Having sat in the Great Southern Stand last night and endured the humiliating shellacing handed out by the Hawthorn ‘Reserves’ last night (the Hawks were without putative best-22 members Franklin, Roughhead, Renouf, Gilham, Stratton and Murphy), AussieRulesBlog wonders what Matthew Knights must be thinking now.
Under both Knights and replacement coach James Hird, the Bombers have provided plenty of examples of capability to play the game at an exquisitely high level. Sustained intensity, quarter on quarter, week on week, month on month, seems to be the missing ingredient.
There was no shortage of effort at the ball in the Bombers’ insipid performance last night, but there was little or no unrewarded, off-the-ball effort.
AussieRulesBlog has never engaged in round by round or game by game analysis, and we don’t intend to start now. Nevertheless, pre-season competition aside, the similarities between the team’s effort under Knights and Hird is remarkable, especially given the messy nature of the latter’s ascension to the role.
We would also be remiss did we not marvel at the exquisite disposal skills of Sam Mitchell. If he is not one of the five best players in the competition, then we know nothing about the game. It’s not til you see Mitchell live that you really appreciate the quality of the ball that he provides.
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