AFL Round 18 Hawthorn v Fremantle: James Sicily leads Hawks towards the top-eight with a thrilling win over Dockers

With Luke Jackson and the Dockers taking control in the third term, as he said himself, Hawks skipper James Sicily ‘was a bit of a liability’. But then Sam Mitchell made a call – and it could be a season-defining one.

Jonathon Tuxworth

4 min read

July 13, 2024 - 5:35PM

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Jai Newcombe and James Sicily of the Hawks celebrate

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A coaching masterstroke to throw skipper James Sicily forward ensured Hawthorn kept its finals hopes alive with a heart-stopping 13.9 (87) to 10.14 (74) win at Launceston’s UTAS Stadium on Saturday.

Struggling to make an impact down back after missing last week’s loss at Geelong with a shoulder issue, Hawks coach Sam Mitchell took a punt by putting him in the forward 50 in the second half.

And the move hit the jackpot.

A four-goals-to-two third term from Fremantle gave the Dockers a ten-point lead at the last change, but Sicily kicked two of his three goals in the back half of the last term to steer his side to a crucial win.

The move by Mitchell was inspired as he looked to fill the void left by an ACL injury to key forward Mitch Lewis, while livewire Jack Ginnivan also missed through injury.

“As coaches we’re always looking to maximise the talents of our players. He probably wasn’t competing quite as well behind the ball, and wasn’t having a significant influence,” Mitchell said post-match.

“When you have a player of his calibre who’s not being as dominant as you’d like, we have the scope to move him and he has the appetite to do it.

“I was rapt he was able to hit the scoreboard and have a good impact for us in front of the ball.”

James Sicily was the hero for the Hawks. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

It was a great bounce back from Hawthorn after a five-game winning streak was halted by a 51-point loss to the Cats last weekend.

The Hawks are now just percentage outside the top eight while the Dockers, who had won the previous six games against Hawthorn, missed a golden chance to firm up a top four spot with three of their next four games at home.

“That well and truly keeps our season alive, it’s a big win for us,” Sicily told Fox Footy on the ground after the victory.

“I’m really proud of the way we went about it today. It wasn’t easy.

“I wasn’t doing much down back, I was a bit of a liability. I was rapt the coach made the move, but our mids got on top in the last quarter to be honest.”

Will Day breaks away through the middle. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

With the pressure high from both teams, goals were hard to come by until Hawthorn flicked the switch with four straight goals to surge to the lead late in the first half. However, a Dockers major on the siren from Pat Voss reduced the margin at the main break to seven points.

Fremantle continued the momentum to begin the second half, booting the opening three goals of the third term as their midfield began to get on top.

Mabior Chol eventually stopped the bleeding for the Hawks when he kicked truly from 45 metres out to get the Hawks within nine points entering time on in the third quarter.

But Hawthorn dominated the final term with five goals to the Dockers’ one to maintain touching distance with the top eight.

Mitchell has noticed big strides in his team’s ability to not only put themselves in positions to win, but navigate their way through those moments since the Power implosion in round 10.

“Scenario planning is one of those things which was down the order (when I first started coaching Hawthorn), we wanted to just get the basics right,” Mitchell said.

“This year we’ve done a lot more work on it, and obviously the Port Adelaide game was a punch in the face with how far along we were with scenarios.

“Since then we’ve handled them better. Next week we play Collingwood who have been the masters of it for the last couple of years.

“They (Dockers) missed a few shots, particularly in the third quarter that could have got them further in front.

“But the belief our players had we were close enough (was encouraging) and we put ourselves in winnable positions. We were able to handle the pressure of those final minutes to win the game.”

The Hawks celebrate Nick Watson’s sealer. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

TASSIE’S ‘CARDIAC KIDS’

The Hawthorn faithful in Launceston have certainly got their money’s worth this season with the Hawks winning all three games thus far at UTAS Stadium in thrilling fashion.

They beat St Kilda by five points in a grinding affair in round nine, before a downfield free kick and subsequent Luke Breust goal in the dying stages gave them a six-point win over the Giants in round 13.

They have a terrific record at their ‘second home’, and face the Kangaroos there in the last round which could make or break their finals hopes

DEAR SHOWING GREAT SIGNS

Calsher Dear is just 18, but the son of the late Norm Smith medallist Paul is showing great signs of developing into a gun long term forward for the Hawks.

In the second quarter, with both teams struggling to hit the scoreboard, Dear crumbed a goal off a pack for his first of the game, before marking and making no mistake with a set shot soon after.

The teenager is strong overhead and has the ability to follow up his work on the ground, and will be a handy foil for luckless Hawthorn Mitch Lewis if he can overcome another long term injury, a ruptured ACL sustained in last week’s defeat at Geelong.

Hayden Young had a big impact for the Dockers. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

YOUNG CONTINUES TO SHINE

Young is fast developing into Fremantle’s most dangerous player. In the first quarter he had four inside 50s and had two goal assists after finding Josh Treacy and Jye Amiss with bullet passes.

He had 11 first half disposals, three of which were goal assists. It continues to emphasis the thoughts of Fox Footy expert David King, who has been insistent in commentary teams need to start think about tagging him instead of the likes of Caleb Serong.

Young finished with 20 touches and four goal assists for the match to continue his fine season. He had 16 goal assists since round ten before Saturday’s clash.

A magical mark from the Wizard, and a MASSIVE goal for Hawthorn! ðŸŽ©

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