AFL Gather Round Port Adelaide v Hawthorn: James Sicily concedes the Hawks were a bit overawed by the occasion
James Sicily expects a massive bounce back against the Cats on Easter Monday – but it’s going to be a long, honest week after what Hawthorn produced against the Power.
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Frustrated Hawthorn captain James Sicily expects a massive bounce back against Geelong on Easter Monday, lamenting his team’s “embarrassing” first half against Port Adelaide that yielded the club’s heaviest defeat since last July.
Sicily was at a loss to explain what went wrong for the previously unbeaten Hawks in the first hour on Sunday night.
But he stressed the group would get to the bottom of it and return to their core values as they fix their attention on the Cats.
“Easter Monday against Geelong … we love those games back at the ‘G,” Sicily said after the 30-point loss to the Power to close out Gather Round 3.0.
“Usually it is pretty easy to play well after a bad performance, so I am expecting a big bounce back.”
Sicily conceded he and his teammates didn’t handle the occasion well enough on Sunday night, especially with the build-up surrounding the renewal of hostilities with Port Adelaide – and Ken Hinkley – after that heated semi-final last year.
“Maybe we were a bit overawed by the event or the occasion that was built up,” Sicily said after the Hawks trailed at one stage by a whopping 71 points.
“It’s pretty embarrassing.
“We always try to lean into these things … the event and the talk around the game. We never try to avoid it. But we just didn’t handle it well enough. We pride ourselves on some of the things we didn’t execute, and that’s what is so frustrating about it.
“We preach (riding) on a balanced wave of not getting too ahead of ourselves and not getting too down on ourselves during these sorts of times.
“We will review it standards-wise and look to bounce out of it.”
Sicily said it was a collective issue which wasn’t confined to one area of the ground, with the midfield still coming to terms with the loss of Will Day for up to four months.
Defender Jack Scrimshaw is set to return from suspension against the Cats, while forward Connor Macdonald will be back from his ankle injury. Midfield pair James Worpel (leg) and Conor Nash (wrist) will be assessed during the week.
Sicily had a tough start to the night with Hinkley assigning Sam Powell-Pepper to him from the start of the game, before the Hawks captain was swung forward where he kicked two goals and had 20 disposals.
He said that while the second half fightback didn’t excuse the problems in the first two quarters, it showed the Hawks were still up for the fight.
“I mean the positive is that we didn’t turn our toes up,” he said. “We kept trying. But I suppose any team that is 10 goals up at half-time is going to take the foot off the gas.”
Asked about what went wrong in the first half, he said: “I think we were minus 20 contested possessions at quarter-time … whether that is a reflection of work rate or a mindset.”
“Sometimes when you try too hard at something, it doesn’t really lead to good things. You perhaps lose a bit of trust or a bit of predictability, which we have had (for some time).
“I think just going back to some identity values (will help) … you always try to win every game … but at four (wins) and one (loss), we will review where we are at, and not get too down on ourselves, and understand that the first half was pretty embarrassing and not the way we want to play footy.”
Hot-headed Hawks blow chance at record comeback
– Jason Phelan
The much-hyped Gather Round finale was supposed to be the spiciest of grudge matches, but only Port Adelaide brought the heat in the first half at Adelaide Oval, before Hawthorn gave home fans a late fright on an extraordinary night.
Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and company torched a surprisingly timid Hawthorn on their way to a stunning game-high 71-point lead late in the first half, but the Hawks woke from their slumber to slice the margin to 22 points with just over seven minutes remaining in the game.
A Sam Powell-Pepper goal calmed frayed nerves then Willie Rioli put the result beyond doubt.
Rioli cheekily showed CJ Jiath the ball after he received a handball in the goalsquare and the incensed defender shoved the Power forward in the back as he kicked the goal.
The fiery exchanges expected in the clash largely didn’t materialise, but it was on for young and old at that point, with Rioli awarded another shot from the goalsquare before the restart to seal the win.
It was a fittingly bizarre end to an unusual night.
A clash that was hyped to within an inch of its life thanks to the fiery clash between Ken Hinkley and Jack Ginnivan after the Power’s controversial three-point semi-final win last year didn’t deliver as a spectacle in the first half because the Hawks just didn’t show up until it was too late.
Or put more accurately, Port showed up with such power and conviction that Sam Mitchell’s unbeaten ladder leaders just couldn’t find a way into the game in the first half.
For all the pre-match talk about grudges, hurt feelings, fines, disappointment, dislike and friction between the clubs, there was still a game of footy to be won on Sunday night and Port came with laser-like focus on that goal.
The expected early fireworks didn’t come in the form of ill-disciplined aggression, instead they came on the scoreboard that lit up regularly with Port Adelaide goals.
The switched-on Power booted the first three goals of the night, with Jack Gunston’s first offering only brief respite from the onslaught, the home side banging through the next three to lead by 31 points at the first break.
There was no let-up in the second quarter, Rozee with two goals as Port rumbled to a stunning 71-point lead with six unanswered goals.
If there was any disappointment to be had by Port fans, it was that the triple-digit demolition that appeared on offer didn’t transpire.
But that won’t bother Hinkley too much, his side getting its season moving in the right direction with a 2-3 record, with the coach heading directly for the home changerooms after the final siren.
MIDFIELD MONSTERS
An injured Will Day dropped out of the Hawks’ side at selection, but as good a player as he is, his absence can’t explain or excuse the fearful hiding the Hawks’ midfield unit received in the first half.
A positional switch for Rozee saw the skipper start off half-back before working up the field and it worked a treat, with he and Butters the leading possession winners in the first quarter.
Butters had a game-high 20 possessions at halftime, with seven clearances and five inside 50s, as the Power dominated possession 201-160, with 20 more contested possessions as the home side ran roughshod over the shell-shocked visitors in the first half.
GUNSTON THE GUN
Gunston was the most effective forward on the ground and he sparked the Hawks’ second-half revival that saw his side boot 11 goals to six.
The former Crow broke the second-quarter goal drought with his second with just over one minute left in the disastrous first half.
To the chagrin of the home fans, Lloyd Meek added another from a free kick just before halftime to bring the margin back to 59 points.
Gunston kept coming and booted his sixth, his career-best, 27 minutes into the last quarter to give his side hope before Powell-Pepper and Rioli stepped up.
THE PORT POWER FANS GET THE LAST LAUGH !!! 😂 #AFLPowerHawkspic.twitter.com/yN9Q2xAVoq
— outbreezy (@outbreezyWC) April 13, 2025
NO FLY ZONE
There was speculation Ginnivan had an aeroplane-themed goal celebration lined up in reference to Hinkley’s aeronautical gesture in the aftermath of last year’s semi-final, but we’ll never know because he didn’t hit the scoreboard.
Power fans made their feelings known before the match, loudly booing when Ginnivan’s picture lit up the big screens during the team introduction, but the niggle expected to come his way on the field didn’t materialise.
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