desertsaint wrote:wasn't frawley a free agent? melbourne outrageously received a first round draft pick for him and as they were spooners it was the number one pick. only cost the hawks a salary.
i reckon the hawks are the best run club in the country and think they'll be just like geelong and sydney (and gws going forward) and stay in the hunt for the next half decade at least - and all without concessions or father/sons.
They'll have factored in JOM failing and consider it worth the risk - doubt they'd throw all their eggs in one basket.
Vickery is just a cheap filler for a few seasons - if roughie comes back he is depth, if not he'll play a role.
Hawthorn have excelled. No doubt.
As for 'no concessions', well, the Free Agent thing has been the biggest free kick ever to a club at the peak of its powers. Not exactly a concession as such, but certainly an advantage that only a club at the top of the ladder was realistically afforded.
"Hey Free Agent, want to go from a bottom club to a different bottom club? Or do you want to go a club that's just won two flags and still has the best list in the country?"
Not exactly an equalisation strategy!
But moving forward, what they've done in the past is not relevant to the decisions they are making now.
The decisions they are making now, appear to be based on the success of previous decisions - but they don't take into account that most of the key people won't be there any more. And this was the reason the previous decisions actually worked.