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Get-Mitch-quick scheme pays off
Love the Hahn Premium!
Mike Sheahan
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 09:25am
THERE are footballers who look far better than they really are, others who perform far more effectively than they look
Let’s focus on those of the better-than-you-think variety at the top three clubs.
At Geelong, they are headed by Joel Corey and Corey Enright; at Hawthorn, Brad Sewell and Jordan Lewis; at the Bulldogs, Mitch Hahn.
Hahn is the blue-collar rep on the red, white and blue shop floor, even allowing for the huge work ethic of Daniel Cross, Dale Morris, Matthew Boyd and Ben Hudson.
He is tough and hard, fiercely competitive and resilient and enjoys throwing his weight around.
At 188cm and 99kg, he is a bull: Scott Welsh plus 10kg.
The perfect foil inside the forward 50 for Robert Murphy, Brad Johnson and Jason Akermanis (Welsh can take care of himself).
Stats from 2006-08 say the Bulldogs are twice as likely to win with Hahn in the team.
When he plays, they win 74 per cent of the time.
The most illuminating figures come from the first half of 2006 (the period before he suffered a knee injury requiring a reconstruction) and the 13 rounds this year, after a full preparation.
In 2006 the Doggies won eight of the 11 games he played before he went down in Round 12; this year they have won 11 of 13.
He is averaging 14 possessions and has kicked 17 goals, yet, the basic stats tell only part of the Hahn story.
He leads the competition for tackles in the forward 50 with 23. He has 30 groundball gets in the forward zone, third behind “Buddy” Franklin and Michael O’Loughlin.
Champion Data’s statistics say one in three possessions in 2008 is contested; with Hahn, 54.2 per cent of his possessions are won the hard way.
He thrives on the contest, on a test of strength, a battle of wills.
His team thrives as a result.
The Bulldogs had the worst return for contested possessions in 2006-07; this year, they are third at + 9.1 a game.
Hahn is at the peak of his powers at 27 and in his ninth season.
He may have had only 10 possessions on Sunday, but seven of them were contested, he kicked three goals and was involved in two goal assists.
He took three contested marks in the goalsquare, unheard of for a bloke his size who doesn’t jump.
Then there was the ferocious tackle on Nick Maxwell in the second quarter.
You know you’re still playing a body-contact sport when Hahn is in the vicinity.
Not bad for a kid from Windsor-Zillmere in Brisbane’s north, taken at No. 37 in the 1999 national draft, traded by Richmond for Leon Cameron.
Watch the Doggies train in silhouette and you wouldn’t rank Hahn in the top 20; watch Rodney Eade at match committee and Hahn’s name would be in the first five on the team sheet.
Love the Hahn Premium!
Mike Sheahan
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 09:25am
THERE are footballers who look far better than they really are, others who perform far more effectively than they look
Let’s focus on those of the better-than-you-think variety at the top three clubs.
At Geelong, they are headed by Joel Corey and Corey Enright; at Hawthorn, Brad Sewell and Jordan Lewis; at the Bulldogs, Mitch Hahn.
Hahn is the blue-collar rep on the red, white and blue shop floor, even allowing for the huge work ethic of Daniel Cross, Dale Morris, Matthew Boyd and Ben Hudson.
He is tough and hard, fiercely competitive and resilient and enjoys throwing his weight around.
At 188cm and 99kg, he is a bull: Scott Welsh plus 10kg.
The perfect foil inside the forward 50 for Robert Murphy, Brad Johnson and Jason Akermanis (Welsh can take care of himself).
Stats from 2006-08 say the Bulldogs are twice as likely to win with Hahn in the team.
When he plays, they win 74 per cent of the time.
The most illuminating figures come from the first half of 2006 (the period before he suffered a knee injury requiring a reconstruction) and the 13 rounds this year, after a full preparation.
In 2006 the Doggies won eight of the 11 games he played before he went down in Round 12; this year they have won 11 of 13.
He is averaging 14 possessions and has kicked 17 goals, yet, the basic stats tell only part of the Hahn story.
He leads the competition for tackles in the forward 50 with 23. He has 30 groundball gets in the forward zone, third behind “Buddy” Franklin and Michael O’Loughlin.
Champion Data’s statistics say one in three possessions in 2008 is contested; with Hahn, 54.2 per cent of his possessions are won the hard way.
He thrives on the contest, on a test of strength, a battle of wills.
His team thrives as a result.
The Bulldogs had the worst return for contested possessions in 2006-07; this year, they are third at + 9.1 a game.
Hahn is at the peak of his powers at 27 and in his ninth season.
He may have had only 10 possessions on Sunday, but seven of them were contested, he kicked three goals and was involved in two goal assists.
He took three contested marks in the goalsquare, unheard of for a bloke his size who doesn’t jump.
Then there was the ferocious tackle on Nick Maxwell in the second quarter.
You know you’re still playing a body-contact sport when Hahn is in the vicinity.
Not bad for a kid from Windsor-Zillmere in Brisbane’s north, taken at No. 37 in the 1999 national draft, traded by Richmond for Leon Cameron.
Watch the Doggies train in silhouette and you wouldn’t rank Hahn in the top 20; watch Rodney Eade at match committee and Hahn’s name would be in the first five on the team sheet.
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