Opinion
It wasn’t quite Friday the 13th for Hawthorn down in Geelong, but it was something of a nightmare.
Just a goal down at the halftime break, the second half was set up to be quite the contest. But the complete opposite happened. The Hawks lost the second half 7-62 in what was a second-half blitz from the Cats.
Geelong headed into the clash as favourites with the Hawks not visiting the Cattery since 2006. The rivalry has built over the last ten to 15 years and it has delivered some absolute classics over the years but tonight was one to forget from a Hawthorn point of view.
They were soundly beaten in pretty much all aspects of the game, especially in the midfield. The likes of Joel Selwood, Patrick Dangerfield and Gary Ablett were dominant with 28, 24 and 21 touches respectively and a combined four goals between them. Tom Mitchell gathered 22 disposals for the Hawks with the next best being Chad Wingard, who only managed 17.
The Hawks were beaten on the inside and outside of the contest. They lost the contested ball 139-108 and the uncontested ball 207-143, which is simply not good enough against a polished Geelong outfit.
(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Positives out of the game for Hawthorn would obviously be their first half. Only a goal down at halftime, they were neck-and-neck with Geelong after the Cats had a mini-buffer to begin the game, kicking away early. Ollie Hanrahan and Jonathon Ceglar were impressive with Ceglar leading the hit-out count with 30 on the night.
They head back to the MCG next week to take on Richmond in what will be an interesting contest with the Tigers having the better of the Hawks in more recent times. For Geelong, they’ll be back at the Cattery next Saturday night to host the Blues in what could be a challenge if the Blues gain some form out of their clash with the Demons this weekend.
Joel Selwood might have got the three Brownlow votes with the skipper being brilliant from start to finish. He amassed 30 possessions (28 disposals) with 17 of those being contested, he slotted a major early in the piece and he was dominant in the clearances with eight as the team racked up 41.
Gryan Miers was a standout for the Cats as he continues to impress as one of the best youngsters in the competition. The crafty forward accumulated 20 touches as well as booting three goals and taking an equal game-high nine marks. He was definitely in the votes after a performance like that.
All in all, the Hawks were humbled through the midfield. Lacking Jaeger O’Meara could’ve been a big factor in the poor midfield performance for the Hawks but it takes nothing away from the dominance of the Cats.
They’ve bounced back well after they got tamed by the Giants in Round 1 so it’s now up to Chris Scott and his troops to take this form into the following weeks. From Hawthorn’s perspective, they’ve got next week to bounce back. A real challenge against the Tigers awaits and it promises to be a tussle.
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