Exposing Hawthorn’s one true weakness

For the first time in 15 years, Hawthorn has a glaring weakness.

They have zero marking ability up forward – except for Paul Puopolo’s magical hangers a couple of times a year – and are being exposed weekly when the ball comes in long and high.

Much of Hawthorn’s historic success is down to incomprehensible forward pressure.

Not only did the likes of Cyril Rioli, Luke Breust and Puopolo hunt the ball and opposition players like no other, but so too did the talls, such as Jarryd Roughead and Jack Gunston.

However, in 2019, the Hawks’ pressure has been marginalised because the slow long-bomb is being easily intercepted or killed out of bounds.

When the Hawks are successful, Breust and Chad Wingard apply manic pressure and come alive to spur Hawthorn on, but these instances are becoming rarer and rarer by the week.

Prior to the 2004 draft, Hawthorn relied on players such as Ben Dixon and John Barker to contest big packs and be the dominant tall forward.

And while these two led successful careers, they are forgotten because of the amazing first-round draft picks Hawthorn selected in ’04: Roughead and Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin.

They both took some time to become comfortable up forward since Roughead was drafted as a defender and eventually found his way to the forward line, while Franklin had his disastrous kicking action to deal with.

However, by the 2008 season, the pair were in full flight and dominant inside the forward 50.

(Photo: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

This domination continued until the end of the 2013 season when Buddy left for Sydney on his mega-contract.

The following two years, Hawthorn succeeded in competing with the tall forwards on their roster, as Roughead and Gunston played primary forward roles and David Hale chipped in with his good contested-marking ability.

After Hale’s retirement, Jon Ceglar and Ben McEvoy filled his role, but due to Ceglar’s inability to consistently hit the scoreboard, Alastair Clarkson’s tactic of playing a resting ruckman in the goal square has been mostly phased out.

Throughout the 2014-2018 period, players such as Ryan Schoenmakers and Tim O’Brien helped contest packs with a small degree of success, but it was Roughead’s continual efforts that kept Hawthorn in games.

The 2016 season highlighted some cracks with the Hawks’ talls as Roughead was sidelined with a melanoma.

Since then he has not been the same. He does not compete as successfully in the air and is not as athletic at ground level.

Gunston and James Sicily have helped hide these issues, however they are too small and commonly played in the back line or as a half-forward flanker, so cannot consistently compete strongly in contests deep inside forward 50.

Brief trials of Mitch Lewis and Conor Nash are yet to bear fruit. They are routinely exposed when opposition teams force them to move the ball slowly and kick long down the line, which is removing opportunities for the strength of the forward line: the small forwards.

Chad Wingard has been brought in to spark the Hawthorn forward line and he has provided brief highlights that show his potential ability, but he does not fulfil the role where the true weakness lies: the tall, contested-marking forwards.

It may be early in the season, but Hawthorn are being increasingly dominated in contested marks in their forward 50 and need to solve this issue as soon as possible.

Another 2004 super draft would be nice, however Hawthorn supporters would settle for just one dominant tall forward who lives up to the lofty standards set by Roughead and Buddy.