Dein erstes Forum » day with a new coach in Fizdale , a long

Amid the sea of delighted Western Bulldogs faces in the rooms, from the chairman Peter Gordon and the club legends Chris Grant and Tony Liberatore, a more sober face in Hawthorn colours emerged to mark the significance of the occasion.Alastair Clarkson, for the first time in four years a coach thwarted in September, marched into the heart of the Bulldogs kennel to congratulate his former assistant Luke Beveridge and wish him well for the remainder of the AFL finals. As is often the way for great teams and athletes, Clarksons Hawks had been undone by opponents who had long admired them.Speaking within a few minutes of each other on Thursday morning, Beveridge and Clarkson were a study in contrasts. By Friday night, so too were their clubs. Hawthorn had expected, the Western Bulldogs had hoped. This turned out to be a night for the dreamers.Beveridge had spoken expansively about history and hope, while also revealing he, as a former Hawks assistant, would feel a little regretful if his team were responsible for ending Hawthorns tilt at four consecutive premierships. Clarkson took the path of the punchy, bristling his way through pre-match commentary in a way that betrayed the ruthlessness at the core of his football being.The wistfulness Beveridge carried with him helped draw a mighty crowd of Bulldogs optimists to the MCG - 87,823 was among the greatest gatherings ever to see the club once known as Footscray play any match in their history. It was this wave of optimism and hope that carried the night, even as the Hawks players tried their best to be feisty after Clarksons preferred fashion.So it was that a team with one premiership in all their VFL/AFL years dethroned another trying for a fourth flag in a row. So too was a team trying to hang onto their hegemony through a gradually diminishing arsenal of personnel and tactical options undone by opponents firing on far more varied and effective cylinders.It had been eight matches over six years since the Bulldogs last beat the Hawks, so long ago that Beveridge was a junior assistant with Collingwood, before he found his way to Whitten Oval via a spell in Clarksons coaching box. He has not lost the sense of gratitude.Him and I have shared some unbelievable times together in 2012-14 and he was the one who sent out the olive branch to me to come work at the Hawthorn football club so I owe him a lot, Beveridge said. I have a very strong emotional connection to the Hawks. That of course doesnt trump my emotional connection to our football club.But it is a little bit different beating the Hawks. I have so much admiration and respect for everyone over there. But you can imagine how I feel about my football club and how much I admire what everyones done. Especially the players but also all our staff whove held their nerve and pulled things together when its been tough.In pressure nights and games like tonight we dont have a great deal of experience in these situations but everyones been ice cold and managed themselves superbly.Evident on the night was a sharp example of a trend building all year. Skilful and brutal as they had been and still were, the Hawks lacked both the industry in the middle of the ground to win a decent share of the contested ball, and the tall marking target up forward to provide a circuit-breaker when precise disposal wasnt possible. As Clarkson put it, his team would happily finish 18th if it meant Jarryd Roughead could return to full health and the Hawks forward line.Of course Clarkson is so skilful a coach and Hawthorn so proud an organisation that their decreased means were still enough to earn a top four spot. But Isaac Smiths kick drifted wide after the siren against Geelong, exposing the defending premiers to a Bulldogs side both refreshed by the pre-finals bye and enlivened by an unexpected overthrow of West Coast in Perth. According to Clarkson, they were also advantaged by generous holding the ball interpretations that will necessitate another tweak to Hawthorns style.No good this losing caper is it? Clarkson said. Weve seen the Bulldogs play some good footy but I dont think Ive seen them play as well as tonight. Theyre deserved preliminary finalists and hopefully theyll really serve it up to GWS next week.Anyone still wondering at the effect of the bye and a Thursday start to the finals needs only to watch how the Dogs played without any evidence of a cross-country trip in their legs or their minds. This ran contrary to the vast majority of semi-finals since the final eight entered its present iteration more than a decade ago.Oddly enough the first big lead of the game was staked by the Hawks, a 23-point break in the second quarter. But it had arrived more through the Bulldogs early profligacy in front of goal and in field kicking, in a wider version of their start against the Eagles. Now, as then, the Dogs found their range with time, looking to have won the game on general play by halftime even as the Hawks nursed a one point lead at the break. That did not last long.The reward for unseating Hawthorn and rewarding the fans who turned up in such vast numbers at the MCG, the Bulldogs must travel to face the formidable but inexperienced Greater Western Sydney. They will not be favoured to win, but then after West Coast and now the Hawks, anything will seem possible.As for the Hawks, moves to replenish the club are already afoot, as far as such a thing is possible in the ever more equalised AFL petrie dish. Clarkson has signed on to continue on until 2019, and now finds himself with the difficult task of refocusing on a summit now a season and three games distant. But over the next two weeks even this most hard-nosed competitor will send some positive thoughts in the direction of Beveridges Bulldogs. Cheap China Jerseys . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Stitched NFL Jerseys . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second. http://www.outletnfljerseys.com/ . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Wholesale NFL Jerseys .ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. Clearance NFL Jerseys Sale . Louis Blues. Shane Hnidy joins Brian Munz for the broadcast on TSN 1290 Radio at 7pm ct. MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Marc Gasols surgically repaired right foot is healthy, and the Memphis Grizzlies center insists hes back -- perhaps better than ever.Point guard Mike Conley is healthy too, his aching Achilles a distant memory. Jarell Martins own left foot is as healthy as its been in a long time.Chandler Parsons, the Grizzlies big free agent signee this summer , is the only person still recovering from his own knee surgery as the Grizzlies held media day Monday. Its a welcome change for a franchise that set a dubious NBA mark last season playing 28 different players due to injuries that ravaged the roster, giving new coach David Fizdale a healthy roster for the start of training camp Tuesday.The Grizzlies still reached the playoffs only to be swept by the San Antonio Spurs.Last year, man it was tough with all the injuries, especially the playoffs not having a full-strength team, so it was very tough, forward Zach Randolph said Monday. Now we all healthy, and now we looking at the big picture and thats getting a championship and getting a ring.Losing Gasol was the biggest hit. Memphis was fifth in the Western Conference on Feb. 8 when Gasol last played and slipped to the No. 7 seed as the injuries mounted. He had surgery to repair a non-displaced fracture in the navicular bone of his right foot Feb. 20, starting a long rehabilitation process to return him to the court.Recovery kept Gasol from playing for Spain during the Olympics, though the center wanted to play. He followed all the doctors orders and stuck with his rehabilitation. Gasol said hes never felt any discomfort in his foot, which makes him confident the repair worked. Hes now ready to help lead the Grizzlies back to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2013 and even further to a place Memphis has never been: the NBA FFinals.ddddddddddddIm confident that I have the capability of not just being the same player, but better, Gasol said. Better player, more productive, more consistent. Hopefully a better rebounder. ... Its going to be a challenge for me, but Im up for it. Im up for any challenge. I love challenges, and this years going to be another one.Guard Tony Allen said Gasol looks like hes added to his game, noting the man nicknamed Big Spain knocked down six straight 3s in a pickup game recently.Being healthy isnt the only difference for Memphis from the end of last season. The Grizzlies start training camp Tuesday with a new coach in Fizdale , a long-time Miami Heat assistant who Memphis hired in late May after firing Dave Joerger who was then hired by Sacramento.The Grizzlies also announced Monday they hired a new medical director in Allen Gruver, promoted Jim Scholler to head athletic trainer and added Eric Oetter as director of performance. Conley said the Grizzlies have bolstered the staff to help players, even adding massage therapists to help with recovery.Fizdale also suggested to the Grizzlies that they show up a couple weeks early and play together to start building chemistry and conditioning. Fizdale said he couldnt make them do it, and he liked how they listened. Managing Gasols minutes will be a big focus for Fizdale who plans to pull him early from some practices and keep him out of some games through the season.Im definitely going to preserve him, Fizdale said. I dont want to kill him throughout the year and dont have him for the playoffs so itll be very mindful of how I attack him coming back from an injury.---Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalker ' ' '