👀 Box Hill Watch: Hawks on the charge
No signs of slowing down ads the Box Hill Hawks crank it up a gear
This year Hawks Insiders will aim to provide readers with a comprehensive Box Hill Hawks report, but one with a difference. Our review will focus on a couple of young Hawks each week, tracking their progression, what they do well and what they need to improve on in order for Mitchell/Klibansky to pick them come selection time.
The Hawks are on the charge, and they are showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.
On the back of an impressive away win against the Gold Coast Suns Reserves, Box Hill ventured out to Arden Street to take on the Kangaroos and they proved themselves the much stronger side, running out 71-point winners on the day.
There were a couple of standout performers for the Hawks, and we’ll take a look at them below:
Finn-ally it has all clicked
Finn Maginness has been fairly solid at AFL level recently, and I’m sure the Hawks were hoping he would show his class at Box Hill in his first VFL game for some time.
Their hopes were fulfilled and then some, with Maginness collecting 35 disposals, 7 marks, 4 clearances and kicking a goal in a display that very much screamed ‘AFL player playing at VFL level’.
This is an exciting step for Finn and the hope now is that he will go from being too good for Box Hill to being too good to be overlooked for Hawthorn.
Worps finding some touch
It was a case of find some footy and find some form for James Worpel and that he did.
Described by Otten as ‘one of the standouts (as well as Maginness)’ Worpel had 30 touches, 13 clearances and 5 tackles.
He regularly got first hands to the footy in close and moved it on quickly from the congestion.
He’s knocking on the door of an AFL return and hopefully he brings this kind of confidence with him when he does get picked, because there’s definitely room for 2019 Best and Fairest winning James Worpel in the current Hawthorn midfield.
Morris keeping it consistent
It’s been a very consistent block of performances for Josh Morris at Box Hill in 2022 and this past weekend was no exception, with Josh collecting 21 disposals, 4 marks and 5 tackles.
He’s definitely not afraid of the contest, he marks and uses the ball well off half back, which are all very positive traits.
My only concern is how do we fit him in at AFL level, because I believe he deserves an opportunity, but that’s for Mr. Klibansky/Hawthorn’s selection team to worry about.
Blanck-ety blanks
First things first, apologies for the terrible pun. James Blanck is now a Hawthorn Hawk and his first game on the AFL list he found himself back in familiar territory, blanketing opposition forwards.
Blanck is a non-nonsense defender, with great positioning and reading of the play, he puts himself in areas to win the ball or impact the contest. It was a solid hit out for James, who will now look to build on it and push his case for an AFL debut.
DGB still finding his feet
If I was Grainger-Barras, I think I would have come out of the game a little disappointed. DGB is too good for the VFL and should really have stamped his position in Hawthorn’s back six.
It looked like it took him a little while to get used to the different style of game the VFL provides in comparison to the AFL, and Andy Otten suggested as much.
He was better after half time and will carry that form and confidence into next week, regardless of what level he plays at. Grainger-Barras is one of the long-term pillars of Hawthorn’s future and there is absolutely no reason to rush him.
Box Hill was missing a number of young Hawks this past weekend, with Ned Long, Josh Ward, Seamus Mitchell and Emerson Jeka all not playing.
The injection of those young guys in the next few weeks will further add to the quality that Clint Proctor has at his disposal, and with the team ably lead by Fergus Greene, Ben Cavarra, Cal Porter and co, the Hawks are starting to build a significant head of steam in the run in to the finals, a finals they could well give a shake.