AFL finals 2015: Hawks need to get angry says David King
THE mild and meek Hawks of the past four weeks will be replaced by angry birds against Adelaide. And David King fears for the Crows.
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THE Hawks are 12 quarters of football from AFL immortality, less than six hours on a journey that has lasted nearly three years.
The finish line is in sight.
They will be recognised as immortals. No more would these Hawks be considered inferior to Dermott Brereton, Michael Tuck, Jason Dunstall and the like. It would even quieten the extroverted Robert DiPierdomenico.
Three consecutive premierships for the first time in the club’s history and immediate recognition as the very best Hawthorn team.
In this finals series, the Hawks have not been as tough, as driven or as ruthless as last season.
They must regain their angry birds, unsociable status — not behind play or acting outside the laws of the game, but at the contest, at the coalface.
Hawthorn has lost its past five contested ball battles, giving the opposition a territory advantage.
Luke Hodge must rediscover his ferocity — only 24 contested possessions over the past four weeks is well down on his best. Expect a fired-up Hodge on Friday night, as the game’s best leader thrives in September.
As Hawthorn has the complete package, losing clearances and contested football doesn’t totally render it useless. The Hawks’ pure ball movement on counter-attack allows them the luxury of maintaining their scoring power.
They’re easily the AFL’s best out of the defensive half.
Some of the best teams have crafted techniques to negate the Hawks’ ball movement and in doing so have taken away their most prevalent asset.
Richmond, Port Adelaide and the West Coast Eagles, in differing ways, stifled their defensive half returns of 40 points on average, reducing it to 20.
Hawthorn’s pressure on the opposition’s ball carrier has fluctuated over the past five to six weeks. Now it appears a choice rather than a non-negotiable.
The reference point for coach Alastair Clarkson and the players is the first quarter of the 2014 Grand Final — the Hawks were brutal and committed from the first bounce. Their pressure rating was their second-highest for a quarter all season — at the perfect time — and it became obvious that the Swans didn’t stand a chance.
We haven’t witnessed the Hawks like that since.
Can they recapture it for the next 12 quarters? Surely it’s only a state of mind.
The start for the Hawks is critical. Slow starts are generally an indicator of mindset and Hawthorn has the AFL’s third poorest first 10 minutes of the game.
Can they regain that ruthlessness approach from minute one?
Clarkson will be looking to motivate over and above the systems discussion in the pre-game address.
I fear for the Adelaide Crows. The Hawks will look to assert themselves physically, at the contest and at the opposition.
Adelaide was afforded time and space in a virtual basketball game against the Western Bulldogs last week. If the Crows expect the same tonight then they will be embarrassed on the scoreboard.
The meek and mild Hawks of late must be replaced by the angry birds. A three-peat is the prize and immortality is the status on offer.
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