Had a 10 day turnaround from the round one match against St Kilda.
• We lost Clint Bartram to a knee injury on Saturday at training and Brock McLean was unavailable after receiving a foot injury last week. We brought in Nathan Brown, Simon Godfrey, and Paul Wheatley to add some run to the team, while Jared Rivers was returning from a hamstring injury.
• Had a big focus this week on improving our ball use in general play, less overuse of the ball in the back half and midfield, and quicker delivery to players inside our forward 50.
• We had to get the Hawks on the back foot early by starting well. We didn’t need them gaining any confidence early in the match. A good start would be critical for us.
During Match
• We got the start we were after and for the second week in-a-row we led at quarter time. We kicked four goals to one before Hawthorn kicked another late goal in the first quarter. Unfortunately we had to re-structure our forward line as we lost Neitz with a knee injury and he would be off for the remainder of the game.
• Cameron Bruce, Nathan Brown, James McDonald, and Brad Green were all getting plenty of the ball early in the game.
• We started the 2nd quarter poorly. Hawthorn dominated possession and got on top at the centre bounces and stop plays. We were defending and Hawthorn kicked 5 goals to our one, to lead by 13 points at half time. The forward line struggled to function during the second quarter and the majority of the third. We moved the ball into our forward 50, 47 times for the match but struggled to score during this crucial period.
• At the main break we talked about the need to win the ball at the stoppages and in general play, maintain our efforts to pressure the Hawks with intensity, and use the ball well when going inside 50.
• Hawthorn got out to a seven goal lead late in the third quarter, after kicking eight goals for the quarter. To our boy’s credit, we showed some fight and kicked two late goals and were going into the final quarter swinging the momentum our way during that final five minutes of the quarter.
• During the final quarter we fought really hard to reduce the margin to seven points. We lost Robertson to another knee injury, and had to then find others to assist in hitting the scoreboard. We had some opportunities but unfortunately turned the ball over at crucial times and Hawthorn kicked a couple of goals at the end of the game to seal the match. The boys found some fight, coming from seven goals down and got within seven points late in the final quarter.
Post Match• The players showed some spirit, finishing the game with energy and run. We will take that confidence and momentum into next weeks game against Geelong.
• We have a six day turnaround before the Geelong game, for this reason our recovery will be a high priority during the week. We showed improvement against Hawthorn and we will keep working on improving aspects of our game and look to open our account against the Cats.
• Losing Neitz and Robertson to injury will give us something to think about during selection this week. It will give a few others the opportunity to play this week, and will also leave the opposition guessing how we will structure-up this Sunday.
