A win's a win - especially against North
Despite our kicking inaccuracy, we come away with a W at Marvel Stadium
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ROUND 18: HAWTHORN 12.16 (88), KANGAROOS 6.4 (40)
📝 Main recap:
Yes it was just North. Yes we were grossly inaccurate in the first half. Yes it was frustrating as hell to watch.
But a win is a win is a win is a win.
At this point of the season, and with not much to play for but pride, game development, magnet moving and list management, wins may be few and far between in the run home.
Given the events of the first half where we dominated everything except the free kick count and failed to finish off our hard work, the second half was a much better spectacle.
It was sweet to beat the Kangaroos for second time this year - and with 14 wins in the past 18 matches against North and a 16th straight year finishing above them on the ladder, they are well and truly our bunnies. Long may we get them fixtured twice per season.
Our midfield shone once again despite the clear emergence of a dominant ruckman, and we get another learning in the bank with the huge Hawk army in attendance nervous and frustrated at the main break.
What it showed was this: we are on the right track. On the pathway that we have chosen, the team has taken huge strides in 2023 and we can be content knowing that things are progressing well.
Now that we are clear in 16th we can enjoy the experimentation that is to follow and can keep to the mantra of 2023 not being about the number of wins that we bank.
Should be fun.
✂️ Snippet of the match (I):
Two goals in a minute from Mitch Lewis were critical to helping us skip away in the opening stages of the third quarter, but his second goal stood out as the better of the two. A great lead, super strong contested mark and then kicking truly from 50 was just the leadership we needed from our big man at the right time.
✂️ Snippet of the match (II):
Possibly one of the smoothest passages of play at Marvel on Sunday was the lead in and then execution by Karl Amon for his long range goal. Off the half back line Conor Nash drew a tackle before giving a handball to Josh Ward, who then delivered perfectly to Chad Wingard at half forward. He then handballed inboard to an overlapping Amon who kicked truly from the centre square to put us 25 points up at a critical time in the third term.
🍔 Ash’s key takeaways:
Hawthorn got the win – as expected – against the Kangas, but it was nobody’s idea of a great day at the footy. If this was the era of the old VHS tapes, you’d be chucking this one in the bin or at the very least taping over it.
Still, the Hawks did what was required once they straightened up. It could have easily been an 80-point win, but the flipside is that against a decent side, they would have been five goals down at half-time.
North is terrible and going nowhere fast. And if you’re measuring rebuilds, Hawthorn is leaving North behind in the dust. So take everything you read forthwith with a grain of salt. It was against North.
Karl Amon has given the Hawks good service since he joined the club at the start of the year, but Sunday was easily his best game yet, the sort of masterful display to be expected from a player on a five-year deal worth about $3 million all up. He was all class.
Reckon it was Jack Scrimshaw’s best game for the season as well. He may not have been in the side if James Blanck was fit, so if this was a reprieve, he made the most of it. This was back to the Scrimshaw of a few years back.
And Sam Frost took Nick Larkey to the cleaners. Frost’s defensive work was first-class and he was less cavalier with ball in hand. That sort of Sam Frost has a spot in the side for as long as he wants.
Finn Maginness could not be dropped after his brilliant lockdown of Josh Kelly last week. But the likely match-ups against North were not so obvious. Turned out for the first half, it was Tarryn Thomas, and Maginness kept him to seven touches. In the third term it was Finn v Sheezel and in a reprise of the famed East Brighton-Ajax rivalry, it was the Vampire who won the points. Sheezel had 20 touches to half-time and just two in the third term. Maginness then played an offensive role in the final term and had nine touches. It might be Liam Baker next week and, perhaps old mate Brad Hill the following week, but you can bet the house that he’ll tag Nick Daicos the week after that. And he might go OK.
John Meesen manages James Worpel and he didn’t sound all that optimistic on the Gettable podcast last week when asked about a new deal for Worpel to stay at the Hawks. But based on Sunday’s performance, it is time to put pen to paper. Worpel pretty much did as he pleased against North and was more efficient with the ball as well. A terrific outing.
Chad Wingard is enjoying some good form. Flash Chad is gone, but the smarts, the assists and the team-oriented play is there. He’s working hard and in a forward line that is just going, he’s playing an important role. Keep that form going and the contract conversation at the end of the year becomes more interesting.
Mitch Lewis had a ‘mare of a first half, but two goals in a minute in the third term got him going again. He’s a confidence player. Let’s hope it is back.
We’re at the ‘Bronx Cheer’ stage for Ned Reeves when he takes an overhead mark. His regression in areas other than pure ruck play is a worry.
And how the hell does Max Ramsden get concussed when hit in the head by a football? Only at Hawthorn.
CJ pulled up sore for Box Hill once again. He might be the first Hawk to be put into cotton wool until 2024.
It seems the AFL and the Kangas might have underestimated the interest in Sunday’s game. There were more than 30,000 fans in attendance, yet half of level three at Marvel Stadium was closed off to spectators. Hawthorn fans turned up in large numbers for what was a true away game – not a member replacement game. This week against Richmond will have free entry for Hawks fans and given decent weather, more than 60,000 might get there for a traditional Saturday afternoon game.
Six games to go. How many more wins? I’m going with two – St Kilda and Fremantle – but with a puncher’s chance of beating the Tigers this week, while the Dogs game in Tassie shapes as a genuine 50-50 encounter. The Collingwood game will be fun. Reckon the Hawks are looking forward to that one already.
⭐️ Superstar - James Worpel
Absolute workhorse in the middle of the ground and has definite claims for being the best player out there. What was so good about his game at Marvel was his impact going forward. Despite only kicking 1.3 himself, he managed to rack up 10 score involvements, nine inside-50s, seven clearances as well has having 32 touches six tackles and five marks. One of the Peter Crimmins Medal favourites for this year - his numbers are edging closer towards those he recorded in his 2019 PCM winning season.
💫 Rising star - Connor Macdonald
He’s getting better with each game he plays, and this was another solid performance. As mentioned by Ash recently, he seems to be able to run out a game as well as anyone on our list, and despite a quiet second quarter he picked up the tempo again in the second half. ‘Con’ racked up 27 disposals, six score involvements, four inside-50s and scored 1.1 — playing half forward for most of the game. At just 20 years of age, he might become the best draftee of the bunch over the coming years and we are all aboard and here for it.
🤷♂️ Falling star - Fergus Greene
Obviously he was subbed out with injury, but we really thought we could have found ourselves an upgrade on Jack Gunston at the start of season 2023. A trade in for a younger model, having proven himself to be deadly accurate in front of goals with 53.20 for Box Hill last year, this season Greene has 15.10 to his name from 11 matches played. It’s hard not to glance over the shoulder and see what Gunston has been doing at the Lions the past fortnight and wonder just how far Greene still has left to go to make it at the level. One behind to his name before being subbed off (half injured / half for team structure according to Sam Mitchell) meant it was a quiet day at the office.
👼 Unsung Hero - Sam Frost
Did an absolute number on Nick Larkey who finished the game with just eight disposals, two marks and one goal next to his name in the AFL Record. Frost had eight disposals of his own — seven of which were handballs — helping to shelve the Frostball we love to hate, and instead go at 100% disposal efficiency. He took on a huge responsibility and an important accountability role as our main one-on-one defender, and did it to perfection with four spoils and all but one of his touches being intercept possessions. More of this Sam Frost please.
🪜 Ladder check in
A huge win in the context of the ladder and the season. With only six games of football left we look well and truly locked into 16th place on the ladder. It means we can experiment for the rest of the season knowing we should finish ahead of West Coast and North. And to think so many ‘experts’ had us winning the spoon…
🎤 Sammy press conference bingo
“A lot of positive signs.” ✅
“We’ll take the win.” ✅
“In the last two games we have played a much better brand of football.” ✅
“We need to start beating some teams in the bracket above us on the ladder.” ✅
“Your work pays off.” ✅
“Your work pays off.” ✅
🗣️ What they said - James Worpel
“ It was a tough day for us today and we made it hard for ourselves by kicking a lot of points, but it was good to get back on the winners list. We just addressed the issue and made sure we were taking good chances and we knew that we were getting it in there so it was all about converting, and I think we kicked 9.3 in the second half so it was good to see the boys bounce back.”
“It will be a great game next week with the Tigers playing some pretty good footy at the moment - at the G, big oval which we will try to open up and hopefully kick more goals than points.”
🗣️ What they said - Dylan Moore
“It was a tough grind in the end — the last 10 minutes of play we were just trying to keep plenty of energy on the ball which was pretty hard because we gassed ourselves pretty early, but the effort in the first half really set us up for a strong second half.”
“The main thing was doing the fundamentals well so the basics of our game is pressure and then execution as well, so we felt like we were getting the pressure right and we were putting the heat on them, but then we just couldn’t finish our work.”
“I thought I played my role, pressure and trying to help myself score. I didn’t hit the scoreboard myself but felt like I set some teammates up and just worked hard all day, and that’s what I’ve got to bring to the side.”
What was learnt:
1. Expectation creates a different form of pressure - A West Indian cricket commentator coined the phrase of "a batsman drowning in honey" i.e. the bowling became too easy for them and they then get themselves out because it had become too easy for them to score. With an inside 50 count of 25-4 in the first quarter, having gone in as favourites for the first time in months, it was evident that the desire to make the most of this advantage was high and increased as the quarter progressed.
Watching the Roos kick the ball in brought to mind our own issues when facing the same scenario - the Roos mainly kicked to the same spot just outside 50 on the broadcast wing which we won back and then had entries to a congested forward 50. The four times that the Roos entered their F50 allowed us to redirect our entries. There wasn't a great desire to move the entry point around the arc.
Having said that, with Impey taking 2 shots from outside or on 50, plus Breust hitting the post and Wingard missing a snap on his right foot, the missed opportunities were not as poor as the scoreboard suggested.
2. Lewis/Greene combination is not a productive pairing - following on from the previous point, with Lewis the only realistic contested marking option in the F50, the entries became Lewis centric which allowed the Roos to kill the contest. This is not a knock on Fergus as he can only provide what he is capable of, but perhaps is a learning for future drafting in that a clever forward in the VFL will not have the same opportunities at AFL level. With Breust (182cm) and the return of Wingard (183), Greene (186) doesn't appear to fit the needs of the forward line. A point to consider: in a one on one marking contest, how would you rate the chances of these three players?
Given the first point, we were looking for a leading forward option who may have attracted some defenders and then created space for the other forwards.
3. Back 6 were in synch - With domination of the I50 in the first quarter, and the manner in which the players were drawn up the field, when the Roos did break through to a wide open forward line, the back 6 were able to cover the open play. This remained the case for the rest of the game, although the Roos' forward structure was disorganised at best.
4. Two rucks is no clearer - for the supporters, it remains our Ford/Holden; Coke/Pepsi debate as to whether we play two rucks and if it is one, who it will be.
The one point being that Reeves is the preferred centre square option (has better hit outs to advantage stats for what they are worth) which I think means that Meek will have to kick or create 2-3 goals from forward 50 work to take over the mantle. With a forward half that struggles to score, winning clearances out of the middle and setting up a defensive wall to keep the ball in the F50 is a key to any success in the coming weeks.
The other aspect to this discussion is to not look through the lens of what we want the rucks to do or be, but rather what they are able to do.
5. Clean hands in the middle - this is the keystone to the previous point and was demonstrated in the difference between the 2nd & 3rd quarters.
6. Maginness a better game than last week for his future - Finn whilst tagging Thomas ended up at full back, so there may have been some method to his recent games at BH where he played off half back. The more interesting aspect of his tagging role was when he went to Sheezel, when Sheezel went into the centre square, Finn started off half back, indicating that Sam didn't want to upset the centre square combinations, although Ward had 6 centre ball attendances. I think for his future that the variety of roles gave a stronger arm to his bow than being an outside tagger, although the quality of the opposition has to be taken into account.
24 hour learning (which may have a high degree of optimism attached to it):
Whilst a high scoring and easy win may have been the desire, the inaccurate kicking meant that the scoreboard was still in play at half time, although the game didn't reflect the run of play. This being case meant that the game was "live", so there was still an intensity and need for application to the task in the second half. If the game had turned into another Eagles outcome, I don't think that it would have been of any benefit at this stage of the year as to playing style and player development.
Observations:
* Starting 4 - Reeves, Newcombe, Day & Worpel - again a change from the last game.
* No Frostball i.e. with the ball in hand, Frosty did the expected things which should be acknowledged as we are all happy to call out the errors.
* Ward/CMac - Ying & Yang - an early watch on the roles of these two, with Ward playing back half to half forward and CMac playing half back to forward 50. With Ward being the more "dependable" in his decision making and ball use, he provides the outlet from the back half whereas CMac has a little more flair and ambition to his disposals that provides forward opportunities. Ward may be death by 1000 cuts whereas CMac may be the slice and dice option.
* Weddle is the most compulsive runner we've had since Billy Hartung, (although Seamus may challenge him) and whilst there are the line breaking opportunities, just how it connects with those up the field is still a work in progress. Interesting with the shift of Amon to half back, Weddle lined up on the wing through periods of the 2nd & 3rd quarters.
* Nash delivery by foot to inside 50 targets is a growing skill.
* Dumb decisions are coach killers - Scrimshaw taking a mark 20 metres out from their goals and playing on without looking around for a North player who put him off wasn't bad enough, to stop and appeal for a free kick whilst the ball was live is another thing. Thankfully his back 6 brothers covered for him. Equally, Sicily attempting to out mark Reeves in the back half without a North player in sight also had some heads shaking.
* Tagging an intercept marking half back was an interesting strategy.
* Mitch Lewis looked to have learnt from his last chance to run into the goal square to kick the ball into the stands against the Cats where he did a hammy!
* Ramsden is fortunate that he doesn't play soccer!!
* The surface at Marvel look to play as a slippery deck.
Don't mention the "tanking" discussion.
When looking at the Roos, it brought to mind that with Ziebell, Goldstein, Cunnington (acknowledging his health issues), along with Shiels and Howe, what they would have looked like if they had traded Ziebell and Goldstein in recent years when they had some currency?
There is no right/wrong to this argument as clubs & players do have "mutual" obligation of loyalty just as we had to Breust and Gunston; however you are to wonder who would benefit from the game experience when you are in a development stage.
As to Ash's question on how many more wins - I would prefer to see a couple of more players be given the chance to play. I think DGB as a forward (or back, but with Blanck returning it may not be possible) gets another full game(s) and Serong playing in the back half would be good to see. Unfortunately for the midfield options - Mackenzie, Long, Stephens & Hustwaite - may be sweating on injuries.
Glad you gave Scrimshaw credit. Thought he played well. No bells and whistles with him but his intercept marking is first class and often brave.