Luke Hodge a commanding presence as Hawthorn defeat North Melbourne in Launceston
LUKE Hodge bid farewell to Tasmania in style as Hawthorn disposed of North Melbourne in a finals-worthy performance.
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TASMANIA bid farewell to Luke Hodge in style at UTas Stadium as Hawthorn disposed of North Melbourne in a show of force that will make the top eight sides glad the Hawks won’t be around next month.
Hodge was at his brilliant best off half-back and it wasn’t difficult to know when he had the ball as the crowd of 14,509 rode every kick, mark and handball with the 303-game Hawk.
In his record 46th and final game in Launceston, Hodge (29 possessions) played his trademark role of general in defence alongside the man most likely to take his place from next year.
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Reassigned forward Jack Gunston (27 disposals and 11 marks) was brilliant as the spare in the Hawks’ back half, racking up almost as many possessions as the midfielders.
When he hangs up the boost in two weeks, Hodge said he would leave Hawthorn’s backline in good shape, but stopped short of naming his successor.
“The best part about our group is we’ve had so many young players step up over the past eight or 10 weeks, and we’ve also got so many guys coming back from injury that have played 100 150 games,” he said.
“It’s a good position for the club to be in for next year that we could have eight, 10, 12 players who could float through the half back line.”
Hawthorn threw down the gauntlet early, kicking the first four goals, leaving North Melbourne to do damage control in time-on when it recovered with three.
Big Ben Brown, who started the week concussed and in hospital, slipped between brilliance and mediocrity in his battle with Hawk Kaiden Brand.
His first kick was a set shot 35m out that sailed out of bounds. Unlucky not to be paid two marks soon after, he followed up with a cracking left-foot goal.
He also had a hand in North’s first goal by Kayne Turner, dropped a chest mark inside 50 in the second before going on to add three goals to his Coleman Medal tally.
The Kangaroos found Hawthorn’s defensive structure hard to crack until it discovered the key to the door in time-on in the third quarter.
They had trailed by 51 points six minutes into the third but, with midfielders Shaun Higgins, Sam Gibson and Ryan Clarke firing, surprised the Hawks with a run of five goals to trail by 19 at the final change.
From there the Hawks controlled the final term to complete a 27-point win.
Tom Mitchell’s Brownlow credentials increased with another powerful game in the middle, gathering 35 disposals, 15 contested, five tackles, five marks and six centre clearances.
Little genius Luke Breust wove his magic to conjure up a game-high four goals while at the other end Brown took the honours for North against Brand.
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