Back on the Winners List
Uninspiring under the roof at Marvel, but a 50 point win is a 50 point win
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ROUND 7: HAWTHORN 18.16 (124), WEST COAST 11.8 (74)
Well… a win is a win is a win is a win. Pretty uninspiring stuff at Marvel Stadium as we beat the very average West Coast Eagles by 50 points in front of more than 26,000 fans.
But despite the lack of class it was still a 50 point win - and at the end of the day in round seven of the season we should be happy enough to just bank it and roll on.
Plenty to be happy about but also plenty to not like, including our precision kicking (what has happened to it?), our accuracy in front of the big sticks, our wasted shot at a real percentage booster, concussions and some individual player form concerns.
But in the happy about category we still had:
50 points and a small percentage bump;
Lloyd Meek dominating the middle;
Our midfield brigade getting plenty of the footy;
Jack Gunston and Mabior Chol up forward;
Henry Hustwaite and Bailey Macdonald getting a go;
Experimentation (regardless of the outcome) with Tom Barrass up forward;
The return to some form of Jack Ginnivan, Dylan Moore, Connor Macdonald and Josh Battle.
Sure - we could get disappointed with a number of aspects of the performance - some of which will be broken down below.
But 4 points. Onto next week. Rinse and repeat. It’s fine for now.
🕵🏻♂️ Nat breaks it all down
Let’s not sugar coat it – this was a tough, tough watch at times. Should’ve been out of sight at quarter time – had 11 shots to three in the first quarter, yet led by only seven points. The key against bad teams is to snuff out hope early and in the next two weeks it will be important to not let our opponents believe they are close enough.
The challenge to stay mentally on in a game where you know you’re going to win can be tough, but I would’ve liked us to be more ruthless. To put the foot to the throat in this situation is a skill. Our percentage isn't great, and we only got one chance at this West Coast team that is comfortably the worst side in the comp (they've won 2 (two) quarters this year). I think our standards slipped a bit – as harsh at that may seem.
Forward line spacing was a lot better this week - thought the synergy between our forwards was much improved and we got more than enough looks. We had 14 players have a scoring shot including ELEVEN behind kickers - our set shot conversion was very average and may be down to the aforementioned mental challenge.
We had 81 more disposals, and won clearance by nine. All of our mids had good moments. Thought James Worpel was alongside Meek in our best two in the first half, Jai Newcombe did what he does, Cam Mackenzie again did nice things, Josh Ward had a terrific last quarter, and Hustwaite came in and had 24 touches to be our second highest ball winner. As Box Hill President Ed Sill said to me last week on Twitter – the hardest thing in footy is to find it, and this kid can.
Our ‘with the ball profile’ - ability to transition from D50 to I50 – has been well down this year. Before the weekend we were 13th in the comp, last year in the back half of the year we were top five. I thought some of our chains, particularly in the second quarter when we kicked 7.2 – were improved but it is still a big area for further improvement.
Lloyd Meek magnificent again. Monstered Matt Flynn, particularly in the first half – the best player on the ground for mine.
Two weeks ago on the post Port pod I had some strong things to say about Mabior Chol’s previous two games – since then he’s been terrific. If he brings the level of effort he’s shown in the last fortnight no one can ever have any complaints. More please.
Josh Battle in the contest is a monster. He is so rarely beaten in 1v1s, which was potentially the big knock on our back line before he came in. Still at times makes me a little nervous with his ball use – but nine Coaches’ votes shows how highly his game was rated.
Jack Gunston defying father time is my favourite thing about this year. 17.6 from four-and-a-half games so far (subbed on against Carlton) - who would’ve thought!
Harry Morrison played very well and deserved a his flowers from the coaches. More tough, strong arial efforts like the big contested mark on the wing he took in the last quarter will keep him in the side.
Good return from Ginni. Had a bit of bounce and energy back – he had eight inside 50s and 11 score involvements to go with his 2.1 and 17 disposals. If he can touch it between 15-20 times a game, good things happen. He has huge footy IQ and uses it well.
The captain, to me, looks down on confidence. He looked a bit broken after last week’s result against Geelong and seemed a bit like the weight of the world is on his shoulders against the Eagles. We need a chest out, confident James Sicily that’s not afraid to bite off those kicks we know he can.
Another ‘meh’ game from Massimo, who only had eight disposals in three quarters after a very hot first term. After the Sydney game when he was pretty consistent all night, he’s floated in and out of games all year.
The second and third placers in the 2024 PCM in Dylan Moore and Jarman Impey haven’t had the greatest starts to the year. Moore was better against the Eagles no doubt, but I think Jars is still lacking the touch he’d like.
Scrimma and Amon (who’s probably second in our B&F) going down with concussion isn’t ideal heading into a massive Centenary Game occasion against the Tiges.
🧐 Things we like to see (I):
Is there anything better that watching the human version of a National Geographic documentary where the Lion / Leopard / other big cat chases, hunts down and leaps on it’s prey? So much Cyril Rioli about this passage and the comparisons continue, but Nick Watson working this hard to put Harley Reid back in his box was a moment of beauty.
🧐 Things we like to see (II):
He did it all under the roof at Marvel big Marbs - scoring goals, flying high for marks and creating intense pressure as the Eagles defenders tried to bring the ball out of their defensive 50. But this gather and blind turn onto his right side knowing exactly where the goals were was indeed a joy to watch from our 200cm full forward.
⭐️ Best on ground: Lloyd Meek
We said after last week’s domination of Rhys Stanley that we expected Meek to continue to dominate give the lack of quality in the Eagle’s rucking department. And dominate he did - finishing with a club record 58 hit outs, 11 score involvements, and 19 possessions. What was just as impressive as his tapwork display was the follow ups in the centre after the initial contest was done. Continues to be the most important player on our list in terms of what he brings to the team and coverage on the rest of the playing list.
💫 Rising star: Henry Hustwaite
A well-earned and much-anticipated return to the senior line-up for Hustwaite who has had a great start to the 2025 season wth Box Hill. More than proved his worth with 24 touches and five score involvements as the 20-year-old played in just his third game of AFL footy. Will stay in the side for the next couple of weeks as a minimum while Conor Nash serves out his suspension, and if he can keep this form up will be hard not to continue to pick him beyond that time.
👼 Unsung hero: Jack Gunston / Mabior Chol
Couldn’t split them so they get a joint mention here. A combined 7.4 between he pair with Gunston turning the clock on father time and showing that he still has so much to give. And Chol having a cracking four-quarter performance that included nine marks, nine score involvements and four tackles. Oscar Allen had a good look at Chol on Sunday and we think he will be excited about the chance of working alongside him in 2026 and beyond.
🤯 Under pressure: Our Set Shooters
While we have gone 2-2 over the past four games and the first half against Port Adelaide has been stricken from the record, our set shooting has been a cause for concern. Over those four matches we have registered 53.52 plus shots that went on the full or didn’t make the distance. This culminated in our most frustrating quarter for the year on the weekend when the opening term yielded 2.8 - which should comfortably have read 6.4 at a minimum. Should we be concerned?
🍻 The Big Question: Is Marvel our new home away from home away from home?
We all love going to the footy at the MCG, and the ground certainly suits the current style of footy that has been indoctrinated into this playing group. And we also know that UTAS Stadium in Launceston has also become a fortress of ours - banking win after win in front of an adoring membership base down in Tassie. But Marvel says: “hold my beer”. From May 2021 through to April 2023 we played eight games at the stadium for a putrid 1-7 record. But since then we have taken to the shifty turf seven times notching up a 6-1 record in that time. Granted we have played some of the worst teams in recent times like the Eagles and North - but have notched up wins there against the Dogs and Lions. Happy hunting ground.
🎤 Sammy said what!?
“There were some good parts of the game and some not so good parts.”
“We were able to keep pressure nice and high, we got the ball back a lot and had a lot of opportunities, but wasted far too many.”
“There were lots of scores left out there - we probably gave up too many inside 50’s and gave up a bigger score than we would have liked to.”
“Our scoreboard kept ticking on but so did theirs - I was probably a bit disappointed that they were able to get a couple of goals late.”
“It was one of those games where we did what we had to do.”
“Next week we have our 100 year celebrations against the Tigers and we will be very focussed on pulling together a four quarter performance that we can be more proud of.”
“We have bigger things in front of us we hope in terms of the way we perform.”
🗣️ Final words: Lloyd Meek
“It was tough, it was a battle, and credit to West Coast - I don’t think at any point did they throw the towel in and their effort and their pressure was good all night so we had our work cut out for us.
“Sometimes you have just got to win messy, and it wasn’t our prettiest game, it wasn’t our flashiest ball movement, it wasn’t our best skills and the mids especially have a lot to keep working on, but we got it done which was great.”
“I have put in a lot of work for a lot of years and it is nice that I can play my role for the team and do my bit - I feel like I’m reaching a point where I care more about the team performance than my own and that’s something that feels weird to say.”
⏭️ Next week:
It promises to be a fun day out at the footy on Sunday next week when we take on Richmond on Sunday at the MCG.
Not only because we should comfortably dispatch the Tigers on the field, but because the game is the diarised celebration of 100 years of the Hawthorn Football Club.
While the match is set to start at 3:20pm the celebrations will commence from 2:30pm and will feature player appearances and a concert from Kate Ceberano. Apparently one of us.
And then we go 6-2, to set us up for a fun week basking in the beauty that is our club. What could go wrong?
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What was learnt: (arguably not a lot this week)
1. Time management game – With 4 games to be played over twenty days, it looked as though there was some TOG management across the side, although the two concussions may have had an impact here, limiting the bench to 3 in the last quarter. There were only 3 players who were on the ground for 90%+ of the game – Battle (94%), Chol (90%) and Barrass (90% - 100% in the 4th quarter and didn’t touch the ball). 94% is the lowest match high TOG for the season. The other aspect to this, ignoring the sub players, Newcombe, Moore, Newcombe and Hustwaite were the lowest TOG players. With Newcombe spending some time forward and Hustwaite played across half back in the 4th quarter, their time in the midfield was reduced to possibly look to manage their workload.
2. Kicking efficiency worst for the season – With the overall DE going at 69% which is no where near the norm for the team, only 6 players kicked the ball at better than 70% including Amon and Scrimshaw, plus Barrass. Both Sicily and Battle went at 53%, their kicking now becoming an important part of the defensive structure, given Amon and Scrimshaw being out next week.
3. Meek was a monster – When playing within his weight division, Meek continues to press the claim to be the best of his class and while he may have issue with the athletic ruck opponent, when he plays a fellow bullocking ruck man, he is more than competitive. This week will be a good test against the protype of the bullocking ruck man. The biggest improvement in his game in recent weeks has been his ability to spread from the contest and when in the open, his kicking inside 50 is not the worst. At times, his midfielders do him no favours handballing to him when he is stationary or in a congested area. They must realise his limitations and the old football adage – don’t handball to a ruck man standing still.
4. Tackling was intense – Playing against a younger side, being able to stick their tackles meant that the pressure on the Eagles was intense. With a short training week, it was evident that there was a focus on tackling drills this week.
Observations:
• Both D’Ambrosio and Mackenzie were prepared to use their non-preferred foot – on impact, D’Ambrosio went 1/1 whilst Mackenzie’s one left footer may have been a floater, it did catch the Eagles’ defender out.
• I know some believe I have a “target” on D’Ambrosio’s kicking – can I draw your attention to a play in the 2nd quarter which ended up with Hardwick goal. In the lead up, D’Ambrosio kicked to Moore who had to take a mark under pressure when it could have been put more to his advantage; Moore then passed to Amon, who hit up Hardwick drawing him into the mark closer to the goals. This is the quality of work by foot that is elite rather than neat which is the basis for more discussion. The KE stats – this game: D'Ambrosio (63%) Amon (90%) Season: 68% (ave.11 kicks) / 85% (ave. 24 kicks).
• List depth doesn’t necessarily mean immediate quality list replacement – not an early call, but just an awareness with B. Macdonald coming in for Jiath, it appeared that it was an “apples for apples” swap. Both like to run with the ball, however their use by foot is not too dissimilar as is their capacity to overrun some connections with their teammates. In the 3rd quarter when Ryan kicked a crumbing goal, it was hard to work out where BMac was going, running to the other side of the pack to Ryan – a learning lesson.
• Hustwaite looked the part particularly in the second half when he seemed more prepared to kick rather than handball, although the stats have him 50/50 in both halves. He was one who put Meek under the pump by hand at times.
• Chol/Weddle ruck combination reaped huge rewards with Weddle being able to be a presence forward, particularly 1 on 1. Again, this was another feather in Chol’s cap to be a centre square presence.
• For a team that practises its goal kicking in the elements to miss as many as they did in this game does make you wonder! Again, kicking for goal at 50+m is still an issue – Watson’s run up hook was back in the frame.
• Did the time management/positional trialing of the players impact on the capacity to bank some percentage?
• On percentage, just like car insurance, it’s only important when you need it and you never really know when you’ll need it.
Starting 4: (CBA/CC)
1st Qrt: Newcombe (24/3) Worpel (22/3) Hustwaite (12/0)
2nd Qrt: Newcombe Worpel Mackenzie
3rd Qrt: Newcombe Worpel Hustwaite
4th Qrt: Newcombe Worpel Mackenzie
Meek 27/3 Mackenzie 19/2 Ward11/1 Moore 8/1 Chol 6/1 Watson 3/0
It was interesting that Hustwaite was put straight into the starting square rather than Mackenzie or Ward. Then in the last quarter, he didn’t have a CBA going to half back. Watson had his first CBA in the 3rd quarter and a couple in the last, his pace around the contest would be handy, but this is where his size may become an issue. Moore has a little additional body strength in these contests.
The fact that Meek had as many centre square clearances than the midfielders emphasized his impact on the game.
Issue for the week:
List depth is now being tested with our injury “good karma” seemingly coming to an end and as mentioned previously, it will be a test of the quality of the depth. For the back half to lose Amon and Scrimshaw, along with the kicking errors by Sicily and Battle and the limitations of Barrass in this skill set, the capacity to move the ball efficiently out of the back half could come under the microscope. Based on credits in the bank, Serong would have to be an option as a direct replacement. Maginness and Jiath did their cases no harm with their work at BH on Sunday. The other option could be Hardwick moving back to provide another quality distributor out of the back half which may mean a forward from BH could become an alternative at the selection table.
Mick and Stuart ... thank you both for providing such an interesting read with your comments. Let's hope the team can improve on their basic skills and accuracy kicking for goal this week and get the W in this historic match ... Looking forward to reading what Brad's selection dissection says after the loss of Karl Amon and Jack Scrimshaw out of the team.