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The intriguing rivalry between Hawthorn and Sydney continues this week as the Swans host the Hawks for Friday night football at ANZ Stadium. Join us for live scores and a blog from 7:50pm AEST.
This game is interesting on a number of levels. Lance Franklin, Josh Kennedy and Ben McGlynn all previously played for Hawthorn, while the rivalry also stems from Sydney defeating Hawthorn in the 2012 grand final.
Hawthorn showed last week how ruthless they could be with a dominant display against the hapless Saints. It was a classy display from the Hawks, who showed all the other teams in the competiton that they will be the team to beat this year.
The win did come at a cost for the Hawks, however, with star players Sam Mitchell and Brian Lake both suffering injuries in the 145-point win. Their injuries will hurt the Hawks, but as has been the case earlier this season the Hawks have shown they can cover their injuries.
Lake’s injury won’t be all that bad considering Ryan Schoenmakers made a successful return from a knee injury last week, and showed he is capable of being the AFL’s new swing man if need be.
Ben Stratton will replace Lake in the side if fit. There are three contenders for Mitchell’s spot, with Will Langford leading the race if he recovers from a sore back. Jonathan Simpkin and Alex Woodward are the other two players in contention.
Last week Hawthorn had eight different multiple goal scorers and eleven goal scorers overall, including four players with four goals or more. They have shown that they won’t struggle without Lance Franklin, and if anything they have become more unpredictable than ever before.
Kurt Tippett is also finally ready to play his first match of the year. If he and Franklin are included it could cause headaches for a short Hawthorn backline.
Sydney will be more than competitive in this game, and have shown signs they may have clicked after some shock losses earlier in the season. They put a young Lions outfit to the sword last week in a game where Jarrad McVeigh, Josh Kennedy and Daniel Hanneberry all had 30-plus possessions.
Youngster Jake Lloyd also did his confidence a world of good with a great game, gathering 29 disposals. What they also showed in that game is that they, like Hawthorn, can be versatile scorers. They had 12 different goal scorers, with a lot of their goals came from the midfield.
The Hawks look to be miles ahead of everyone at this stage. Despite going down to Geelong a few weeks ago, they are the team to beat this year. I expect them to win this comfortably.
Hawthorn by 30
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