EFNL 2021: Where the Glen Waverley Hawks hold an edge

‘Redemption’ was the buzz-word for the Hawks leading into last Saturday – and they delivered to overrun the Blues by a point. Here’s how.

Adam Amin has had no problems finding the goals in his return this season. Picture: David Crosling

Glen Waverley Hawks senior coach Dylan Price says he needed a response – and he got it.

Trailing by 17 points at the final change, the Hawks overran the Waverley Blues in the final term on Saturday to edge their way to a one-point victory, following a 64-point drubbing at that hands of Warrandyte the week prior.

The win keeps the Hawks in touch with the Division 3 pack – just two points and less than one per cent outside the top four with a 2-2-1 record, in sixth spot.

Price said the result was about “redemption” from the week prior, while also pointing to his side’s fitness edging it ahead in last quarters.

“We had a good first half (on Saturday) and didn’t sort of capitalise and we did the same thing against Scoresby (in the Round 1 draw) where we were down a few goals at three quarter time but just feel we have the legs to overrun teams,” Price said.

“We’ve got a bit of confidence now in our fitness – we did a pretty solid pre-season and a fair bit of running over the break.

“There’s a fair bit of confidence in those last quarters, and then we showed a bit of grunt to fight back and started winning the clearances as well.”

Glen Waverley Hawks coach Dylan Price is in his first season at the helm. Picture: Supplied

Returning star Adam Amin has been a consistent stand-out for the Hawks up forward this season, booting 19 goals to date including two in the weekend’s victory.

But he’s been ably supported by ex-Knox name Andrew Clifford according to Price.

“I think one of the biggest things is he’s (Amin) got a fair bit of support down there now – Clifford is playing up forward and has taken a bit of a load off him,” Price said.

“Adam’s been really consistent this year – he had a couple of years off but he’s fallen straight back into doing what he does best.”

Meanwhile, defender Jack Steinfort, ex-Bayswater name Scott McInerney and big man Ned Bradley featured among the Hawks’ best on Saturday.

The Hawks are faced with Donvale (fifth) this weekend, followed by the Whitehorse Pioneers (eighth) in their bid to win consecutive matches for the first time this year.

“The results each week bear a bit of inconsistency, but anyone can beat anyone on their day and it’s a wide-open competition,” Price said.