Essendon v Hawthorn: Hawks pull off remarkable comeback to claim one-point win

Hawthorn scored a remarkable win on Saturday night but Alastair Clarkson’s surprising take on his own team won’t make Essendon fans feel any better.

Hawthorn’s Jacob Koschitzke collides with the behind post. Picture: Michael Klein

Handing over five bucks for an AFL Record rarely felt like a wiser investment.

Fierce rivals Hawthorn and Essendon – once used to fighting out Grand Finals but now widely tipped for `the bottom four – each unveiled five players on Saturday night who were either on debut or new.

Hind, Cox, Wright, Caldwell and Jones for the Bombers. Brockman, Koschitzke, Phillips, Hartigan and Downie (the medical sub who didn’t play, but will be credited with a game) in brown and gold.

In a thoroughly entertaining and seesawing contest, a late Tim O’Brien goal delivered the Hawks a remarkable one-point victory, after they trailed by 39 points at half-time.

Both clubs have belatedly embraced their lot.

Neither has been much good for a while and they’ve in some ways accepted defeat, peeling back their lists and committing to a rebuild, retool, regeneration. Whatever you want to call it.

Essendon hasn’t won a final since 2004 – the drought is so long there’s a Twitter account dedicated to counting the days – while Hawthorn qualified for September just once in the past four seasons.

Daniel Howe of the Hawks is tackled by Andrew McGrath of the Bombers

The Hawks bought themselves a grace period with their flag three-peat from 2013-15, but it was tougher to swallow the defeats of more recent years when they became a ‘Dad’s Army’.

Super-veteran Shaun Burgoyne stands out even more at Waverley Park these days, following a veteran-shedding exercise that’s seen Alastair Clarkson’s side take a dip in the fountain of youth.

“We understand it’s where we’re at as a footy club. We’re building towards our next premiership and our capacity to challenge for silverware again,” Clarkson said.

“If we’re brutally honest … we’re unlikely to be challenging seriously this year. But it’s selling to our members, supporters and the wider football community that we’re on the path in the right direction.”

Hawthorn’s kids were starved of opportunities for too long, with Clarkson and co. stubbornly sticking to a hardline policy that served them magnificently in their glory era (but not so well since).

It was only in the last couple of years the Hawks re-invested at the top of the draft, having previously swapped first-round picks for instant-gratification players such as Tom Mitchell, Jaeger O’Meara and Chad Wingard.

Jacob Koschitzke of the Hawks collides with the point post as he handballs clear . Pic: Michael Klein

Sidebar: Mitchell and O’Meara were outstanding against the Bombers, especially in the second half.

Eighteen Hawks, including pre-season supplemental selection period signing Lachlan Bramble, started this season with 16 games’ AFL experience or fewer.

The gates have finally swung open for them.

Brockman and Downie are among the select draftees to score a Round 1 debut under Clarkson, who’s pinning his short-term hopes more on the lightly played group of guys three or four seasons into their career.

Against the Bombers, they were Changkuoth Jiath, Dylan Moore and Koschitzke – and even Harry Morrison and Ollie Hanrahan can probably be included here at a stretch.

Second-year sensation Will Day, who won a career-most 28 disposals, rarely makes the wrong decision with Sherrin in hand.

Jiath runs with gay abandon out of defence; Moore transformed a one-touch first half into a three-goal, 19-possession performance; and Koschitzke took a crucial mark in the final minute to eat up time.

“It’s just giving them the belief and the opportunity, first and foremost,” Clarkson said.

“It’s not going to be easy, but they’ve just got to keep hanging in there, because some of these younger players are coming up against players they’ve looked at on the ‘tele’ as idols.

“There’s a period of time where they need to take some time to adjust and feel like they belong at the level … they’ve all got to start somewhere.”

Clarkson warned their climb back to the top won’t be swift, after their brief rise from the cellar in early 2017 to the finals the following season was once prematurely dubbed the fastest rebuild of all-time.

At the same time, the four-time premiership coach doesn’t intend to be down for too long.

“By no means are we suggesting we’re going down the bottom. We want to win and we proved today we can win,” Clarkson said.

“There’s a real energy and excitement around the youth we’ve got and the opportunities they’re going to get.

“We want to accelerate that program as quickly as we possibly can to get ourselves up to the pointy end of the ladder.

“We know that’s going to take a bit of time, but we’ll put no ceiling on when that’s going to happen.”

Darcy Parish of the Bombers is tackled by Blake Hardwick of the Hawks

‘WE’RE NOT STARTING AGAIN’

Last year’s departures of Joe Daniher, Adam Saad and Orazio Fantasia, and retirements of Tom Bellchambers and Conor McKenna, was effectively the dawn of a new era at Tullamarine.

In their place came a swag of draftees, most notably prized top-10 selections Nik Cox, Archie Perkins and Zach Reid.

Jye Caldwell, Peter Wright and Nick Hind all arrived from rival clubs, too, while coach Ben Rutten took charge on his own – sans John Worsfold – for the first time this pre-season.

However, Rutten preferred to describe Essendon’s situation as “starting the next phase” rather than “starting again”.

“We had five players make their debuts for the footy club, (including) two debutants,” Rutten said.

“I thought the way ‘Jonesy’ (Harrison Jones) competed; he was just about a focal point up there for us in his first game. Some of the work ‘Hindy’ did down in defence (was impressive) – his desperation, his tackling, his effort and intent – and Jye Caldwell, I thought, was one of our better players, along with Merrett and Heppell.

“We have some guys playing in new positions, guys playing at our club for the first time and even Nik Cox, it was his first game for probably 18 months.

“So there’s a lot of growth in us, but we just want to fast-track that as quickly as we can.”

Perkins performed well in a VFL practice match earlier on Saturday, and Rutten tipped the midfielder-forward to make his AFL debut soon.

Captain Dyson Heppell’s move down back was a big tick, as he defended well and racked up possessions at will.

JONES A STAR IN THE MAKING

A fit-again Joe Daniher made his Brisbane debut two states north at the same time on Saturday night, but Essendon fans should feel comfort from what they saw from Harrison Jones.

The Bombers struggled to get Daniher on the field since his breakout 2017 season, but his exit paved the way for a new-look attack featuring Jones, ex-Sun Peter Wright and swingman Cale Hooker against Hawthorn.

Hooker just turned 32 and his career’s mostly been spent down back, but Jones and Wright represent the future.

Placing trust in that pair is part of the shift away from hole-plugging options that bogged Essendon down for years. Think Mitch Brown and Shaun McKernan.

It remains to be seen if Rutten intends to play the aforementioned trio plus Jake Stringer once the former Bulldog regains adequate match fitness following Achilles soreness.

Jones was a speculative pick 30 in the 2019 AFL Draft after showing more glimpses than production in his junior career, but he looks seriously promising now.

At one point in the opening term, he gathered brilliantly on his shoelaces in the pocket, spun out of the athletic Sam Frost’s reach and delivered a perfect inboard pass to Jye Caldwell for a shot at goal.

The 20-year-old’s marking and general presenting up forward was mostly excellent and only his finishing blotted his copybook.

It was a fair blot, given Jones ended the one-point defeat with 0.3 and another shot out on the full, but his technique looks sound and it was possibly more about nerves on debut.

“It’s a good problem for him to have,” Rutten said.

“The way he jumped at the ball, his work-rate and the way he connected with his teammates going inside 50 was fantastic.

“There’s a really good look for our members and supporters about the future of our footy club right there.

“He’ll get his kicking better, there’s no doubt about that. He’s working at it really hard and I like him having those shots.”

HOW BOMBERS BLEW 39-POINT LEAD IN STUNNER

Hawthorn has claimed a remarkable win against Essendon, storming home to win by one point after trailing by 39 at halftime.

The free-flowing game, with both teams scoring in bursts, provided a compelling spectacle in the latest indication that a six-goal lead may not be what it used to be.

Led by frontline midfielders Andrew McGrath, Zach Merrett and Dyson Heppell, the Bombers decimated the Hawks in the second term, piling on eight goals to one in a destructive quarter of football.

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The Hawks then repaid the favour with an eight goal to one term of their own, with best-on-ground Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara dominating the ball around the contest and 11th gamer Dylan Moore kicking three for the term.

In a drama filled final quarter where the scoring dried up, a Devon Smith set shot from 45m out seemingly put the Bombers in the box seat, before Tim O’Brien stole the show just moments later.

Luke Breust and Dylan Moore celebrate Hawthorn’s amazing win.

Hawthorn coach, Alastair Clarkson said his halftime message was simple.

“Just get our hands on the footy, really.

“Essendon, to their absolute credit, were dominating possession of the footy and controlling the first half. We were able to turn it around in the second half to the credit of O’Meara and Mitchell and Shiels, our rucks in Ceglar and McEvoy. We started to get a bit more ball control.

“Essendon were stiff to lose, and we were lucky to win. Close games like that are a flip of the coin.”

In positive signs for the future, several young Hawks had an impact on the contest including Changjuoth Jiath, Harry Morrison and Dylan Moore.

“That’s the excitement of where our club is positioned right at the present time. We’re injecting a lot of young players into our side. We’re just excited that we are trying to showcase the future of our footy club,” Clarkson said.

“We know we have a long way to go before we are serious contenders for silverware, but we like some things from our game today, particularly the way that we bounced back.”

Bombers fans enjoy being back at the footy.

Essendon coach, Ben Rutten remained positive despite the one-point loss.

“The pleasing thing from our point of view, and why our players are so disappointed, is because we showed some really strong footy in the first half, second quarter in particular.

“That’s the style of footy we’ve been training and the guys are really disappointed, because they know what they’re capable of. They went away from it in the second half and we got the result we got, so some really good lessons in there for us.

“We tried to be a bit cute, too precise (and had) shallow entries, and then Hawthorn were able to rebound the whole length of ground a number of times, which was a good contrast to that second quarter.”

Rutten didn’t rule out mercurial forward Jake Stringer from returning to the team next week, with the 26-year-old making a return in the VFL after battling an achilles issue over the preseason.

“I think he played about 60 minutes in the VFL and topped him up with a bit of running today. We’ll see how he pulls up, how his game was. I saw it live and he did some good things but as we saw today, guys who have trained for 10 weeks were feeling it.

“We’ll have to make that assessment, we know what he’s capable of but we want to make sure we bring him in when he’s fit to play but ready to come in and perform for us.”

Jye Caldwell of the Bombers is tackled by Liam Shiels and Dylan Moore.

SCOREBOARD

HAWKS 3.1, 4.3, 12.,3 14.8 (92)

BOMBERS 2.4, 10.6, 11.10, 13.13 (91)

PITMAN’S BEST

HAWKS: Mitchell, O’Meara, Day, Phillips, Jiath, Morrison

BOMBERS: McGrath, Merrett, Heppell, Ridley, Caldwell, Hind

GOALS

HAWKS: Moore 3, Brockman 2, Morrison 2, O’Brien 2, Ceglar, Hanrahan, Phillips,

Breust, McEvoy

BOMBERS: Shiel 2, McDonald-Tipungwuti 2, Smith 2, Hooker, McGrath, Merrett,

Snelling, Wright, Draper, Parish

Umpires: Findlay, O’Gorman, Williamson

PITMAN’S VOTES 

3. Tom Mitchell

2. Andrew McGrath

1. Jaeger O’Meara

KFC SUPERCOACH ROOKIE REPORTED

- Marc McGowan

Baby Bomber Nik Cox is on report for a clumsy high hit on Hawthorn forward Oliver Hanrahan late in the second quarter of their Saturday night clash.

The 200cm debutant attempted to bump Hanrahan as he hunted the Sherrin at ground level in the middle of Marvel Stadium, but collected the Hawk with his elbow running from the other direction.

Hanrahan was unhurt and capitalised on a 50m penalty to kick a much-needed goal for Hawthorn, after Essendon kicked seven straight majors to begin the second term.

Essendon debutant Nik Cox has been reported.#AFLDonsHawkspic.twitter.com/zE1A1QSBHD

— AFL (@AFL) March 20, 2021

Experienced Hawk Jon Ceglar went straight to Cox to remonstrate as a group of players formed, but any threat of a melee dissipated quickly as play continued.

Cox is one of five newcomers at the Bombers, including Nick Hind, Peter Wright, Jye Caldwell and Harrison Jones.

Essendon coach Ben Rutten is also overseeing what is officially his first match in charge, after technically sharing the duties with John Worsfold last season.