The historical omens are mixed for this week’s Elimination Final.
Hawthorn lost the only final it has played against Adelaide, but has won its only two finals at Telstra Dome.
Against Adelaide the previous meeting was a 1993 Elimination Final at the MCG. The Hawks blew several gilt edged chances to kick goals at crucial times before losing 16.14.110 to 13.17.95. The loss marked the end of the Hawthorn careers of both coach, Alan Joyce, and captain, Gary Ayres.
This is the third consecutive finals campaign that the Hawks have begun at Telstra Dome. In 2000 Hawthorn beat Geelong by 9 points and in 2001 thrashed Sydney by 55 points.
There is also, of course, the other omen which is that it marks the 50th anniversary of Hawthorn’s first ever finals appearance in 1957 (see 1957 – 50 Years On below).
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Hawthorn’s 5th position is the highest it has finished on the ladder at the end of a home and away season since 1993.
However, the Club’s failure to finish in the top four means that it remains the only Club not to secure a top four position at the end of the home and away season since the introduction of the Final Eight in 1994. The next lowest number of top four finishes is Fremantle with one appearance.
The Hawks’ 13 wins in 2007 was the same number recorded in 2001 and 1994, seasons in which the team was 6th at the end of the home and away season.
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Hawthorn has only twice finished a home and away season with a game outside Victoria – in 1993 and 2007. On both occasions the Hawks then had to play Adelaide in a final the following week. A Round 22 win in Brisbane 1993 was followed by a lost final: let’s hope that as well as the Round 22 result being different, the result of the final is also reversed in 2007.
***********
The five seasons without finals football from 2002 to 2006 is the third longest in the Club’s history. The longest drought was the 32 seasons 1925-56 while the second longest was the seven seasons 1964-70.
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This Saturday Hawthorn enters a final with fewer players with Finals experience at the club than any final since the 1971 Second Semi. Of the likely side, only Shane Crawford, Ben Dixon, Trent Croad, Joel Smith and Richie Vandenberg have previously represented the Club in a final, while Brent Guerra has previous experience elsewhere. In 1971 only David Parkin and Ken Beck had previously played in a final.
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Lance Franklin’s third position on the AFL goal-kicking table is the highest finish by a Hawk since Jason Dunstall finished second in 1996. Dunstall finished with 102 in 1996 and Franklin’s tally of 63 is the equal highest with Mark Williams in 2005 since then.
If the Hawks are able to have a lengthy finals campaign Franklin is an outside chance of becoming the 2007 AFL Leading Goalkicker (as distinct from Coleman Medalist). The leading goalkicker has altered on 13 occasions during the finals in league history, the most recent instances being in 1993 and 2005.
It is also worth noting that Franklin is one of only two of the top ten AFL goal-kickers of 2007 to be appearing in the finals, the other being Mooney of Geelong.
Franklin has now scored at least one goal in the last 31 consecutive matches in which he has played.
***********
While it did not turn out to be a memorable day for either individual it is worth noting that both Trent Croad and Alastair Clarkson reached 200 game AFL milestones against Sydney. Croad has now played 200 AFL games (Hawthorn 162, Fremantle 38) while Clarkson played 134 (93 NM and 41 Melb) and has now coached 66 at the Hawks.
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Hawthorn has made the Finals for the 26th time in its 83 VFL/AFL seasons. The strike rate is much better when one regards as the 26th appearance in the 51 seasons from the first appearance in 1957.
The Hawks have played 60 Finals, winning 37 and losing 23, a commendable 62% success rate.
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1957 – 50 years on
First Semi Final
Saturday, 31 August, 1957 at MCG
Hawthorn 10.11.71 d. Carlton 6.12.48
The front page headline on The Sun said it all – “1st TIME FOR HAWKS”. After 32 years Hawthorn fans were finally to see their team in a VFL Final.
Oddly, Hawthorn’s first Final is best remembered for something which happened at half time rather than during the course of the game.
The MCG was hit by a massive hailstorm which left the ground white and had the competing captains, John Kennedy and Ken Hands, standing at the top of their adjoining races inviting each other to lead their respective teams back out first. The umpires were already out on the ground getting drenched. The storm made the 29 point lead that the Hawks had taken to the half time break almost unassailable.
The Hawks had gone into the game as favourites, with a stronger side than the one which had lost in Round 18 at Footscray. They were playing in black shorts and given the weather were all in long sleeves, as opposed to six Carlton players in sleeveless jumpers.
Hawthorn began the game attacking the Richmond end and were described in one report as being “full of enthusiasm, courage, pace and vigour”. After a Carlton miss, Graham Arthur secured the honour of scoring Hawthorn’s first ever Finals goal. His effort was followed by one to Ron Cabble, a brace to Roy Simmonds and another one to Arthur.
Hawthorn maintained its advantage in the second term, helped by Maurie Young kicking a goal having grabbed the ball out of the air at a boundary throw-in.
Carlton did manage something of a second half fightback. Some commentators believed that the Hawks became a little too defensive in the third term. The Blues got within 17 points in the final quarter and then a dropped mark in the goal-square cost them the chance of getting within two goals. The sealing goal for Hawthorn was kicked by Brian Falconer. He marked a desperate clearing kick from Carlton and according to one report kissed the ball after taking the mark.
Both the umpires and the majority of the crowd offered no sentiment to the first time Finalists. The free kick count was variously tallied as either 32-23 or 28-23 in favour of Carlton, while “the unexpected hostility of the crowd” was put down to the vigour of Hawthorn’s play. Incidents involving John Kennedy and Graham Arthur were mentioned. Arthur was reported to have collected Carlton’s Gilchrist with “a perfectly timed left jab”. Speaking to Footy Flashbacks, Arthur recalled the incident and said it was the first punch he had thrown on the field, but it was responding to some treatment Gilchrist had inflicted on another Hawk. Apparently the boundary umpire was all set to report Arthur, but got distracted by having to throw the ball back into play.
Brendan Edwards was the almost unanimous choice as best on the ground. He produced a “classical display of wing play enhanced by strong well placed kicking and clever handball particularly in co-operation with Graham Arthur”. Arthur was the second best player with many others mentioned in the best including Falconer, Maginness, M. Young, Kennedy, Hughes and Cabble.
Coach, Jack Hale, was quoted in The Age saying that the team “did everything I asked of them”, while the paper commented that the team had taken the field “with one fixed objective – to get to the ball first, no matter the risk entailed or the drain on energy”.
Hawthorn 5.3 7.6 9.7 10.11.71
Carlton 0.2 2.7 4.9 6.12.48
Goals: Cabble 3, Arthur 2, M. Young 2, Simmonds 2, Falconer.
Attendance: 69,455
Team:
B Hughes Gent Woodley
HB Crane Howells Kann
C Falconer Maginness Edwards
HF O’Brien Peck Arthur
F Kaine G. Young Cabble
Foll Kennedy M. Young Simmonds
Res Voigt Yeoman
Player of the week
Roy Simmonds was one of only two members of Hawthorn’s first Finals team in 1957 who remained from the nadir of the club’s winless 1950 season.
The other was the team’s captain and Simmonds’ great friend, John Kennedy. Simmonds and Kennedy were born just nine days apart in December, 1928. This makes it one of the three great months for Hawthorn births with March, 1952 (Matthews and Knights) and August, 1964 (Dunstall and Brereton). It is noteworthy that Kennedy and Simmonds did not make their debuts until the age of 21.
Simmonds hailed from the small town of Koondrook (located on the Murray River between Echuca and Swan Hill), but actually played for Barham in the Northern Districts League competing against clubs from towns such as Cohuna, Leitchville and Gunbower. The merged Barham-Koondrook is also the home club of 2007 Hawk Brent Guerra.
Simmonds used to travel to Melbourne to watch the VFL Grand Final and thought the big league was where he would like to play. He played one practice match at Melbourne but, when they did pick him up, he chose Hawthorn as his next destination, figuring that if he could not make it at the bottom club he would not make it anywhere.
In a recent interview for Footy Flashbacks, Simmonds recalled that in those days there were dozen of players trying out for a place on the list and the method of telling players they had not made it was to leave a note on their bag in the dressing room thanking them for trying out. Fortunately, 1950 coach Bob McCaskill decided that Simmonds was worth a place on the list.
Less auspiciously, Simmonds sprained his ankle and was unable to play in the early weeks of the 1950 season but then, after a handful of Reserves games, he made his debut in Round 12 in a 75 point loss to Geelong at Kardinia Park. Once he had made his debut he became a very durable player appearing in the final seven matches of 1950 and then playing every game in 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1957 and 1958.
He won the 1956 Best & Fairest and represented Victoria at that year’s Carnival.
One of the problems which Hawthorn had in 1957 was roving weakness and after trying a number of players in the role Hale decided that Simmonds was the best option. This decision was crucial in the team’s revival from the slump when they lost four consecutive games in the middle of the season. His two first quarter goals in the First Semi Final were a crucial contribution and he also reduced the influence of key Carlton playmaker, Beasy. Unfortunately, a kick to the shin ended his Final early as he had to be replaced during the final term.
The great disappointment of Simmonds’ Hawthorn career was missing out on playing in the 1961 Premiership team. He heart a vertebrae in his back while bowling during the year and while he was fit again by the Grand Final the good form of Reg Poole in Simmonds’ back pocket position meant he was not able to regain his place.
He was later Assistant Coach at Hawthorn for a number of years which included coaching the 1972 Reserves Premiership. He later also had a spell as assistant coach at Melbourne. For much of his playing career Simmonds worked as a salesman of Bedford trucks and lived in Glyndon Road, Camberwell.
Simmonds role at Hawthorn was not confined to his on-field exploits. Roy and his famous banjo were crucial in building the spirit that had its first on-field manifestation with the club’s appearance in the 1957 Finals. He was an integral part of the evolving culture of the club in the 1950s. On the morning of the 1957 First Semi The Sun summed up his contribution as follows:
“No team has ever had a player with stronger team spirit and such infectious enthusiasm.”
**********************
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and notnecessarily those of the Hawthorn Football Club. hawthornfc.com.auwould like to acknowledge the contribution of supporters to theOfficial Club website. If you would like to sign up to write forhawthornfc.com.au click here for more details.
Hawthorn lost the only final it has played against Adelaide, but has won its only two finals at Telstra Dome.
Against Adelaide the previous meeting was a 1993 Elimination Final at the MCG. The Hawks blew several gilt edged chances to kick goals at crucial times before losing 16.14.110 to 13.17.95. The loss marked the end of the Hawthorn careers of both coach, Alan Joyce, and captain, Gary Ayres.
This is the third consecutive finals campaign that the Hawks have begun at Telstra Dome. In 2000 Hawthorn beat Geelong by 9 points and in 2001 thrashed Sydney by 55 points.
There is also, of course, the other omen which is that it marks the 50th anniversary of Hawthorn’s first ever finals appearance in 1957 (see 1957 – 50 Years On below).
***********
Hawthorn’s 5th position is the highest it has finished on the ladder at the end of a home and away season since 1993.
However, the Club’s failure to finish in the top four means that it remains the only Club not to secure a top four position at the end of the home and away season since the introduction of the Final Eight in 1994. The next lowest number of top four finishes is Fremantle with one appearance.
The Hawks’ 13 wins in 2007 was the same number recorded in 2001 and 1994, seasons in which the team was 6th at the end of the home and away season.
***********
Hawthorn has only twice finished a home and away season with a game outside Victoria – in 1993 and 2007. On both occasions the Hawks then had to play Adelaide in a final the following week. A Round 22 win in Brisbane 1993 was followed by a lost final: let’s hope that as well as the Round 22 result being different, the result of the final is also reversed in 2007.
***********
The five seasons without finals football from 2002 to 2006 is the third longest in the Club’s history. The longest drought was the 32 seasons 1925-56 while the second longest was the seven seasons 1964-70.
***********
This Saturday Hawthorn enters a final with fewer players with Finals experience at the club than any final since the 1971 Second Semi. Of the likely side, only Shane Crawford, Ben Dixon, Trent Croad, Joel Smith and Richie Vandenberg have previously represented the Club in a final, while Brent Guerra has previous experience elsewhere. In 1971 only David Parkin and Ken Beck had previously played in a final.
***********
Lance Franklin’s third position on the AFL goal-kicking table is the highest finish by a Hawk since Jason Dunstall finished second in 1996. Dunstall finished with 102 in 1996 and Franklin’s tally of 63 is the equal highest with Mark Williams in 2005 since then.
If the Hawks are able to have a lengthy finals campaign Franklin is an outside chance of becoming the 2007 AFL Leading Goalkicker (as distinct from Coleman Medalist). The leading goalkicker has altered on 13 occasions during the finals in league history, the most recent instances being in 1993 and 2005.
It is also worth noting that Franklin is one of only two of the top ten AFL goal-kickers of 2007 to be appearing in the finals, the other being Mooney of Geelong.
Franklin has now scored at least one goal in the last 31 consecutive matches in which he has played.
***********
While it did not turn out to be a memorable day for either individual it is worth noting that both Trent Croad and Alastair Clarkson reached 200 game AFL milestones against Sydney. Croad has now played 200 AFL games (Hawthorn 162, Fremantle 38) while Clarkson played 134 (93 NM and 41 Melb) and has now coached 66 at the Hawks.
***********
Hawthorn has made the Finals for the 26th time in its 83 VFL/AFL seasons. The strike rate is much better when one regards as the 26th appearance in the 51 seasons from the first appearance in 1957.
The Hawks have played 60 Finals, winning 37 and losing 23, a commendable 62% success rate.
***********
1957 – 50 years on
First Semi Final
Saturday, 31 August, 1957 at MCG
Hawthorn 10.11.71 d. Carlton 6.12.48
The front page headline on The Sun said it all – “1st TIME FOR HAWKS”. After 32 years Hawthorn fans were finally to see their team in a VFL Final.
Oddly, Hawthorn’s first Final is best remembered for something which happened at half time rather than during the course of the game.
The MCG was hit by a massive hailstorm which left the ground white and had the competing captains, John Kennedy and Ken Hands, standing at the top of their adjoining races inviting each other to lead their respective teams back out first. The umpires were already out on the ground getting drenched. The storm made the 29 point lead that the Hawks had taken to the half time break almost unassailable.
The Hawks had gone into the game as favourites, with a stronger side than the one which had lost in Round 18 at Footscray. They were playing in black shorts and given the weather were all in long sleeves, as opposed to six Carlton players in sleeveless jumpers.
Hawthorn began the game attacking the Richmond end and were described in one report as being “full of enthusiasm, courage, pace and vigour”. After a Carlton miss, Graham Arthur secured the honour of scoring Hawthorn’s first ever Finals goal. His effort was followed by one to Ron Cabble, a brace to Roy Simmonds and another one to Arthur.
Hawthorn maintained its advantage in the second term, helped by Maurie Young kicking a goal having grabbed the ball out of the air at a boundary throw-in.
Carlton did manage something of a second half fightback. Some commentators believed that the Hawks became a little too defensive in the third term. The Blues got within 17 points in the final quarter and then a dropped mark in the goal-square cost them the chance of getting within two goals. The sealing goal for Hawthorn was kicked by Brian Falconer. He marked a desperate clearing kick from Carlton and according to one report kissed the ball after taking the mark.
Both the umpires and the majority of the crowd offered no sentiment to the first time Finalists. The free kick count was variously tallied as either 32-23 or 28-23 in favour of Carlton, while “the unexpected hostility of the crowd” was put down to the vigour of Hawthorn’s play. Incidents involving John Kennedy and Graham Arthur were mentioned. Arthur was reported to have collected Carlton’s Gilchrist with “a perfectly timed left jab”. Speaking to Footy Flashbacks, Arthur recalled the incident and said it was the first punch he had thrown on the field, but it was responding to some treatment Gilchrist had inflicted on another Hawk. Apparently the boundary umpire was all set to report Arthur, but got distracted by having to throw the ball back into play.
Brendan Edwards was the almost unanimous choice as best on the ground. He produced a “classical display of wing play enhanced by strong well placed kicking and clever handball particularly in co-operation with Graham Arthur”. Arthur was the second best player with many others mentioned in the best including Falconer, Maginness, M. Young, Kennedy, Hughes and Cabble.
Coach, Jack Hale, was quoted in The Age saying that the team “did everything I asked of them”, while the paper commented that the team had taken the field “with one fixed objective – to get to the ball first, no matter the risk entailed or the drain on energy”.
Hawthorn 5.3 7.6 9.7 10.11.71
Carlton 0.2 2.7 4.9 6.12.48
Goals: Cabble 3, Arthur 2, M. Young 2, Simmonds 2, Falconer.
Attendance: 69,455
Team:
B Hughes Gent Woodley
HB Crane Howells Kann
C Falconer Maginness Edwards
HF O’Brien Peck Arthur
F Kaine G. Young Cabble
Foll Kennedy M. Young Simmonds
Res Voigt Yeoman
Player of the week
Roy Simmonds was one of only two members of Hawthorn’s first Finals team in 1957 who remained from the nadir of the club’s winless 1950 season.
The other was the team’s captain and Simmonds’ great friend, John Kennedy. Simmonds and Kennedy were born just nine days apart in December, 1928. This makes it one of the three great months for Hawthorn births with March, 1952 (Matthews and Knights) and August, 1964 (Dunstall and Brereton). It is noteworthy that Kennedy and Simmonds did not make their debuts until the age of 21.
Simmonds hailed from the small town of Koondrook (located on the Murray River between Echuca and Swan Hill), but actually played for Barham in the Northern Districts League competing against clubs from towns such as Cohuna, Leitchville and Gunbower. The merged Barham-Koondrook is also the home club of 2007 Hawk Brent Guerra.
Simmonds used to travel to Melbourne to watch the VFL Grand Final and thought the big league was where he would like to play. He played one practice match at Melbourne but, when they did pick him up, he chose Hawthorn as his next destination, figuring that if he could not make it at the bottom club he would not make it anywhere.
In a recent interview for Footy Flashbacks, Simmonds recalled that in those days there were dozen of players trying out for a place on the list and the method of telling players they had not made it was to leave a note on their bag in the dressing room thanking them for trying out. Fortunately, 1950 coach Bob McCaskill decided that Simmonds was worth a place on the list.
Less auspiciously, Simmonds sprained his ankle and was unable to play in the early weeks of the 1950 season but then, after a handful of Reserves games, he made his debut in Round 12 in a 75 point loss to Geelong at Kardinia Park. Once he had made his debut he became a very durable player appearing in the final seven matches of 1950 and then playing every game in 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1957 and 1958.
He won the 1956 Best & Fairest and represented Victoria at that year’s Carnival.
One of the problems which Hawthorn had in 1957 was roving weakness and after trying a number of players in the role Hale decided that Simmonds was the best option. This decision was crucial in the team’s revival from the slump when they lost four consecutive games in the middle of the season. His two first quarter goals in the First Semi Final were a crucial contribution and he also reduced the influence of key Carlton playmaker, Beasy. Unfortunately, a kick to the shin ended his Final early as he had to be replaced during the final term.
The great disappointment of Simmonds’ Hawthorn career was missing out on playing in the 1961 Premiership team. He heart a vertebrae in his back while bowling during the year and while he was fit again by the Grand Final the good form of Reg Poole in Simmonds’ back pocket position meant he was not able to regain his place.
He was later Assistant Coach at Hawthorn for a number of years which included coaching the 1972 Reserves Premiership. He later also had a spell as assistant coach at Melbourne. For much of his playing career Simmonds worked as a salesman of Bedford trucks and lived in Glyndon Road, Camberwell.
Simmonds role at Hawthorn was not confined to his on-field exploits. Roy and his famous banjo were crucial in building the spirit that had its first on-field manifestation with the club’s appearance in the 1957 Finals. He was an integral part of the evolving culture of the club in the 1950s. On the morning of the 1957 First Semi The Sun summed up his contribution as follows:
“No team has ever had a player with stronger team spirit and such infectious enthusiasm.”
**********************
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and notnecessarily those of the Hawthorn Football Club. hawthornfc.com.auwould like to acknowledge the contribution of supporters to theOfficial Club website. If you would like to sign up to write forhawthornfc.com.au click here for more details.
