Rewind back to Round 2. We'd lost the Derby after a disastrous second half. The Hawks flew over to Perth after yet another disappointing loss to the Cats. It was considered a potential grand final preview. Then the game happened. It was a beat down of epic proportions.
That was the start of a 10 game winning streak for the Hawks. It was the start of an atrocious run for us from which we still haven't recovered.
For us to be any slim, forlorn hope in this one, both streaks must end. I'm going to be honest, I would be shocked if we pulled this off.
We've struggled against the best sides over East even when we were rolling in the past 2 seasons. Right now, we're an extremely mediocre side. Meanwhile, the Hawks are as strong as they ever have been.
By the same token, we'll have no excuses but our own ineptitude if we do get crushed. We're coming off a bye, during which you'd think the coaches would've tried to address our litany of issues. We should be rested, recharged and refocused.
We also have, essentially, our best team available. The big guns absent from the clash against the morally repugnant Saints return; Glass, Waters, Lecras, Kennedy. You don't get four bigger names. Hill's the only notable exclusion, who after playing nearly every game since crossing from the Dogs, misses with a hamstring injury. Cripps, Shephard, Brennan and Hams continue to maintain their status as fringe players, whilst Selwood has an old man's back. It's also good to see McG return, if only because I can use his epic nickname again. He's also a fairly solid and reliable cog in the machine.
In good news, Cyril Rioli doesn't return. So it's only Franklin, Hodge, Mitchell, Burgoyne, Roughead and Lewis to worry about....
Hawthorn
B: Ben Stratton, Brian Lake, Brent Guerra
HB: Grant Birchall, Josh Gibson, Luke Hodge
C: Shane Savage, Sam Mitchell, Bradley Hill
HF: Paul Puopolo, Lance Franklin, Jordan Lewis
F: David Hale, Jarryd Roughead, Luke Breust
Foll: Max Bailey, Brad Sewell, Shaun Burgoyne
Int: Liam Shiels, Taylor Duryea, Jack Gunston, Jonathan Simpkin
Emerg: Kyle Cheney, Xavier Ellis, Matt Spangher
In: S.Savage
Out: I.Smith (corked calf)
West Coast
B: Sam Butler, Darren Glass, Mitchell Brown
HB: Shannon Hurn, Eric Mackenzie, Beau Waters
C: Andrew Gaff, Scott Selwood, Andrew Embley
HF: Luke Shuey, Josh Kennedy, Chris Masten
F: Mark LeCras, Dean Cox, Jack Darling
Foll: Nic Naitanui, Matt Priddis, Daniel Kerr
Int: Blayne Wilson, Patrick McGinnity, Bradd Dalziell, Matt Rosa
Emerg: Brad Sheppard, Ashley Smith, Jacob Brennan
In: D.Glass, B.Waters, M.LeCras, J.Kennedy, B.Dalziell, P.McGinnity
Out: A.Selwood (back), J.Hill (hamstring), A.Hams, J.Brennan, B.Sheppard, J.Cripps
Let's put the result aside though. Although I hate the phrase 'honourable loss', if we play with the intensity, pressure, EFFORT that we did last year and just fall short, it would be a step forward. We have a damn hard run into the finals (which we may/may not be appearing in) but this is the toughest. If we show that our initiative has returned, all is not lost.
But we must show something, anything, or it will be a very long night.
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- In other news, part time game winner, full time defensive stalwart, E-Mac has signed on until 2017. We wait on Lecras.
- In other news, the Herald Sun (rag alert!) have posted this ridiculous article, including a picture of NicNat in a Demons guernsey. You could do this exercise with every team, so it's a bit cheap in my mind.
- Apparently we're not panicking over Worsfold's contract. I've said it before, but unless we improve dramatically over the rest of the way, I think we should (and will) part ways.
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