Hawthorn Hawks v Gold Coast Suns: AFL match result, highlights

Match result:

Retiring Hawk Jarryd Roughead was the star of the show in what might be his final game at AFL level, booting six goals against the Gold Coast Suns and leading Hawthorn to a 70-point victory.

Final score
Hawthorn Hawks 118
Gold Coast Suns 48

Match preview:

In the final game of the round, it is the final home game for Jarryd Roughead with the Hawthorn Hawks, as they play host to the bottom-placed Gold Coast Suns at Marvel Stadium. Join The Roar from 4:40pm (AEST) for live scores and blog of the game.

The talk all week, and indeed for a few weeks among Hawks fans, has been about a farewell game for Jarryd Roughead.

The Hawks though, for all the background surrounding the end of a career of a 4-time premiership winner, are still amazingly in the hunt for finals footy.

After managing to do a very impressive job over a highly fancied opponent in the worst of conditions, Hawthorn find themselves in the exact reverse scenario, having to get the job done over a team they are expected to beat, in ideal conditions.

So, putting aside the Roughead factor, this in a lot of ways spells danger game for Hawthorn, remembering that their last venture to Marvel for a marquee celebratory game saw them fold against North Melbourne.

No doubt then that Alistair Clarkson will have spent a good amount of time this week, fully clothed unlike Canberra, reminding his players to block out the noise, and if they want to send out Roughead in good fashion, to make sure they get a win.

Another Hawthorn man who might want to put on a show is Jaeger O’Meara, possibly stinging from a very public spray by his former Suns CEO, Tony Cochrane.

And you can also bet that the Suns will take no pleasure in being the metaphorical sacrificial lamb simply on stage to facilitate a Roughead ceremonial game.

Ultimately, the Suns continue to play for pride, a pride that is badly battered by a 100-point thumping by Brisbane, on the back of a 17-game losing streak.

While they are rightly outsiders with the bookies (an astonishing $9.50 with the bookies), so many of these players should be playing for their careers at the moment, and nothing would lift the spirits more than a win for the ages against a prestigious Victorian outfit.

If the Suns can just get something from their engine room, and out-run the Hawks, remembering that this is a Suns team that pushed Essendon all the way not that long ago, then a slower Hawthorn outfit might be riled early, and suddenly in trouble.

History, funnily enough, is on the side of the Suns in the head-to-head stats, where sure the Hawks won the last hit-out, but in 2017, the Suns picked up a very handy double over the Hawks.

Yes, that was back in the Ablett Junior days, but if the Suns could take any confidence into this clash, and they have to, surely that statistic will help.

Prediction
I actually think this will be tighter than the blow out odds might be suggesting, but the Hawks at home farewelling a champion, if they can’t win this after what they did to the Giants last week, then something is amiss.

Hawks by 21

Join The Roar from 4:40pm (AEST) for live scores and blog of the game, and don’t forget to leave a comment in the comment section below.

Where: Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
When: Sunday, 18 August 2019
TV: Foxtel, Kayo, AFL live pass
Betting: Hawks $1.05, Suns $9.50

Hawthorn Hawks
B Changkuoth Jiath, James Frawley, James Sicily
HB Blake Hardwick, Ben Stratton, Shaun Burgoyne
C Ricky Henderson, Jaeger O’Meara, Tom Scully
HF Paul Puopolo, Tim O’Brien, Isaac Smith
F Luke Breust, Jarryd Roughead, Oliver Hanrahan
FOL Jonathon Ceglar, Liam Shiels, James Worpel
I/C Jack Gunston, Conor Nash, Chad Wingard, Ben McEvoy

Gold Coast Suns
B Jack Lukosius, Caleb Graham, Jarrod Harbrow
HB Charlie Ballard, Chris Burgess, Lachie Weller
C Pearce Hanley, Jack Bowes, Brayden Fiorini
HF Alex Sexton, Sam Day, Touk Miller
F Sean Lemmens, Ben King, Ben Ainsworth
FOL Jarrod Witts, David Swallow, Darcy MacPherson
I/C Jacob Dawson, George Horlin-Smith, Jordan Murdoch, Michael Rischitelli