Yeah my suspicions were confirmed by the 2 Hawthorn finals, they are cheating, gaming the system whatever you want to call it, on a number of levels. Ginnivan/ Watson double duckathon in the fwd line, and to double down (again), these 2 small players are their main forwards, the talls are there to support the smalls.
The other one is the very subtly arm drag, its not quite a chop, or a very light last minute arm drag. They kind of make like they are attempting a punch, then lightly drag their opponent's arm as they are withdrawing their arm from the punching motion. Their defenders do it so often, and get away with it most of the time, I'm convinced its a technique they coach.
Along with the staged head snap, most clubs are doing these things to various degrees, but the difference with the Hawks is the regularity, and in the case of the arm drag, the consistency of technique. And also the fact they have 2 ducking small forwards when most sides have 1, if any.
As I posted elsewhere, Lyon made the point that everyside will have to get a good ducker or they will be at a strategic disadvantage. At the time I thought get stuffed, overstatement, but on reflection, regardless of right or wrong, I think he's right.
