Jordan Lewis’ epic comeback for Heath Grundy during Hawthorn’s loss to Sydney at the MCG
HEATH Grundy had a crack at Jordan Lewis late in Hawthorn’s loss to Sydney. Despite being down on the scoreboard, the veteran Hawk’s comeback was perfect.
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IT WAS a tough old night for Jordan Lewis and his Hawthorn teammates at the MCG.
Despite the lopsided scoreboard result — which wasn’t in his team’s favour — Lewis ensured Sydney left Melbourne on Friday night knowing who the best team of the past decade was.
With just over one minute remaining in the match and a Sydney victory inevitable, Lewis was tackled by young Swan George Hewett, who was rewarded with a holding the ball free kick.
As a tired and resigned Lewis slowly rose to his feet and handed the ball back to Hewett, veteran Swans defender Heath Grundy was quick to remind the Hawks on-baller of the score. The Swans led by 14 points, which would be the eventual margin when the final siren sounded.
It was no surprise to see Grundy full of confidence by game’s end. After a poor performance against Richmond the previous round, the full-back had made amends against the Hawks, picking up 25 disposals, seven marks, five rebound 50s and 11 intercepts to be one of his side’s best players.
Upon hearing the words of wisdom, however, Hawthorn’s stand-in skipper gave Grundy the ultimate response.
Looking directly at Grundy, Lewis let the veteran Sydney defender know just how many times he had been involved in premiership-winning sides.
Lewis’ polite, four-fingered salute was captured beautifully by Herald Sun photographer Wayne Ludbey.
It was a brief moment of joy and satisfaction for Lewis, his teammates and Hawks fans on what was a difficult night for all parties.
Following the terrible news of the re-emergence of Jarryd Roughead’s melanoma earlier in the week, the Hawks looked well down on their usual high output on Friday night.
Hawthorn failed to kick a goal in the first term and only managed to boot its first major of the night when Luke Breust converted at the 24-minute mark of the second term.
The Hawks did push the Swans late to reduce the margin to four points at the start of the final quarter, but two telling Lance Franklin goals from outside the 50m arc gave the Swans breathing space and, ultimately, the winning edge.
Following two inspiring individual displays, Lewis had a quiet night against the Swans, finishing with 20 disposals and 55 per cent efficiency. However he wasn’t the only star Hawk that underperformed, with Sam Mitchell (15 disposals) and Cyril Rioli (one goal from 11 disposals) well held by Tom Mitchell and Nick Smith respectively.
To a certain extent, though, Lewis had the last laugh.
Originally published as Jordan Lewis’ epic comeback for Heath Grundy during Hawthorn’s loss to Sydney at the MCG
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