Deep dive: Inside what Hawthorn’s upset win over Richmond means for both sides moving forward
Fresh off a big win after a horror week, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said, ‘I hope I’m not discrediting Geelong by saying that, but they’re not that good’. How would Chris Scott feel about that?
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Dustin Martin’s absence isn’t Richmond’s sole problem; getting the champion midfielder back isn’t the only solution as frustrated Tigers coach Damien Hardwick confronts a serious dilemma in his team’s flag defence.
This isn’t about one man.
Thursday night’s 32-point loss to a relentless Hawthorn was far more about a collective mindset, application, work ethic and lack of pressure.
In time, it might be seen to be about hunger too.
Those are the tangibles that would have kept Dimma tossing and turning on Thursday night as he dissected one of the club’s most frustrating performances since winning the 2017 premiership.
Hardwick knows it would be a cop-out to suggest Martin’s absence with bruised ribs was the difference.
“You take one of the best players, if not the best player in the League, out of a side (when) you’d prefer to have him than not,” Hardwick said.
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“The reality is there’s 22 other players that play our way. They just didn’t play well enough. Dustin’s one player, he’s not the Richmond Football Club.
“He’s a very important player, don’t get me wrong, but our expectation and the club expectation is our players who pull on the jumper play a hell of a lot better than they did (against Hawthorn). We’ve got to coach them better as well.”
Saying he expected Martin to recover from his bruised ribs in time for Saturday week’s clash with St Kilda, Hardwick put the acid back on his players to once more become the hunter after the Tigers were outhunted by the Hawks, who sought their own form of redemption after being overrun by Geelong last week.
Hardwick labelled the team’s five-goal total for a second straight week as “un-Richmond-like” – an assessment that would hurt the players almost as much as the scoreboard.
“I just spoke to the playing group, and we spoke about the things we weren’t doing that we should be doing,” he said.
“It is easy to sit there and look at the game and (think) we have got the answers, but we have just got to execute the things we are trying to implement.
“We pride ourselves on a number of things we do and none of those things really shone out.”
The Tigers are one win, one loss and one draw in a strange 2020 season, and still very much in the premiership hunt.
But Thursday’s result provided clubs with another template on how to beat a side that has been the competition benchmark for the past three years.
David King said on 3AW: “If you wobble Richmond … if you can lay a punch or two on the Richmond Football Club, you’ve gotta knock them out.”
“Collingwood didn’t knock them out last week … the Hawks didn’t give them the same chance.”
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SWARM?
The Tigers built a dynasty on pressure, with two flags and three successive preliminary final berths the reward.
There might still be future success in store. But unless Richmond can rediscover the pressure brand that has been sorely missing since the resumption of the 2020 season, that won’t be happening.
Thursday night’s loss to Hawthorn produced a troubling set of numbers.
Let’s try these stats on for size.
– The loss to Hawthorn ends a run of 14 unbeaten matches (including last week’s draw with the Magpies), stretching back to the middle of last season.
– It was the first time in successive weeks Richmond has failed to kick a goal in the opening term since 1961.
– Champion Data recorded the Tigers had only NINE tackles at halftime – their lowest tally since 2015.
– It was only the third time in 12 months Richmond failed to register a forward 50m tackle in the first half.
The Tigers’ forward swarm has been the keystone to their success. But it looked to have been swatted away by the Hawks, who were intent on keeping their opponents honest.
“Look, it was a low tackle game full stop,” Hardwick explained. “There were not a lot of stoppages.
“The pressure was there, but we just missed tackles. They (Hawthorn) broke through … a number of times we thought we had it stuck but they managed to get that ball out and that ball forward. So that was disappointing. It is not to our level of expectation for sure.”
Unless they can fix that – and fast – Dimma won’t be getting much sleep for a while.
CLARKO MASTERCLASS
No coach relishes a backs-to-the-wall fightback as much as Hawthorn’s master Alastair Clarkson.
His efforts to get the Hawks back on track after a woeful second half against Geelong showed why he is such an extraordinary motivator.
Importantly, he thinks outside the square and doesn’t panic when the pack suggests he needs to switch things.
He backed in premiership ruckman Ben McEvoy in a key defensive role when many questioned his performance against the Cats last week.
‘Big Boy’ McEvoy delivered, having the best of a duel with last year’s Coleman Medallist Tom Lynch, keeping him to a goal while having four intercept marks himself.
Likewise, Clarko stuck with Jon Ceglar as ruckman, and it paid dividends. Ceglar helped set the scene with 15 disposals, 20 hit-outs, 10 hit-outs to advantage, seven clearances and clearly had the better of Ivan Soldo.
Clarkson had also put his underperforming midfield on notice after being exposed last week.
They repaid him in spades.
“We were pleased with our effort right across the ground, whether it was around the contest or forward or back,” he said.
“It was probably only in the last quarter where we fatigued a little and couldn’t sustain that manic pressure, but that’s the hard part about the game.
“You have to do it for the whole four quarters. We fell away a little bit (late), but in the first three quarters we caused Richmond concern.
“When you are out of the game for a period of time, it softens your resolve. Last week was the first game of competitive footy they have played in 12 weeks. There was nothing to suggest at half time (last week) either in the rooms or from a coaching point of view that what came in the second half was going to come.
“But when you haven’t played and you are not in that full combat mode for three months, and that’s your first assignment, and the avalanche comes, we just weren’t prepared for it.
“We were more prepared for it (against Richmond), though.”
COP THAT CATS
One pointed answer from Clarkson’s press conference stood out almost as much as Isaac Smith’s left foot early on in the game, and it might get more traction come October.
When asked about the response from last week, the Hawks coach responded: “I hope I’m not discrediting Geelong by saying that, but they’re not that good.”
“We were just terribly poor. We expected a response and we got one. But the challenge for us is to back up that response (against North Melbourne).”
The comments won’t escape the attention of Cats coach Chris Scott.
In this abbreviated 2020 season, the Hawks won’t meet the Cats again unless in a final, so expect Clarko’s comments – “they’re not that good” – to raise their head at some stage if they do happen to clash again.
The Cats-Hawks modern rivalry is the gift that keeps on giving.
JAEGER BOMB
The Hawks midfielders went from zeros to heroes in the space of six days, and it’s no surprise the inclusion of Jaeger O’Meara had a big bearing on that.
He brings a different balance and dynamic to the Hawthorn midfield group and oozes class when he has the ball.
Clarkson tried to play down his impact, saying it was a collective midfield effort.
“One week he is in when we win and then the next week he is out when we lose, it makes it seem like he is pretty important to our side,” he said.
“I don’t want to discredit Jaeger either, because he was terrific for us. Whether it’s our supporters or the general football public, you saw a different Hawthorn side tonight. You saw intent, you saw resolve, resilience in tackles … we were just so much better prepared for the contest.
“Part of that is to do with the players, part of that is to do with me, part of it is to do with our club. We just needed to be a lot better than we were last week.
“(Footy) has got to do with competitive instinct … we had it (against Richmond), we didn’t have it last week (against Geelong). If you have it, you will win on any shaped oval.”
King said of O’Meara: “The injection of Jaeger O’Meara changes everything to the dynamic of what the Hawthorn midfield looks like.”
“There are few players in the competition who can win the ball consistently and then use the ball with such efficiency (as O’Meara). You are talking about (Marcus Bontempelli, (Scott) Pendlebury … a lot of our top liners in the game can win a lot of the footy, (Patrick) Dangerfield, (Dustin) Martin and (Nat) Fyfe to an extent.
“They can win a heap of contested possession, but it doesn’t necessarily go on the scoreboard … or doesn’t necessarily have that cherry on top.
“O’Meara in the first quarter had six disposals and went at 100 per cent, his first 13 disposals were 100 per cent effective. They just go on the scoreboard.”
MARLION’S ‘DIFFICULT SECOND ALBUM’
In the music industry, it’s known as the “difficult second album” syndrome when a quick back up offering to a smashing first-up success proves a major challenge.
Some bands have bounced back from it; others haven’t.
If an AFL footballer was ever going to have to confront his own version of this, it was always going to be Richmond’s Marlion Pickett.
It’s not a slight on the 27-year-old to suggest that whatever he does in his footy future will be judged against what he did on debut when he almost prised the Norm Smith Medal out of Martin’s hands and wrote his own fairytale role in last year’s Grand Final success.
Pickett had 22 disposals in that game and as many blind turns as goals kicked (one of each) as he rose to the occasion in front of 100,000 fans.
In his three games since – all without fans – he has looked a long way off that electrifying beginning.
In an admittedly interrupted 2020 season, Pickett has collectively only had nine more disposals in those three games than he had on the one day last year.
He had 14 against Carlton, seven against Collingwood and 10 against Hawthorn – for a total of 31, but his impact has been limited.
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At times on Thursday night he looked fumbly and lacking in confidence, even though he wasn’t Robinson Crusoe in yellow and black.
He had limited time as a pure midfielder, but was used at times as a back-up ruckman to Ivan Soldo, who seemed to be crying out for more help.
Has Pickett got enough tickets in the bank given what happened last September, or will he now need to fight for his spot in the Tigers’ team?
It’s going to be a fascinating watch.
And will Toby Nankervis get his chance to return in the coming weeks?
EXPERIENCE COUNTS
After fielding the equal oldest side in VFL-AFL history last week, the Hawks looked set to break their own record before Paul Puopolo’s late withdrawal on Thursday night.
But don’t think president Jeff Kennett is worried about Hawthorn’s ageing list.
In fact, he tweeted after the victory over the Tigers.
Don't talk to me again that experience does not count! Great result Hawks. Proud of you All
— Jeff Kennett (@jeff_kennett) June 18, 2020
Then Clarkson had his tongue planted firmly in cheek when he joked that he “dropped” Puopolo (calf) because he “didn’t want to have the oldest list ever.”