AFL Round 5 Gold Coast v Hawthorn: All the news, analysis and fallout

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said he was ‘enormously disappointed’ by what his side dished up against the Suns – and the stats show, it’s not just last night that has been poor.

Callum Dick and Jon Ralph

6 min read

April 14, 2024 - 12:16PM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

AFL News

Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.

It’s fair to say Hawthorn players will be mouth guards-in at training next week after a furious Sam Mitchell took his group to task following an insipid 53-point defeat to Gold Coast on Saturday night.

The Hawthorn coach threatened a brutal training block ahead of next Sunday’s clash with North Melbourne in the wake of a below-par display against the Suns which Mitchell labelled “as bad as we’ve played in a long time”.

“We’ve had a couple of six-day breaks so our training has been a bit on the lighter side but I think we’re probably going to have to ramp a few things up during the week,” Mitchell said.

“If we … get a corky or something like that we’ll probably have to accept that, because we can’t play with the physicality we did tonight and expect to be competitive.”

Off the back of a stirring comeback performance against Collingwood a week earlier that almost earnt the club its first victory of the year, the Hawks gave up all of their goodwill by being beaten in every facet of the contest by the Suns.

Sam Mitchell wasn’t happy on Saturday night. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos

The midfield was comprehensively outclassed and the makeshift forward line, this time spearheaded by three goals from Finn Maginness, failed to fire a shot until the match was well beyond reach in the fourth quarter.

Mitchell appeared to question the commitment and professionalism of his players and refused to use the club’s long list of injuries as an excuse for the performance.

“We had a chat with the players around the standard that we hold ourselves to – our training, how many extras we do, how much time we’re putting in, how much tape we’re watching,” he said.

“I don’t know how many players would say they’re in good form for us at the moment.

“We can’t play AFL football against aspiring finals teams and cough up the ball the way we did, lose contests the way we did. You’re just not going to be able to compete against anyone the way we played tonight and that’s just a completely unacceptable way to play. We should be past games like that.

“I’d love to tell you that injuries made a huge difference but I don’t think it would have mattered if we had every single player available tonight.”

The Hawks leave the field after the loss to the Suns. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

The Hawks had a paltry 119 disposals to halftime and finished with just 270 for the match.

Gold Coast’s run and spread from the contest put the flat-footed Hawks to shame and yet the Suns still out-tackled the visitors by 17.

Second-game Sun Will Graham had more tackles (14) alone than the entirety of the Hawks midfield.

Mitchell struggled to pull any positives from the performance.

“I’m enormously disappointed,” he said.

“We lost every aspect of the game … there wasn’t a single aspect of that game that went in our favour.

“It wasn’t a night for perfect footy and we refused to embrace the contest.”

Dimma’s kids put Hawks to shame – but Ginni still gets nothing

Gold Coast snapped its two-game losing streak and continued a flawless home record in 2024 with a 53-point thumping of a ho-hum Hawthorn at People First Stadium on Saturday night.

The Suns completely suffocated Hawthorn’s midfield and dominated in almost every facet of the contest to run out 16.13-109 to 8.8-56 victors and move to 3-2 on the season.

After running premiership fancies GWS tight for three quarters last weekend before falling away, the Suns made sure to keep their foot on the throat against the Hawks in a statement victory from Damien Hardwick’s side.

Gold Coast’s on-ballers put their Hawks counterparts to shame.

Noah Anderson (36 disposals, six clearances) had more touches than James Worpel (14), Jai Newcombe (10) and Josh Ward (six) combined.

He was well-accompanied by the usual suspects in the Suns engine room – Touk Miller (28 disposals, 5 clearances) and Matt Rowell (23 disposals, five clearances and a goal) while Sam Flanders (33 disposals) starred across halfback for the second straight week.

Ben King and the Suns were far too good for the Hawks. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Spearhead Ben King returned to form booting 4.4, super sub David Swallow bagged three final-quarter goals while young guns Jed Walter, Ethan Read and Sam Clohesy all kicked multiple majors.

After a gallant fourth-quarter comeback against Collingwood a week earlier, the Hawks burned up all of their goodwill with an insipid display on the Gold Coast.

Examples of the visitors’ lack of effort were a dime a dozen on Saturday night but a key moment late in the third quarter will be replayed on repeat by Sam Mitchell during the week.

A trio of Hawks defenders circled a loose ball deep in defensive 50 and simply watched as a desperate Tom Berry willed himself onto the footy and slapped it into the goal square for Ethan Read to turn home ala Cristiano Ronaldo and put the Suns up by 40 points.

Unlike their recent fourth-quarter fadeouts, the Suns stayed true to their relentless pressure to kick away in the final term. They will head to Sydney next weekend full of confidence and ready to again test their credentials against a would-be finals opponent.

HAMMY BLOW FOR ROSAS JNR

In-form small forward Malcolm Rosas Jnr limped from the field clutching at his right hamstring mid-way through the third quarter and was immediately subbed out of the contest.

The 22-year-old had booted seven goals in three games entering Saturday night’s clash and added an early major to his tally before the injury.

It’s devastating news for the livewire forward, who could miss the club’s two upcoming games in his hometown Darwin if the hamstring proves serious.

Hardwick could have stumbled on his immediate replacement in the form of super sub David Swallow, who booted three final-quarter goals to help put the game to bed.

But with Rosas Jnr out it could open the door for the fourth Suns Academy draftee, Jake Rogers, to debut next weekend against Sydney.

Rogers had 20 disposals against Box Hill in the VFL and Hardwick this week declared the young mid-forward was close to earning an AFL debut.

Will Graham had a game-high 14 tackles in his second game. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos

Fellow Gold Coast second-gamer Sam Clohesy was just as impressive. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos

YOUNG GUNS GOING GREAT GUNS

Last week Damien Hardwick raised eyebrows when he named three debutants to face the Giants – now it’s hard to see how he drops any of them in the near future.

Fresh from a club-record 22 disposals on debut, Sam Clohesy played another blinder on the wing to all-but cement his place in the side moving forward.

The rookie draftee looks the perfect fit for Hardwick’s system: he holds his width, runs hard both ways and – crucially – has a knack for hitting the scoreboard. It’s hard to see veteran Brandon Ellis breaking back into the side with Clohesy in this kind of form.

Ethan Read showed promising signs playing predominantly forward and hit the scoreboard for a second week in a row. He could have had a much bigger night had he plucked the multitude of marks that slipped through his fingers, but the 202cm giant is already impacting in the air and on the ground which will please the Suns coaching staff.

Will Graham’s moment came in the third quarter when he arrived from the clouds to ping Jai Newcombe for holding the ball and deliver a subsequent dart inside 50 for Ben King to kick his fourth goal of the night.

It was one of a game-high 14 tackles for the second-gamer, who has added yet another dimension to an ever-improving Suns midfield.

Jack Ginnivan celebrates a goal on Saturday night. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos

GETTING NOTHING, GINNI

Jack Ginnivan’s reputation of playing for free kicks could now be bleeding into influencing even the umpiring decisions not related to possible high contact.

Hawthorn’s resident pest successfully sucked Suns defender Mac Andrew into retaliating to a shove late in the first quarter and should have been rewarded a free kick.

Andrew immediately took umbrage to Ginnivan’s slight push after the ball crossed the boundary line, rising to his feet and crashing into the back of the Hawthorn player as he walked away.

Even if there was some mayo on the contact, Ginnivan was still hit with plenty enough force to go down and the controlling umpire was no more than 15m away when the incident took place – yet signalled to the boundary to throw the ball in.

The AFL is adamant there are not different sets of rules for different players, but we keep seeing evidence to the contrary.