Defeat from the jaws of victory

Gather 'round for another honourable loss by the Hawks

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ROUND 5: HAWTHORN 11.9 (75), GWS 10.17 (77)

📝 Main recap:

We said we yearned for the return of honourable losses after back-to-back diabolical results against the Swans and the Cats. But it sure was a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’ as a win against the Giants slipped narrowly through our hands. 

While we’ve maintained all along that this season isn’t about wins and losses, it sure would’ve capped off the afternoon nicely, especially with a large and very vocal Hawks contingent — HI’s own Ashley Browne and Andrew Weiss among them — looking on.

It’s no surprise to hear the Hawks want to make Norwood their home away from home for subsequent Gather Rounds. The Hawks played this skinny suburban ground surprisingly well, and if reports are to believed, the Hawthorn faithful created a “cauldron-esque” atmosphere not unlike Glenferrie Oval (see Ash’s takeaways below).

In many ways this was a tale of two teams at a fork in the road. GWS are clearly heading in the wrong direction. Their 2019 Grand Final loss feels like another lifetime ago, and it took veterans like Callan Ward, Toby Greene, Daniel Lloyd, Josh Kelly and Jesse Hogan to bail them out.

Meanwhile, the young and fresh faced Hawks (minus a suspended Will Day) looked a side on the upwards trajectory. What we lacked in game changing superstars like Toby Greene, we more than made up for in grit and determination. We shook off the third quarter hoodoo that’s plagued us all season, piling on four goals to the Giants’ one.

A late Dylan goal snap in traffic (is anyone better at finding the goals?) nearly snatched us a win, until Harry Himmelberg cruelly reminded us what we’ve been lacking in Mitch Lewis’ absence: a big forward who can take a contested mark pack mark. At the other end, we had 20-year-old big-bodied midfielder Ned Long taking on All-Australian defender Sam Taylor. Hrmph.

Jarman Impey had a late crack at a winner, but it fell agonisingly short. No slight on Jars — who ran and ran all day — but jeez it would’ve been a rare win to savour had it sailed through.

Just about sums it up.

✂️ Snippet of the match:

Seamus Mitchell earned every minute of his belated debut. His precision kicking is something we’ve been lacking, and it set off one of the plays of the season. Here’s how it happened:

• It’s 20 minutes into a tense final quarter when Mitchell hits up Connor MacDonald from the kick-in.

• Mitchell gut runs past to collect the handball back before kicking delicately to Dylan Moore.

• Moore dishes out a handball to James Worpel running past who gives it off in turn by hand to Jarman Impey.

  

• Jars fakes, takes a bounce and again goes by wide by hand to Karl Amon.

• Amon comes inboard straight away by hand to Jai Newcombe.

• A 30-metre handball from Newc is greeted by Fergus Greene.

• Greene taps it behind his body and beautifully down the throat of Tyler Brockman.

• Brockman cooly slots the goal to put his five points in front.

🍒 You never forget your first: Ned Long

After managing only one game in 2022, this certainly wasn’t a Long time coming (apologies — I’ll see myself out). But you’ve got to hand it to our young mid for staying composed as he took a bounce and cooly slotted it through to put the Hawks 14 points up midway through the final quarter. Ice cold.

🍔 Ash’s key takeaways (live from Norwood Oval)

1. That was a funny game of football. Hawks won a lot of the stats that matter, especially to do with clearances and contested possessions (winning both by 10) yet probably would have lost by three to four goals had the Giants made the most of all their opportunities.

2. But the response after the Easter Monday second-half debacle was great and especially the third quarter, which has been diabolical all season and looked bad again after the Giants kicked the first goal on Sunday. Hawthorn controlled the rest of the quarter, a huge plus.

3. Can’t imagine too many players not getting at least a pass mark on the world famous Hawks Insiders player ratings pod. Jai Newcombe, James Worpel and Conor Nash were terrific, Ned Reeves much improved. Seamus Mitchell made a fine debut. Fergus Greene’s impersonation of Jack Gunston was spot-on this week with three goals.

4. Frost-ball will drive Hawthorn supporters to drink by the end of the season. His pure defensive work can be sublime, but as for those brain farts with ball in hand…He probably plays next week against the rampant Adelaide forward line, but at some stage it will be time to see how DGB, Sicily, Scrimshaw and Blanck will go.

5. DGB grew with confidence as the game went on. On that basis, you give him a month to see what he can do. The coach has been talking him up at every opportunity, which is something not enough DGB critics tend to take into consideration.

6. You have to feel for Chad Wingard. Lacerated tongue. The poor bastard can’t take a trick. Starting to think the old “needs a fresh environment” might be best for Chad come the end of the season.

Here’s how to mend a lacerated tongue in case you were wondering 😳

7. Tyler Brockman repeatedly tried to take the mark of the year in the first half (Harry Himmelberg might have taken it in the last two minutes), but he’s a dangerous footballer when he starts closer to the ground. He needs to be reminded of that. Good bounce back this week after his ‘mare last week.

8. Ned Long no doubt had dreams of crashing and bashing in the Hawks midfield heading into this season and this game. Playing one out in the goal square against All Australian defender Sam Taylor wasn’t probably how he pictured Sunday playing out. He did OK, but Mitch Lewis cannot return quickly enough. He plays and the Hawks win. Same with Will Day.

9. Big tick to Gather Round and despite the apparent snub at missing out in Adelaide Oval, Hawk fans turned Norwood Oval into a bit of a brown-and-gold cauldron. A few of the old timers who traveled reckoned it reminded them of Glenferrie Oval. Good to see the club has already petitioned the AFL to make this a permanent arrangement.

⭐️ Superstar - Jai Newcombe

It was a case of back in the middle and back to his best for young star Jai Newcombe. Finishing with a season high 31 disposals, 5 tackles, 15 contested possessions, 10 clearances and a goal to go with his 7 coaches votes for the game. Newcombe was back to his bullocking best. It was a reminder to the coaches of just how important Newcombe is, and it’s back to the drawing board to find the best way to balance his midfield and forward minutes.

💫 Rising star - Seamus Mitchell

The rise of Seamus Mitchell has been rapid. Mitchell spent two injury plagued seasons on Hawthorn’s list, was delisted at the end of last year before being handed a lifeline as a rookie ahead of the 2023 season. His form for Box Hill earned him a debut and the ‘Robinvale Flyer’ didn’t disappoint. His speed, poise and precision by foot were all on show in an impressive debut performance, that is sure to keep him in the team.

🤷‍♂️ Falling star - Changkuoth Jiath

Hawthorn is a better team when a confident Jiath is flying for big marks and taking on his opponents with run and carry. Unfortunately we didn’t see that Jiath at Norwood, and we have only seen glimpses of him so far in 2023. If Hawthorn are to be competitive in games against better sides than the Giants, they need Jiath to take the next step in his development and become a a consistent threat. Maybe a move to the wing will help free him up?

👼 Unsung Hero - Conor Nash

A fantastic game for Conor Nash, who finished with 31 disposals, 18 contested, and 7 clearances, but it was his second have run with role on the damaging Tom Green which would have impressed his coaches. Green was dominant in the first half, clocking up 20 disposals to half time but Nash curbed his influence in the second half of the game, limiting Green to 12 disposals, while having 17 of his own. More of this Conor Nash please.

🪜 Ladder check in 

In a season when wins will be hard to come by, it really was one that slipped away - especially given the fact that a win would have shot us up to 15th place on the ladder. But the result keeps us firmly rooted at the foot of the table, with a clearer idea of which teams will be contesting the spoon with us in 2023.

🎤 Sammy press conference bingo 

• “We passed the eye test on a lot of the things you look for.” ✅

• “We just kept coming back.” ✅

• “We kept having a go at it.” ✅

• “I thought we handled a majority of the game well.” ✅

• “Some failures but some successes as well.” ✅

• “We’ve made progress in a lot of areas.” ✅

🗣️ What they said - Conor Nash

“Very tough one to swallow - the scoreboard showed that they had a lot of opportunities but we felt like we were right in the game and anyone watching the game today will say that we probably didn’t deserve it.”

“We know we are going to keep with the process and keep doing the right things but they just got through because they were too good and there will be games like that throughout the year.”

“If you replayed the five seconds when the final siren went you will see a lot of shattered boys - we put in so much effort today but it just didn’t work out.”

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