“We will train twice this week, we are not going to change anything. We will stick to what we’ve been doing. We’ve got a few travellers, so it’s been a strange old year for that.”
The Times caught up with Nick Hall during his lunch break at Young for a chat as to how his charges were shaping up for their third straight Grand Final appearance.
Hall didn’t shy away from the reality of footy.
“We’ve got a few blokes injured now, I can only play 20 and I’ve got 22 or three, so unfortunately some blokes are going to miss out.”
“So whoever misses out just needs to turn up and support the team on the day and be a good squad member. It is important when you have a big squad like that. It’s been a big part of us being successful this year that there’s lots of competition for spots and abilities for blokes to fill in because some weeks we’ve got 23 blokes and some weeks we’ve got 15 available. So it’s been an important part of the year like this.”
Hall made note of when prompted that Harden will have to regroup in 2027 due to the gap between jnrs and snrs.
“I think that’s probably something that Harden is going to be stuck with for a little while. It’s got to find a way at Harden to connect their juniors and their seniors, there’s a big gap from 15s to 1st grade, and some of those guys, unfortunately, go and have a game in Young, have a game in Coota and elsewhere. So there’s plenty of good local players, but they move.
So through necessity, we had to fill that with a few other people. Young’s got a big breeding ground, big juniors, and most of the guys who came over in those first few years were guys who weren’t getting a game, they’d retired at 18s and weren’t playing reserve grade. So there were guys who weren’t playing.”
“Maybe one guy who came over was, but it was all the guys who were sort of, we were a bit like the box of broken toys, all the guys who didn’t quite have a game and came for an opportunity and we had a great time and I think the culture over there was built on success for attitude, and then it’s been good for us. So I think people wanted to then come and be part of that in the last few years. I’ve never had an issue with getting players.”
“There’s been a lot of old and new and young players and new friends I’ve made. It has been good.”
Hall was asked to focus on some of the Harden faces lining up for the Hawks on Saturday and happily responded.
“I guess last time Tyson was playing for us, he was a younger man, he’s come back this year as an experienced player.
And he’s had all the joys that an experienced body can have sometimes. Use, wacks on the shoulder, whacks on the chest, whacks on the jaw. So he hasn’t had the sort of physical year that he’s wanted to have, but he’s played good footy and he’s going to be there in the big dance, so he’s going to have a job to do on the weekend.”
“Riley is probably going to be in the outside backs there, centre, wing somewhere around that. If we were in trouble, I’d probably put him in the middle. He’s just a natural footballer. He’s a good guy. It’s good to get a few games before this. He is starting to find some form.”
“I think deep down, Luke Brown just loves footy. He’s passionate and it’s good to keep doing something positive like that, physically, mentally. It’s great, footy, and deep down he’s a passionate footballer, he loves it.”
“It takes a few more weeks for his legs to come good. The old body doesn’t react as well as it does when younger, but he’s playing good footy at the right time of year. It’s been good.
“Holmesy, who’s been with Harden before, he’s back and he’s been playing great footy for us.”
Last match at Harden he made a cover tackle that a 20-year-old back might have made and it was a 30 something old prop and he was mobile. “He’s a good guy, he is very simple, keeps it simple, and he’s hard to handle for opposition sides. I think he’s playing as good a football this year as he has for a while.”
“Jarrod Sharman, he’s hard to handle. He comes back 100%. He gives it everything, plays the same, whether it is wing, lock, 2nd row, whatever. He just goes hard. He loves it. Geez he is passionate about the boys and the Hawks. He loves it. He was probably the trigger to come back to a couple of years ago when some of those other blokes came back, Dicky and all those blokes.
“Joie Whybrow has been starting all year, generally between the centre and back row and probably starts in the centres and moves into the back row. He’s a tough footballer.
Very good defender and I like to be defensive, so that’ll be a goal to get out there and have Joey getting us started.”
Some of the other Hawks have been lighting up the field.
“Zakaia Lewis had a great game. He is a footballer, that’s his position. I talk to him all the time. Sometimes he’s lock, sometimes he’s half, sometimes he’s 2nd row, he even played some centre that day. He’s eyes up. When you see Zakaia near the footy, I want him to run because we’ve got so many good targets out there and he’s good enough, he knows when to run. So it’s been really good. Good energy, a young bloke, quick legs and good eyes. He has played a bit of rep footy as a young bloke and he’s bringing that sort of confidence into our side right now. He’s playing well.
“Casey Wall is a solid player, he hits really hard defensively. He does a lot of work, but there’s a lot of quality about what he does in the middle. I think people have a second look when he tackles them because he whacks them. And his service out at dummy half is great. He gets their forwards running, he throws a good ball. I think people underestimate what he does.”
Hall’s first assistant is Andrew McIllhatton. “Andrew came over and he’s been with me for five years and he’s been with me for five years before that, doing other things. In ’98 when I first came to Young, he was the fullback in the 1st game, and I was the centre for the Cherrypickers when we beat Gundagai on a Friday night.”
“Macca’s one of the first blokes I met and played with when I got up here and he’s been coaching and co-coaching with me for years in junior league, senior league, Bidgee Bulls, those sort of things because he is football through and through and he’s good balance to me.
“Macca, Gary Lucas, Polly, Brendan Ford, the manager, they are the boys.”
“Gary is the father of two of the boys, Corey and Jacob. Gary helps out on the bench, he has been President of Young league. Gary’s coached and played in Young, he’s been there for years.
So it’s a new colour for him this year at the Hawks, but he’s enjoying it. He’s great to have on the field, he is very calm. Good leader, good footballer.”
“All those guys are good. You can’t discount Jack Nichols at the back.
He’s been unlucky not to get a player of the year over the years.”
Hall got Coach of the Year in Canberra recently and the Hawks were very successful, something that will fill a later edition.
“I say to the boys, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you earn. And then you need an ounce of luck. So I thought we’re unlucky. I thought we probably nearly earned it last year and it didn’t go our way. I’m not holding my breath. We will all know on Saturday night.”
“I think we’ve been talking about it for 5 years. There’s no such thing as beast mode, just trained and untrained, and I just want them to go out there and don’t worry about beast mode, just worry about doing the things that they practice, and the things they did well all year, because that’s what got them to where we are at.
“Just worry about what we’re good at, beat the other guy, than try to do the shortcuts and cheats, just earn it.
“Tyson has 100 games and Jack’s got 50 games this week. Jack Nicholls is the best player in the comp. He’s awesome. He starts our sets so well, but he watches tackle one and he nearly always wins it.”
“We have got a really good spine. Will and Jacob start in the halves, Jayden will be on the bench.”
“As much as I don’t want a hot day, because I want our blokes to feel comfortable, I think they’ll be more uncomfortable than us. So, a warm day probably falls into our lap and we’ll just get the rotations happening and who knows?
We just need to play a field position game because they’re big, they push over from a couple of yards out. So those times we have to defend the line, and we have just got to be brave.”
Hawks! Hawks Hawks!
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