David ClarkeHawks to Take the Crown? Maybe...But Not Yet. (LINK)
April 17th 2008 11:16
In Tuesdays Herald Sun, (April 15, 2008) Garry Lyon suggested that Hawthorn is on the verge of dethroning Geelong as the best team in the land. The young Hawk’s are certainly one of the most exciting sides the AFL has seen in recent years, and how good a team they can be is anybody’s guess, however if there is one lesson that footy will teach you time and time again, it is not to count your chickens before they’ve hatched.
To illustrate just how close he thought the young Hawks are to being as good a side, or better, than the current reigning premiers, Lyon rated the key players of both teams side by side with a mark out of ten, in what eventuated as being an extremely close evaluation when all marks had been added up. The only problem is, just how spot on are Lyon’s judgments?
The first player ratings listed by Lyon, the forwards, shouldn’t arouse much debate, Cameron Mooney 8.5 – Jarryd Roughead 8, Steve Johnson 9 – Lance Franklin 9.5, Paul Chapman 9 – Mark Williams 8. Sure, you could add or subtract half a mark here or there if you really wanted to, but these are fairly close to the mark. The last two ratings however, did warrant a double take just to make sure my eyes were not failing me. James Kelly 7 – Cyril Rioli 7, Matthew Stokes 7 – Cameron Stokes 6.
Come again? First of all let’s just rate these players in a purely statistical manner: James Kelly has played 112 games. Cyril Rioli has played 4. No your eyes aren’t failing you either, I did say 4. And while Rioli has shown plenty to get excited about if you are a Hawthorn fan, or even just somebody who enjoys watching exciting footy, it is unimaginable for anyone to believe that he would be rated as good a player in just 4 games as someone who has established himself alongside names such as Ablett, Bartel, and Corey as a consistent performer in a premiership winning midfield whilst averaging just under 20 disposals last season.
Next, we have Matthew Stokes who has played 34 games, his cousin, Cameron Stokes, has played 4. Whilst the discrepancy between the two games tallies here is substantially less than above, it is only recently that a player such as Matthew Stokes is beginning to get the widespread acknowledgement as one of the most effective small players in the game. When he looks at himself in the mirror, he definitely does not see the 177cm, 80kg figure staring back at him. Consistently putting his body on the line for the team, Stokes marks, attacks, and throws himself into contests with the same ferocity as a mini Nick Riewoldt. Cameron Stokes on the other hand, has played four games and is averaging less than half the disposals as his more accomplished cousin at Geelong. An unfair comparison considering the younger of the two has only played 4 games you say? Well it isn’t according to Garry Lyon so it apparently it shouldn’t be for anyone else either.
Whilst the remainder of comparisons made by Lyon are open to debate, they seem for the most part a fairly apt attempt at comparing the major players of both sides. However if Lyon is to have us believe the validity of Hawthorns threat as a genuine contender to Geelong’s title this year is partially resting on the shoulders two kids with 8 games between them, then perhaps instead of opening his article with “For the sake of the competition, we need a genuine challenger to the mighty Geelong Football Club" he should have opened with “For the sake of the need for a weekly article, I need a genuine challenger to the mighty Geelong Football Club.”
To illustrate just how close he thought the young Hawks are to being as good a side, or better, than the current reigning premiers, Lyon rated the key players of both teams side by side with a mark out of ten, in what eventuated as being an extremely close evaluation when all marks had been added up. The only problem is, just how spot on are Lyon’s judgments?
The first player ratings listed by Lyon, the forwards, shouldn’t arouse much debate, Cameron Mooney 8.5 – Jarryd Roughead 8, Steve Johnson 9 – Lance Franklin 9.5, Paul Chapman 9 – Mark Williams 8. Sure, you could add or subtract half a mark here or there if you really wanted to, but these are fairly close to the mark. The last two ratings however, did warrant a double take just to make sure my eyes were not failing me. James Kelly 7 – Cyril Rioli 7, Matthew Stokes 7 – Cameron Stokes 6.
Come again? First of all let’s just rate these players in a purely statistical manner: James Kelly has played 112 games. Cyril Rioli has played 4. No your eyes aren’t failing you either, I did say 4. And while Rioli has shown plenty to get excited about if you are a Hawthorn fan, or even just somebody who enjoys watching exciting footy, it is unimaginable for anyone to believe that he would be rated as good a player in just 4 games as someone who has established himself alongside names such as Ablett, Bartel, and Corey as a consistent performer in a premiership winning midfield whilst averaging just under 20 disposals last season.
Next, we have Matthew Stokes who has played 34 games, his cousin, Cameron Stokes, has played 4. Whilst the discrepancy between the two games tallies here is substantially less than above, it is only recently that a player such as Matthew Stokes is beginning to get the widespread acknowledgement as one of the most effective small players in the game. When he looks at himself in the mirror, he definitely does not see the 177cm, 80kg figure staring back at him. Consistently putting his body on the line for the team, Stokes marks, attacks, and throws himself into contests with the same ferocity as a mini Nick Riewoldt. Cameron Stokes on the other hand, has played four games and is averaging less than half the disposals as his more accomplished cousin at Geelong. An unfair comparison considering the younger of the two has only played 4 games you say? Well it isn’t according to Garry Lyon so it apparently it shouldn’t be for anyone else either.
Whilst the remainder of comparisons made by Lyon are open to debate, they seem for the most part a fairly apt attempt at comparing the major players of both sides. However if Lyon is to have us believe the validity of Hawthorns threat as a genuine contender to Geelong’s title this year is partially resting on the shoulders two kids with 8 games between them, then perhaps instead of opening his article with “For the sake of the competition, we need a genuine challenger to the mighty Geelong Football Club" he should have opened with “For the sake of the need for a weekly article, I need a genuine challenger to the mighty Geelong Football Club.”
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