Block 12 Backcheck

Almost halfway through the Hawks' season - what do you think of it so far?

Brilliant? Doubtful. Average? Probably. Awful? In places, yes.

Firstly the good stuff. Chris Arnone, Rick Ravey (above) & Matt Viney. All three have been impressive so far. Off-ice, the sterling work done by a number of people has seen crowds and sponsorship increase, and the match-night experience has been vastly improved.

Other than that it's safe to say everything else hasn't been great.

The Sami Narkia signing certainly created a buzz around the team, and while four wins from six appearances is a step in the right direction, things are far from perfect.

It's not my style to start digging out individuals, but a number of the current squad aren't performing to a consistent level often enough.

To go from demolishing Sheffield one night, to the abject performance against Trafford the next day, leaves a lot of unanswered questions about passion, commitment and the heart to dig in when things aren't going your way.

Accusations of some players lacking the stomach for a fight and an apathy towards what's required to become successful, are still rife in and around the Arena and on the forums - whether this is the case only Jared and his players can answer.

When you see certain players not even finishing their checks, it suggests those accusations may have some merit.

I could waffle on for ages about things I think would improve matters - changes to lines, a kick up the backside here and there, dropping the gloves a bit more - but ultimately it's for Jared and Dangy to sort.

In fairness, they have slowly improved things from where they were - Rome wasn't built in a day and all that - but time is moving on.

The next few weeks will tell us much about whether the Hawks can finally shake off the tag of perennial under-achievers - some have said bottlers - we wait with bated breath.