VFLW: Hawthorn’s premiership defence continues with tough battle against Darebin

After two defeats to open its VFLW premiership defence, Hawthorn will be looking to return to its winning ways when it tackles traditional football power Darebin at the Bill Lawry Oval in Northcote on Saturday.

Hawthorn coach Patrick Hill is passionate about the women’s game

After two defeats to open its VFLW premiership defence, Hawthorn will be looking to return to its winning ways when it tackles traditional football power Darebin at the Bill Lawry Oval in Northcote on Saturday.

Untouchable at state level for so many years, Darebin has been brought back to the field by the player points system, according to Hawthorn coach Patrick Hill, and it has also started the season 0-2.

“When I coached against them a few years ago, they had 17 or 18 AFLW players,” Hill said.

After tough stints at Frankston and then Box Hill, when it first took over the VFL licence vacated by Knox, Hill was able to celebrate premiership success last season when his Hawks got over Geelong by 11 points in the grand final.

Hawthorn has made a slowish start to its flag defence with defeat at the hands of NT Thunder and Collingwood to get things underway this year.

“You’ll always have those mental demons,” Hill said of the slow start. “You’re so hungry when you get the first one, but you don’t quite have the belief.

“It’s very easy to look in the rear view mirror rather than looking forward. You’ve just got to be really conscious of that.”

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Hawthorn celebrates its grand final win last year Picture: Michael Dodge (Getty Images)

The Hawks boss makes no secret of being a dyed-in-the-wool fan of women’s footy and the VWFL in particular.

“It's a great competition,” he said. “All the traditional clubs have a team and it’s like the VFL in the old days.”

As well as enjoying the rapid development shown by young girls coming through the booming junior ranks, Hill said players coming from other sporting backgrounds added a great deal.

It has, however, brought with it some unique challenges.

“In the first season (at Box Hill) we didn’t have a lot of great players and we learned really quickly what other sports could bring to the game,” he said, although he conceded that players from other sports still had a few wrinkles to be ironed out before being comfortable with a Sherrin in their hands.

“You can tell a netballer, because as soon as they get the ball, they stop,” he said. “And the basketballers, they take a mark and keep going straight away.

“You sort of have to coach that out of them and then you can concentrate on the things they bring to the game.”

But, over time, the new breed of footballer is learning the game and the skill level has gone up a notch.

Hill pointed to last year’s grand final best-on-ground Chantella Parera, a former basketball star with the Kilsyth Cobras, Knox Raiders and Dandenong Rangers.

“She was one of the worst kicks of the footy when we first saw her,” he said. “But she went away and she worked so hard and now look at her.”

Hawthorn will take on Darebin at the Bill Lawry Oval in Northcote on Saturday (noon start).

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Hawthorn’s Chantella Perera with her grand final best-on-ground medal Picture: Scott Barbour (Getty Images)