Another weekend, another post-mortem or two for finals losers. Both Hawthorn and the GWS Giants lost, but won plenty along the way.

This September, the Hawks ran headlong into a buzzsaw.

For all of the grave dancing going on across social media over the weekend – the most common being the 2018 Hawks were the worst top four team of all time – one cannot judge the club’s straight-sets exit without considering Hawthorn faced the best team and the most in-form team in their two finals outings.

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They were found wanting, absolutely. In both games, the bottom of the Hawks’ rotation was their weak link. Be it a veteran or two on the decline, a middle-aged player that’s just not up to it, or the new kids being a little deer-in-the-headlights, there’s no doubt Hawthorn’s weakest link was their weakest links. That’s fine, and eminently fixable in the era of looser player movement and delisted free agency.

Hawthorn’s rise looked very real from the earliest part of the season (if you were looking in the right places). The pace-and-space era Hawks can still pump the breaks when required, as they managed against the premiership favourite Richmond and second premiership favourite Melbourne this finals series. But those handful of weak links and a still-raw defensive set were too much to overcome.

Coach Alastair Clarkson has his team back playing fashion-forward football, and so long as he’s around we know the Hawks aren’t going to be too far off the pace.

There will be headwinds heading into next season. Barring a stunning turn of events – and the Hawks have specialised in this recently so let’s not rule it out – Tom Lynch will not be the key forward saviour the team has been searching for for some time now.

The small forward spot also looks a little challenged outside of Luke Breust. James Frawley bears more resemblance to his nickname by the week, and there’s no clear answer on the list – perhaps Hawthorn can get the runner-up prize in the Gold Coast sweepstakes.



However, if you were to draw up a list of pros and cons, there are plenty of pros to emerge from the year. Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara (21 games on the season) formed a potent midfield partnership. Hawthorn has three potential studs in its back six in James Sicily (who is probably already there), Ryan Burton and Blake Hardwick. Their midfield depth is building both via acquisition and the draft, with Harry Morrison and James Worpel in particular settling into Clarkson’s system.

Hawthorn haven’t rebuilt so much as re-tooled. The team’s list is still chock full of members of their last premiership side – there were 11 of Hawthorn’s 2015 grand final team on the park, and three others on the sidelines in Grant Birchall, Ben Stratton and Cyril Rioli – and for the time being that’s how things will stay. The Hawks’ demographics point to premiership contention, and their offseason will surely be that of a contender once again.

As for Greater Western Sydney and their season, well, we have to start by dropping some knowledge: the Giants were beaten by two teams on Saturday night. Collingwood were surely the better team – they beat the Giants by seven goals on Champion Data’s Expected Score metric – but the deplorable umpiring didn’t help them.

The free kick count was a typical home-versus-interstate sort of count, albeit relatively low at 16-12. But the volume of missed calls was bordering on unprofessional by the umpiring team of Ray Chamberlain, Rob Findlay and Shaun Ryan.

Holding the ball, dropping the ball, high contact, you name it: it was missed. The contact below the knees rule was misapplied over and over again. PS, I am not a crackpot.

These umps keen for an early mad Monday at this rate #AFLPiesGIANTS #mare — Adam Cooney (@Adamcooney17) September 15, 2018



And some significant calls went against GWS at critical moments in the game, such as a “holding in the marking contest” free kick against the Giants just as the first quarter siren sounded. Zac Williams was instructed that “putting your arms around your opponent means its a hold”. Please.

Anyway, in a close game on the scoreboard, the Giants could count themselves as a little unlucky on the umpiring front.

FFS is there any danger of an umpire paying incorrect disposal?!?! Disgraceful. #AFLPiesGiants — Tim Yeatman (@TimYeatman) September 15, 2018

But they haven’t uttered a word about it in public, because, like most of the season, the Giants were just a bit short when it mattered.

It was anything but a wasted season for GWS. Indeed, it might be the year that we all look back on as the one that pushed the Giants over the edge.

The club unveiled a clutch of new players and gave enhanced roles to those it had bought in over the past couple of years. Harry Himmelberg, Tim Taranto and Zac Langdon would be walk-ups in any team in the league, for example.

They built from the back, emerging as one of the stingiest defences when adjusting for opposition time in possession. Continuity was a challenge, but those players that suited up regularly looked every bit as world-beating as they had in spurts in years past.



GWS’ challenge for next season is to address their forward structure, which was the team’s Achilles heel all year. It cannot be Toby Greene or bust – not that it is, it just seems he’s so critical to the team’s half-forward transition that the whole unit crumbles without him present.

The Giants have to work out whether Rory Lobb is a forward or a ruckman (spoiler: he’s a forward), and adjust that area of the ground accordingly. Does that mean Jonathon Patton is surplus? It’s an interesting question the Giants may ponder.

With the retirement of Ryan Griffen, and the likes of Heath Shaw and Brett Deledio not too far from the end, the Giants will surely be on the hunt for another post-prime addition or two to their best 22. However, keeping their departure lounge in good order will be the most important task facing Wayne Campbell and his brains trust.

The Giants enter the world of free agency next season – it being their eighth in the league – and the names are stellar. Dylan Shiel, Stephen Coniglio, Nick Haynes, Adam Tomlinson and Matt Buntine are all scheduled to be on the board. Josh Kelly’s two-year deal runs out at the end of 2019, too. As we’ll discuss on Thursday, we’re entering a new phase of free agency: pre-agency, and clubs are starting to test the waters.

‘Player retention’ has been a media talking point for the Giants in recent years, though all things being equal you’d think GWS has kept most of the best players they drafted, and lost a few who’ve not gone on as their new clubs may have expected. Getting out of October with as few battle scars as possible would see the Giants enter 2019 as a premiership favourite once again.

Consider this: the Giants got a total of 39 games out of their five most skilled players: Deledio, Greene, Kelly, Tom Scully and Zac Williams (of a potential total of 120). You could throw Coniglio, Haynes and Shiel into that class, but humour me. For a team that had previously relied on their extraordinary outside game, even getting half of those 81 games back next season that would prove revolutionary.

Think about that before you consider the Giants’ year a failure.

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