Joie Whybrow and Jayden Cutting in a race for the ball which saw Joie scoop it up and dive next to the posts. Both men will need big matches today and Hawks supporters will want to see them back themselves as the great athletes they are.
Nick Hall has been around footy most of his life, he was not only pretty good in his prime he has put his hand up again this year at 48 to put his body on the line when the Hawks have needed a big body off the bench. Coaching is also a place where his talents come to the fore. He is a thinker, and a tinker. He doesn’t need to make drastic changes and upset sides and players. He gets respect by giving respect and being a leader. It is probably why the Harden Hawks have asked Hall to return for year number four in 2025 and have him lead the club’s coaching staff alongside president Jason Pollard.
Nick Hall pictured a couple of years ago at McLean Oval. Hall has genuinely enjoyed his time at the Hawks and always has a smile on his face. He has signed on for 2025, making it four years in a row.
Hall said, “I’m going to do footy. I told them I’m going to help with juniors, help with the girls team, I’m going to run water for someone, I’m going to be involved in footy. I like the town, I like the people, I like the boys, I like the team, so if they wanted to have me, I was happy to stay. “We work well together, we talk clearly. There’s not a contract, it’s a nod and a wink and an agreement, they stand by it and I stand by it. We also have an understanding that if it doesn’t suit that if they need another player or a coach for whatever reason if something changes, they just have to ask me and for the good of the team I will step aside.
That outcome is probably unlikely to happen as Hall embarks on a journey which will hopefully take his Hawks deep in to the finals and hopefully a grand final match where they can chase their first title since 2017. Hall has turned a bunch of different players of different shapes and sizes into a team that can defeat strong teams and out smart them.
Hall said, “I think we are getting better as the year goes on and better as the games go on. “We are only really coming to some real understanding of what we are capable of, so it’s good. “The weekend’s win means that fate really fell in our favour. It means our destiny is in our hands to a certain extent. We win two and we are the minor premiers and nothing can be done about that. It’s up to us to be able to find a way to get over these next two sides. “There’s been other years when things haven’t gone our way and results have gone the other way, draws and wins and losses have perfectly fallen to the detriment of what we were trying to do at the Hawks. “It wasn’t something that I had really considered or thought of, we just had to beat Coota and we had to beat Binalong and I felt Bungendore were barrelling along towards a minor premiership. “It’s good that it has gone our way, we win two, we are minor premiers, we loose this weekend we are fourth. “We are first on the ladder and could go to fourth with a loss and other matches.
“Binalong are full of confidence after having a good game against Bungendore, they are full of ability and desire, they have to do it. It’s the pointy end of the year. They have plenty of smart old blokes that are all back in the side. It seems like they are fairly strong and it’s going to be a difficult game. “I’ve been saying that for three years, we have to get some more props to help our current batch out, but towards the end of the game the smaller fellas tear them to shreds.
When asked does the 4th year make Hall bleed maroon and white, he joked, “I don’t know. Yeah, maybe. I think I’ve learnt a lot in the last few years. I’ve changed clubs a few times. I’ve been at the Ipswich Jets and the Young Cherrypickers and I’ve been at the Hawks and I’ve played at Group footy and played at Forbes Magpies. In Sydney I was a St Christians player at a famous club down there and I was a Bulldog. Footy is footy. It’s all pretty good. I’ve never had any bad footy.
“I don’t want Young or Harden people to get sensitive, but if I go to the next town, I will go and get footy there too. “I’m very passion about what we did at the Cherrypickers and what I’ve done. I played at Young from 1998 to a couple of years ago. I’m the longest serving coach they have ever had. I’ve done a whole lot at the Cherrypickers. I’m a Cherrypicker man through and through and I’m hoping they win the competition this year and I’m sure I will be involved in the Cherrypickers in the future.
“While I’m living here it’s an option that I might go and support people, run water, just do whatever makes me happy. “I’m a Hawk right now and I’m really loving it and want to do it for a bit longer.
All clubs need more volunteers. “It leads into the next conversation we need to have about volunteers, how do we get volunteers and make clubs stronger. “The Hawks are crying out like many clubs. We need more people, we need more people at games watching it. We need more people helping out in canteens and picking up a few bits of garbage and more people at meetings so we have ideas. They don’t have to do much. Just come to a few meetings and be involved. Come along for the ride and enjoy the ride. Share your ideas and a bit of time. “It’s your responsibility to hand on. If you’ve been a player or been a coach, tick that box; come and help the club, tick that box; little clubs like the Hawks or the Devils don’t survive unless people come and help.
“I think we should celebrate those volunteers, Polly and Jodie and the Doolans to name a few, and I’m sure the people at the Devils are doing the same, they should be rewarded and I think those clubs need people to get up and help. “That’s why I’m there, but I also think we need some more junior league coaches and we need some helpers and we need some yellow shirts and some blue shirts to run first aid. Who’s the next coach after Nick Hall. Someone should be up there working out what we are doing, what Nick does well or does badly and what am I going to do when I’m the coach. We need the next people here.
“As much as anything it’s your job to find your replacement and that is what I am looking at. “How do we connect Under 14s to Seniors. That’s a hard job in Harden right now. “It starts with people. We need numbers. We need people caring, thinking, because Nick can’t solve it by himself. He needs parents or parents with kids.
“I was very glad to beat Coota and even happier with those results to go our way with the draw. “I think we are on track for our third club championship. If we win two games on the weekend, which is two top of the table clashes, the girls and the boys, one versus two, it’s going to be interesting. “I think Binalong would be close to a club championship the way they are going. Coota would be up there, I don’t think Bungendore’s girls are doing well enough to get a club championship. “I think Harden has had their name on the trophy seven out of ten times. The boys are doing their bit to get in there and then I’ve got them going a little bit better the last two years.
It’s Sponsor’s Day on Saturday at McLean Oval. Don’t miss the Hawkettes and the Hawks take on Binalong. Kick off times are 1:50pm and 3:00pm
