How bloody good does a win feel!?
A complete team performance against the 'flying' Swans
ROUND 13: Sydney 51, Hawthorn 89 - “That winning feeling”
📝 Main recap: How good does it feel Hawks fans? Our first win since ~ checks watch ~ round six against Adelaide. Sam Frost and Blake Hardwick keeping Buddy and serial pest Tom Papley in their respective pockets. The return of beast mode JOM and our lord and saviour Will Day. CJ back to his best. Tom Mitchell absolutely rubbishing the trade rumours. And the best debut from a Hawk since, well, Ned Reeves in round 11.
In his post match interview, Clarko said the boys did a bit of “soul searching” over the bye - and they looked like a different team to the one who put in a listless and insipid performance against the Gold Coast on this same ground the other week.
Jiath set the tone early when he ragdolled the 20kg heavier Buddy into the turf, earning a free kick and setting into motion a forward entry that led to the first goal by Jonathan Ceglar. Big Cegs was a late inclusion for Ned Reeves, and he played like a man who knew his career was on the line. He dominated the in-form Tom Hickey, winning the hit outs and racking up 11 clearances himself.
Crucially, his ruck dominance allowed Big Boy to play the majority of the game up forward. He clunked five contested marks, kicked an important goal, and was an aerial presence throughout the night. For for the first time in ages our forward line looked functional. Punky was productive, booting two trademark goals including a set shot from the boundary. Kosi has the brute physicality and smarts to be our #1 target up forward for the next decade. And Tim O’Brien lived up to his ‘almost’ nickname (and then some), but crashed packs relentlessly and brought others into play.
This was a complete team performance though, with players across each line contributing. And how about that Newcombe kid, hey? Eight weeks ago he was playing for Poowong Pies in Gippsland, before a stint at Box Hill convinced the Hawks to have a crack at him with an early pick in the Mid-Season Draft.
Anyone who watched his first few rounds at Box Hill knew what we was capable of - least of all Sam Mitchell - but I don’t think anyone excepted him to make that sort of statement in game one. He broke the tackle record for a first gamer with 14 and - along with Jaeger - added bite and ferocity to what looked like the comp’s most toothless midfield.
Also how about these slick hands? Elite.
For supporters, we go into the long weekend and crucially another grudge match against E**endon with a much needed dose of HOPE. We know it’s just one game, but if we can put together a complete four quarter performance like this each week, we’ll supercharge this rebuild quicker than anyone thinks.
✂️ Snippet of the match: When Blake ‘Three More Years’ Hardwick ran down Tom Papley in the dying moments it really put the cherry on top of a seriously delicious win. With 30 seconds on the clock you could forgive Hardwick for giving up the chase. But he pounced just as Papley looked set to pull the trigger, keeping him scoreless for the night and topping us all up with an ice cold pint of schadenfreude.
🍔 Ash’s 9 key takeaways (we get a bonus 3 for the win)
Ned Reeves is not about to be Wally Pipp to Jon Ceglar’s Lou Gehrig (Wikipedia explains it), but it might be back to the VFL for Reeves once he gets over the rolled ankle that sparked his late withdrawal on Friday night. Ceglar was fantastic against the Swans, mobile and dangerous. When he clunked that mark early, you just knew he was in for a good night because he is a confidence player. The good Cegs has such a high ceiling, while the bad Cegs can mean the difference between a win and a loss. But he has to stay in the side next week on that performance.
The talk out of Hawthorn was that the midfielders had to develop find other weapons in order to be able to play in the same side. Tom Mitchell was damaging forward of centre against Sydney, which might also be a factor of the short SCG. This allowed James Worpel to play more to his strengths. Jaeger O’Meara was, well, Jaeger O’Meara while Harry Morrison’s hamstring forced to the move of Liam Shiels to the wing where he played well. One for HI contributor Brad Klibansky to dissect next week but surely one of Lachie Bramble or Connor Downie comes in for the Essendon game next week.
Hawthorn’s forward pressure was manic through the first half and there were no easy defensive exits for the Swans. More of that please. Was that partly because a certain laconic, but recently-concussed tall forward wasn’t playing? Maybe. Maybe not. I’m not sure he comes straight back into the side, either.
That might have been Sam Frost’s best game for the club. He was the perfect match-up for Lance Franklin and with youngsters Logan McDonald and Joel Amartey the other two Sydney key forwards, Kyle Hartigan wasn’t missed. The backline is coming along nicely, with the debut of DGB hopefully not too far away. By the way, who else was uncomfortable with the ‘Buddy’s going to kick a bag narrative’ heading into the game? Tadhg Kennelly had him kicking a bag in a pre-game tweet.
This did not age well. It took about 10 minutes for Jai Newcombe to look like he belongs at AFL level. By the second quarter, he already looked as though he had accustomed to the speed of the game. Barely a fortnight after finishing his job as a builder’s apprentice, he’ll hopefully be playing in a Hawthorn-Essendon game on the MCG. He must be pinching himself.
Did Alastair Clarkson have much to do with the win? Haven’t heard anything about that 🙃
3 votes: A. Clarkson. I wasn’t game to pick the Hawks, but I had a good vibe heading into the game. The young Swans did look tired against St Kilda last week and were playing their third game in 12 days against a team off the bye. I don’t bet on sport, but a suggestion to a couple of mates that the Hawks at the line was an excellent bet and they duly got on. Giving the Hawks 31.5 points was just ridiculous.
It was sorely needed win for Hawthorn – supporters included – after five weeks of being everyone’s punching bag. And for now, the Hawks remain second bottom. But what has to happen from here? A win over Essendon is mandatory on Sunday, while it would also be nice to chalk up a win two weeks later over Port Adelaide in Shaun Burgoyne’s 400th game. But there is a level of comfort among Hawk fans at the lowly finish this year because of the possibilities that open up as a result come the end of the season. Perhaps a few “early surgeries” might be in order later in the year.
Do what your coach says. Get your FIGHT MND blue beanie this weekend and wear it proudly. Neale Daniher is one of the finest people you could ever wish to meet, and the cause deserves all our support.
Superstar/Rising Star/Falling Star
⭐️ Superstar - Tom Mitchell
What can you say about our Brownlow medallist other than ‘respect’. What an elite footballer - one we are happy not only to have seen at the peak of his powers, but that we get to continue to see in the brown and gold. Titch was up and about on Friday night, saving a rare level of elite for his former employers. He set the tone in the contest from the first bounce, and ended the first quarter with 10 possessions and a goal - one which he thoroughly enjoyed. Given the knock on our midfield this season, he duly led the line and was ably supported by JOM and Jai. And to top it off, in his presser after the game, Clarko hailed his star saying the reports mid-week of Mitchell wanting to leave Hawthorn were absolute garbage. Exhale.
💫 Rising star - Dylan Moore
Would have been way too easy to write the name Jai Newcombe in here, but given the adulation he has already received we are going to go with Moore. Two weeks is a long time in footy - for a club totally off the cliff, the rising star could have been one of a handful of eyas. But it is Moore who we are so impressed with - and continues to stamp his papers as part of the blueprint for our next premiership crack. Moore managed to kick two goals from 18 touches, and worked hard high up the ground to get into the game. Tough and put his body on the line when he had to, but also had the presence of mind to know when to wait and receive on the outside to release play up the field. Still only 21 years of age - another really solid showing.
🤷♂️ Falling star - Harry Morrison
Really, Harry has only made the cut here because there really aren’t many considerations for who to include. But poor guy. After a relatively consistent season Morrison somehow found himself on the outer after a two-goal, 15 possession game against the Blues in round 10. Unused medical sub in round 11, Harry was recalled in this first game back after the bye and had a great opening term where he gathered six disposals and kicked an excellent goal. After a couple more touches in the second quarter his hammy went, and he will now be on the fringes again as he looks to build back to full strength.
Unsung Hero & Scapegoat
👼 Unsung Hero - Sam Frost
As the saying goes, always the bridesmaid and never the bride. Well today, ‘always the Scapegoat and never the Unsung Hero’ need not apply. We are lucky that Buddy has a shocking record playing against us since he moved to Sydney, and Frosty brilliantly continued that trend. After a couple of marks in the first term and a soft handball receive for his only goal of the night, Frost kept Buddy totally ineffective for the remainder of the evening. Threatened to derail his good efforts with a silly 50m penalty conceded in the third quarter, but his spoiling, intercepting, rebounding and contested work was incredible throughout the game.
🔪 🐐 Scapegoat: Mitch Lewis
Thinking outside the box here. But the murmurings post match revolved around how much more pressure we seemed to have when the ball came into our forward line at the SCG than in recent matches. How our forwards seemed to be desperate to get in front, contest for marks, and follow up with second and third efforts. The sense on social media post-match was that Lewis wasn’t missed, that the boxing accident and his subsequent week out of the team actually helped our structure, and that he will struggle to get back into the team if he is fit to play next star. We do need to remember he is still a kid, but will be interesting to see where he fits when a fit Jack Gunston comes back into the fold and if a Jackson Callow debut is imminent.
The Obligatory Ladder Check-In
We remain cemented in 17th on the ladder with Collingwood still to play on Queen’s Birthday Monday - currently they are level with us on points. We have extended the gap to North Melbourne which is particularly pleasing, and a win next week against the Bombers will put us level with the teams currently in 10th spot.
Current forecast 2022 Draft Picks of note: #2, #20, #21 (Collingwood’s second round selection).
News & Notes
James Worpel was handed a one-match suspension by the Match Review Panel on Saturday, when he was cited for rough conduct after a dangerous tackle on Harry Cunningham. It seemed to be a great tackle having pinned one of Cunningham’s arms, but the suspension was based on the potential to cause serious injury. We would expect the Hawks to challenge it so that players can in fact, continue to tackle in future.
DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SCREENS. Sit down. Take in three deep breaths. Stay calm. We won the free kick count 26-10 on the night. For real. No honestly. Not joking! Razor Ray had the most pro Hawthorn performance seen on this side of our 1971 flag. And boy was it great to see salty opposition fans complaining about it.
Contested possessions +26, contested marks +7, hitouts +16, centre clearances +5, one percenters +9. Stats that make your heart warm - a domination for a full four quarters of footy.
SLIDING DOORS: If when doing your tips for round 13 you got to the Friday night game and wondered what the Hawks were doing in that slot… Then… I did too. Most of their matches for the past two seasons have been unwatchable. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it Barrett.
Clarko Press Conference Bingo
✅ Do a bit of soul searching
✅ Really pleased
✅ Proud of the effort
✅ A first-class effort by our boys
What They Said
🗣️ Sam Frost
“I think coming off our bye we freshened up a bit and we got to do a bit of a stocktake on where we are at and what we needed to work on. We take a lot of confidence that we put those things into place and we came out with a win on the other side of that.”
“I think the main things are just toughness and the pressure around the contest - the oppo were under a lot of pressure tonight and it made it easier for our defensive stability, so it all flows together but I think the hardness around the contest is the main thing.”
“I’ve played on him (Buddy) a few times and it’s always good fun because anytime he gets near the ball he generates so much atmosphere around the stadium, so it’s an awesome experience every time. But I’m happy that I got on top of him this time - he’s had me a few other times so it’s good fun.”
🗣️ Jai Newcombe
“It has been very very good (the week) - I’m very lucky to be in the position that I am so I can’t complain.”
“I wouldn’t say it was smooth sailing - it was pretty hectic early and getting involved was challenging and finding my feet first game, but plenty of nerves, it was good to get into the contest and settle them pretty early which was nice.”
“It’s fast, certainly that’s what I probably struggled with the most, just adapting to the pace of the game and working consistently from contest to contest but when it was in my areas it wasn’t too bad and I was pretty happy with how we came out with a good win.”
🗣️ Alastair Clarkson
“We’ve had an opportunity over our mid-season bye to have a little bit of a reset and do a little bit of soul searching to be fair, and the fact that we were able to do that and get a rest and perhaps a restart and try and get something out of the second half of the year.”
“Our intensity was pretty strong, it was pretty free flowing - I think there were seven goals in the first 15 or 18 minutes of the game so it was pretty open early on, but we played some really strong footy and I am really pleased and proud of the effort of the players tonight.
“Contested possession is a focus any time you play and winning contests is important - particularly against a Sydney club on their home patch.”
“We brought in a first gamer in young Jai Newcombe who I think had 14 or 15 tackles in his first game - he had more tackles than possessions but that was the intensity we needed to play with and We were really pleased that he was able to make his debut and play his first game up here and play really well for us.”
“Boxing is part of our program every week - we’ve been involved in 10 or 12 games this year and our players box every single week so that was just an unfortunate incident, we were doing some sparring on Monday and he (Mitch Lewis) zigged instead of zagged, but hopefully he will be okay to play for us next week.”
Nice work. Thanks. Was this the best win since 2018?