Schwab sacked at Hawthorn {R}

Schwab quits Hawks -- The Herald Sun

Schwab set to walk? -- sportal.com.au

Shouldn't really come as a surprise, seeing that Hawthorn is bottom of the ladder in the AFL, and the season has been one disappointment after another.

Schwab did indeed confirm the rumours at a press conference about an hour ago, and I'll have the news item soon after it becomes available.

 

Well, was he pushed, or did he do the jumping? The members of our community still need to guess about that.

Here's the updated news item-- and a couple of different links here...

Schwab out after 2004 -- foxsports.news.com.au

Schwab signals end -- sportal.com.au

I think at the end of the day, if there was ever someone who the expression "he fell on his sword" was ever so fitting, it was Peter Schwab. Granted, at the end of the 2003 season, he had the Hawks going in the right direction after a lacklustre first half of the season. So much so, that Schwab was led to believe that the Hawks could vie for the premiership flag in 2004.

Yet as Hawthorn are likely to be wooden spooners this year, that position only tells part of the story-- sure, Hawthorn have had a host of injuries, including a season-ending broken arm to captain Shane Crawford, the fact that vice captain Nathan Thompson is trying to maintain form on the field while playing through a diagnosis with clinical depression, but maybe Schwab gravely over-estimated the potential on his team's list.

And he's had to pay the ultimate price.

But what else went wrong? I know we have a couple of other astute Hawthorn fans on this forum (calling out here to goaldrush and Spartacus), and maybe they can shed some light as to why this event has come to pass.

 

I think the woeful part, Suz, is Hawthorn's record under Schwabby-- which isn't all that much different than Richmond's record has been under Danny Frawley.

Coaching is a results-oriented business, measured in terms of wins and losses, and if you don't get the job done, you get the sack.

Unfortunate, yes, but that's life and the way of the world.

 

Interesting choice, and we can safely assume he wasn't the Hawthorn board's first choice, after Wallace and Eade preferred other clubs.

Funny thing is that Clarkson's name only surfaced in the last few days or so-- so what made Jason Dunstall, Dermott Brereton and others on the Hawthorn board prefer him over more experienced names, such as Gary Ayres?

However, it's good to see Hawthorn get its coaching situation squared away, especially after Shane Crawford resigned as club captain last week... here's to some much-needed stability at Glenferrie.

 

I don't think he's demanding to be dealt, he knows he's a Hawthorn man through and through. I think that the media (and the Herald Sun in particular) is guilty of speculating that he would be gone, seeing that he is now a former captain of the club, especially after such a disgraceful year for the Hawks.

For the record, Collingwood, Carlton and Sydney have been the rumoured clubs-- but at $750,000 a season, who would be in a position to pick up Crawford's contract? That would be a major hit against any of those team's salary caps.

I say he stays at Glenferrie. It would be a damn shame if he didn't (and I have a hunch that he goes on "The Footy Show" tonight and announces that he stays and debunks all the trade rumours).