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It’s the home away from home for Hawthorn at Aurora Stadium, as they host the Western Bulldogs to kick off Saturday football in Round 17. Live scores and commentary kicks off from 1.45pm AEST.
Today’s match is a chance for the Hawks to consolidate top spot and possibly strengthen their percentage gap on Geelong, while for the Bulldogs they need to bring their absolute A-game just to solidly compete with the best team in the competition.
It’s interesting to note the Hawks have decided against bringing back Lance Franklin or Brad Sewell for this game this afternoon – instead making a point to give them a better rest into the finals (unless there’s something more sinister that needs reading into).
The one thing that has been talked about a lot this week is the way the Hawks perform without Buddy Franklin, and the stats don’t lie.
Their winning percentage is still around the same: with Franklin it’s 59.4 percent, without Franklin it’s 59.3 percent.
Their scoring percentage is markedly better: with Franklin it sits at 113.1 percent, while a Hawks team without Franklin has an average of 118.5 percent.
Last week, it was Jack Gunston and Jarryd Roughead who kicked ten goals between them, while Isaac Smith and Shane Savage chimed in with three goals each.
So it shows Hawthorn’s more than capable of holding their own without their main spearhead.
Smith was right up there with the best of the Hawks last week and has shown his class since the bye averaging 22 disposals along with 20 tackles across the three games.
Hawthorn’s defence is the one area that has been put under question, but Brian Lake has found new life in a different team and seems like a new defender.
The Western Bulldogs have been one of those sides who have shown glimpses of brilliance throughout the year, but just clearly don’t have the quality of cattle to carry that across a full game.
Wins against the Giants and St Kilda doesn’t really say a great deal, but they have held their own in matches they were expected to get blown away in – Fremantle in Round 2, Geelong in Round 5 and last week against Essendon showed their ability.
But then they have matches like performances like that against Melbourne which make you shake your head and think “why?!”
The fact they play Hawthorn at their second home, where they’ve lost just once in 14 matches suggests today is going to be an uphill battle.
The only solace the Dogs can take is that the only time the two sides have met in Launceston, the Bulldogs were too good… and the Hawks went on to win the flag that year.
Their key will be the defence – trying to stop the likes of Roughead and Gunston along with the myriad of midfielders.
I honestly think Liam Jones can be the future of the Western Bulldogs up forward, but he has limited opportunities left for fans to have enough patience for him to become that – they’ll want results and want them quick.
Sometimes he doesn’t get the help from the midfielders, but there’s numerous times where he is his own enemy.
Today, the Dogs will be looking to put some pride on the line and prove to their fans and to the competition that they aren’t going to lie down to the end of the season.
But the Hawks too will be out to prove a point – that they mean business and will slaughter whoever comes in their way.
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