (116) Geelong 17.10 (112)[/result] Ben Graham and rookie Andrew Mackie both missed goalbound shots in the closing minutes that would have snatched a victory for Geelong-- instead, the Cats' winning streak is dashed at four games. Agreed about Graham and Mackie, but mind you, if we had displayed a bit more grit in our contests around the ground and been as good in the one-percenters as we had been over the last month, it wouldn't have had to come down to Graham or Mackie to win the game for us. We were sensational, albeit a bit unlucky to have lost it. I do, however, think that we gained a bit of respect with this narrow loss, although (a) we still have yet to win a key interstate match for a while and (b) the upcoming games against the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne are winnable games for us, and essential in order for us to remain in the eight. Got 5/8 myself-- North Melbourne, Melbourne and Geelong let me down. My tipping's at a total of 51/80 for the season... but I do feel a 7/8 or an 8/8 coming soon, to keep the heat on my opposition in all the tipping pools comps that I'm in.
No worries, William...soon as I saw Crawf go down I called it quits on any hope of avoiding staying bottom for the entire season. To use your analogy, they already have one hand on the wooden spoon and the other hand is being set in plaster right now. So, in celebration of the Hawks' achievement...I hereby decree nothing but wooden spoons to be used in my kitchen for the remainder of the season! In all seriousness, though, it's going to be time for a major turnover at Glenferrie...better sooner than later. After coming into the home-and-away season full of bluster that the Hawks were a premiership side, Peter Schwab must now eat his words and be shown the door. Time for a procession from Box Hill...and to lead the way, why not Tony Libertore?
That's funny... nobody gets plastered anymore. I only say that half-seriously, with the serious focus coming from my own personal experience of having the same injuries that Crawford is going through right now (I'm laid up in bed with a bad back as I'm typing this out on my laptop as we speak). In October of 1998, I had an accident on my mountain bike that left me with multiple fractures in my right arm, including the two major bones in that arm, same as with Crawf. In the last week, when the Melbourne media has been chronicling Crawford's plight in hospital, it all made me re-live what I went through in that five-day span at Valley Medical in San Jose. And once I got the plates and screws put in my arm, they set my arm in fiberglass, not plaster. At the time, that surprised the hell out of me, and the people at the hospital said that the practice of putting fractures in plaster had ended some time ago. And watching Crawf on "The Footy Show" last week, I could see that he too had a cast made up of fiberglass. I'm sure you can get them on special, in bulk, at K-Mart's and other specialty stores around Melbourne's easten suburbs. "Libba" would be a good pick-- but I'm sure we'll see the same old names that get bandied about whenever there's a rumour of a coaching change come to the forefront once again... Rodney Eade, Terry Wallace, Terry Daniher, Gary O'Donnell... Eade would be a good choice as a former Hawks champion-- but here's what I think could also happen... Gary Ayres, another Hawthorn alumnus of some championship repute, could very well be available if and when Adelaide parts company with him at the end of the season, as it has been rumoured. I could see him coming into focus at Glenferrie, without a doubt.