A day to remember
The joy, the pleasure, the sunshine and Hokball. Life is good.
Subscribe to Hawks Insiders for the most in-depth and wide ranging Hawthorn cover there is. From exclusive interviews to analysis, match recaps to podcasts, the Insiders have you covered.
ROUND 22: HAWKS 16.16 (112), BLUES 5.8 (38)
📝 Main recap:
When it comes to enjoyable days at the footy that you are never going to forget, Sunday at the MCG was it - the absolute epitome of it.
It was actually a whole lot more than that. The sun. A packed MCG. A battle against another giant of the AFL playing for its season. The run. The carry. The movement. The crowd. The roar once we were in the top 8. The singing after the siren. The journey home. The replay.
Footy doesn’t get much better than this - certainly not outside of September.
This was the very culmination of what can only be described as an incredible season - one of the more enjoyable ones of the past decade.
For we had few expectations coming into the year, and even those were hosed down a little at 0-5 through five rounds. But ever since our collective heads hit the pillows on the evening of Saturday 13 April (think Gold Coast), the tide has turned.
And that tide became a tsunami on Sunday - wave after wave of utter domination as we celebrated once again, the arrival of these baby Hawks on footy’s big stage.
Carlton had no idea what hit them, but the rest of the competition had to sit up and take notice. Even those doubters in the media and in our own supporter base are now full on board.
What was most impressive was how we turned the sheer bitter disappointment of last week’s capitulation to the Giants into sheer exuberance against the Blues - unforgiving, uncompromising and exhilarating.
There is still work to be done and at some point we will need to turn our attention to this upcoming Sunday at the MCG and the game against the Tigers.
But not just yet. Let us bask in the glow and reflection of what we just did, and take you through the win from behind the lens of the Insiders.
🧐 Things we like to see — Weddle the Wanderer
Every time he kicks a goal it seems to be pretty special and that was definitely the case for the three he kicked against the Blues. But this one was something else. Tucked up on the boundary approaching the mid-way point of the second quarter, Josh Weddle rocked back and seamlessly slotted this straight through the middle. Fair moment.
🧐 Things we like to see — End to end (I)
The run and carry is a hallmark of this exciting team, and there is nothing as delightful to watch than when the ball is taken end-to-end resulting in a goal being scored. Any 150m highlight that fits into the time limit on a gif-creator is just fine with us.
🧐 Things we like to see — End to end (II)
See above. Just as exciting and just as exhilarating. How can one passage of play actually give you all the feels? There doesn’t need to be an official explanation - just watch it, take it in, and enjoy. Heaven.
🕵🏻♂️ I spy with Prinsy’s little eye:
This one had that big game feel from the start. Walking to our seats after the pre-game show, I was taken aback by the sheer volume of people trying to get into the 'G. It was incredible.
Felt like… If the first quarter was an arm wrestle, after quarter time was when the Hawks snapped the Blues arm in half. It was a no contest from the moment Charlie Curnow went down and James Sicily patrolled the back half.
Early on the pressure was good but the execution was poor, possibly because Carlton had a good zone set up. The Hawks running backmen - Jarman Impey, Karl Amon, Weddle and co. broke the game open with their dare and risk and it paid off handsomely.
The gut running of the Hawthorn half forwards is remarkable to watch. Led by Dylan Moore, the mozzies buzz around the ground until they directly impact the play. Every one of Moore, Jack Ginnivan, Connor Macdonald and Nick Watson played a major role in the Hawks win.
It has been a phenomenal first season for star recruit Massimo D'Ambrosio, and I can’t fathom to see how the Bombers didn't offer him more than a one-year deal. That decision will sting them for a decade. Fist pump that one Dodoro.
This was Calsher Dear's breakout game, and the game that should have secured him a NAB Rising Star nomination (I hope Ash is ok, we haven’t heard from him since the below announcement). Dear kicked three, but gave one off and missed a gettable chance. He has some ceiling, and I'm not sure anyone knows how high it is just yet.
Shoutout to Harry Morrison and Cam Mackenzie. They came into this team to replace Josh Ward and Changkouth Jiath and they were fantastic contributors to the ball movement, both in close and on the spread.
The moment of the match was when Hawthorn supporters realised the Hawks were in the top 8, and it was that loud it gave me goosebumps. Fitting that it was because of a goal by one of our remaining premiership players, Luke Breust.
Watching Carlton supporters stream out of the MCG in the third and fourth quarters gave me, and likely most Hawthorn people a real sense of pride as to what this team has achieved this season - especially when you consider that they gave the competition a five-game head start.
Destiny is in the Hawks own hands, for the first time this season. There’s still work to be done, they need to beat Richmond and North Melbourne to finish the home and away season, but if the team plays the kind of football they did against Carlton, I have no concerns.
🕵🏻♂️ A number of observations from Mora:
I observe that Hawthorn is inside the top eight. Following extensive research, I have concluded that I am not dreaming.
For most of the year, the best we were hoping for was to keep matches “live” as deep into the season as we could. It boggles the mind how far we’ve overperformed that. There’s now every chance that our clash with North Melbourne in Round 24 will be win-and-in.
I’m sure you already know this, but the depth of our win is worth observing anyway: we won by 74 points. Carlton kicked two goals after quarter time. Carlton were not in front at any stage of the game. We were +77 for disposals and +19 for inside 50s. We had 20 marks and 13 tackles inside 50 (compared to six and two, respectively). This was a thrashing.
Apart from huge wins against two of the worst teams in modern history (West Coast last year and Essendon in 2016, when they had to top up with VFL players due to… you know) this 74-point win was our biggest since 2015.
This young team has shown a ruthlessness that belies their playful energy. When they sniff weakness, they go for the throat. It was our fourth win of 60+ points in the last seven games.
A Blues fan told me on Saturday night that Carlton doesn’t give small forwards enough respect. I told him that is a concern against these Hawks. As it was, Moore, Watson, and Ginnivan were all sensational.
The goal resulting from Scrimshaw’s torpedo kick-in took just 18 seconds off the clock.
Our crowd was north of 70,000 for the fourth time this season. We’ve won the latest three of those, by an average of 62.7 points no less. These are big occasion players.
Josh Weddle. That’s it, that’s the observation.
There may have been a time where it was No Day, No Hawthorn. Fortunately, it looks we have outgrown that phase. There have been numerous theories floating around as to why Will was down on his output again, but crucially, it didn’t seem to have any adverse impact on the team’s.
Hawks Radio was a treat wrapped in a pleasure. Whether or not Hawks Insiders get to be a part of it again (and hopefully we do!) long may it continue.
⭐️ Best on ground — Dylan Moore
What a player Dylan Moore has become. Another huge performance that should inscribe his name in the book of AA, Moore was prolific on the MCG turf on Sunday. Finished his shift with 29 disposals, 15 marks, 11 score involvements, and seven inside 50’s. Not kicking a goal was unfortunate but when you have team of completely unselfish footballers, it doesn’t matter where they come from. Leadership personified.
💫 Rising star — Josh Weddle
At some point soon we will have to take the word ‘rising out of the heading above, because Josh Weddle is a star. And there is so much we could say, but the discussion about him in our recap pod is probably the best way the Insiders can represent what we think about him:
Joshy Weddle, he goes where he wants.
👼 Unsung hero — Harry Morrison
At a hiding to nothing coming into the team as a late change for Changkouth Jiath, and could easily have had a quiet day before being recycled back to Box Hill. But he did so so much more than that. Harry was one of our best players early when the pressure was intense in the first quarter, and finished the game with 20 touches at 80% disposal efficiency, 10 score involvements, a goal, four inside 50’s and four rebounds from defensive 50. One game to go to get to 100 played for the club - hard not to see it coming this week against the Tigers.
🤯 Under pressure — Changkouth Jiath?
TBF - not many players are under pressure at the moment, so it’s rough even putting someone into this category. And while the fanbase is divided about CJ’s output and overall value to the team, the fact of the matter is that without him we did just fine. Not one player was carried against the Blues with solid contributions from everyone who donned the jumper, so Jiath might just find it hard to break back into the team straight away. Not many complaints though if he does - and therein lies the beauty of our squat right now.
😑 ‘Happy?’ Brad’s early call
Guys, look at this image. What do you see? What don’t you see? I think this is the first time there are no crosses in a post-match Klibansky tweet. This is what Hokball does to people.
🪜 The ladder check-in
As we look at the bottom five teams on the table it is clear that….
Nahhhhhhhh - just kidding:
Isn’t she beautiful? Into the top eight for the first time this season, and if we win our two games left against the Tigers and the Kangaroos, we should stay there. Boy oh boy it looks good.
🎤 Sammy said what!?
“Obviously I am really pleased with the result.”
“The odds were stacked in our favour but we had to capitalise on that which we did, so I was really pleased with the effort from the boys and the consistency.”
“The crowd erupted for some reason or another and someone could pick up the why, but we are very attached to the process and going about it in the right way.”
“Every game has been a final for us in the last six weeks.”
“We lose again and we are finished - that’s our attitude right now.”
“Today was a good day but tomorrow is another day.”
“Every week you try to play your best footy.”
“We need to continue to improve because there is still life in the season for us at this stage, and for us to be at our best as the season progresses is going to be vital.”
🗣️ Final words — Dylan Moore
Hear from our budding 2024 All-Australian who spoke exclusively to HI from the rooms after the win — and why he thinks the Hawks can go all the way this season.
Don’t forget to listen in as the HI team goes live on Wednesday nights on X (Twitter). Follow us on social media through the links below:
This is the best HI Main Recap for 2024. So much positivity and every player contributing on the weekend which is the most pleasing aspect. Thankyou to the entire HFC for making every Hawthorn person on the planet soooooo happy.
I can't get enough of the hawks content this week. I wasn't able to go to the game. I was in yhe cbd with my kids and was avoiding the score so i could watch later. When I started seeing loads of Carlton supporters flooding through the city before the game had ended, I knew it was a good day!