AFL 2021 Fremantle v Hawthorn: Hawks dominate possession but sluggish start proves costly
Tom Mitchell might have stemmed the tide before halftime against Fremantle, but Hawthorn’s stuttering starts must be a headache for coach Alastair Clarkson.
Hawthorn
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Hawthorn needs to address its slow starts to games before the season gets away from it.
At Optus Oval on Sunday, the Hawks trailed Fremantle at half-time, and have now done so for the fourth consecutive week.
The 13 points they were in arrears to the Dockers was the best position they have been in at the main break this season.
But that’s only on the back of Tom Mitchell dominating the midfield in the second term.
The Dockers had led by 34 points at quarter-time.
In the four games to start the season, the Hawks are a combined -92 points in opening halves (-60 points in first quarters and -32 points in second quarters).
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Coach Alastair Clarkson said they need to address it.
“That’s four games in a row we’ve been in arrears at half-time. We need to address that somehow,” he said.
“It’s not through lack of effort or application.
“If it’s a trend or not, we’ll wait and see, but it’s not ideal chasing tail from so early in the game.
“The proud part is we are getting back into the contest. So we’re playing good enough footy.
“We’d like at some point in time to be ahead at half-time instead of behind.”
Although the Hawks lost the second half against the Dockers as well, it was only by two points.
It was a significant improvement to the opening half, which is also something we have seen as a pattern from the Hawks in the opening month of the season.
They are a combined +40 points for second halves this season.
The main difference is that the Hawks are scoring more freely after half-time.
They are averaging only 29 points in the opening two quarters of games, but improving that to average 42.5 points after the main break.
Clarkson says his side seem to be working too hard for their goals.
“We had a lot of the inside 50s early it the content (against the Dockers); we just couldn’t capitalise on the chances we had,” he said.
“I thought we have four or five good chances to score in the first part of the game.
“We seem to have to work so hard for our goals. That comes down to efficiency of our ball use; our trust.
“We had a lot of possessions of the footy for not so as inside 50s as the Freo side.
“That says the method of your ball movement isn’t as strong as it can be and sometimes a bit of hesitation and uncertainty. and over time we’ll get better.”
The inclusion of veteran Shaun Burgoyne against Melbourne on Sunday, for his 394th game, will help the Hawks with its disposal efficiency.
Burgoyne was the medical sub for the Hawks in Perth and although he didn’t get on the ground, added another game to his career tally as he creeps towards 400.
The Hawks will continue to manage the game-time of the 38-year-old.
Daniel Howe will also be monitored during the week after he injured his shoulder in the 15-point loss to the Dockers.
HEAP OF THE FOOTY, BUT NO VICTORY
Remember the days when an AFL team could ill afford to let Hawthorn dominate possession against them and hope to win?
Those days are well and truly over.
The Hawks enjoyed a heap more of the ball than Fremantle, in dry conditions at Optus Stadium on Sunday afternoon (423 disposals to 340) but lost by 15 points.
That margin was a bit flattering too.
Those extra possessions just didn’t result in scoring shots, but the home side was a bit wasteful.
Fremantle had 29 shots on goal to the Hawks’ 19.
The 13.18 (96) to 12.9 (81) defeat was the Hawks third in a row and Alastair Clarkson’s men now sit above only North Melbourne on the AFL ladder after four rounds.
They face an unbeaten Melbourne in Round 5.
The Dockers two home wins put them in ninth spot on the table.
Going tall
The Dockers took a gamble going into the game slightly taller than they would usually play with, especially with bad weather from a cyclone in Western Australia’s north expected to effect the game.
That didn’t happen and ruckman Sean Darcy kicked three important goals and key forward Matt Taberner booted two.
Dual Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe was terrific in his return to play after a short break due to concussion, finishing with 31 touches. His kicking at goal was the only thing that let him down; the star finishing with 0.6.
Another slow start
Hawthorn has been a terrible starter so far in 2021.
Before Sunday, the Hawks had won only one term before halftime in a game — against Essendon in Round 1.
They were -79 points in opening halves in their three games.
And after trailing by 34 points to the Dockers, the trend looked set to continue.
Fremantle kicked the only five goals of the opening term, but with 5.6 on the board, could and should have led by much more.
Fyfe and David Mundy were leading the home side, the two-time Brownlow medallist allowed to run unmarked, with six uncontested possessions for the first quarter.
Tom back to his best
A dominant second term by another Brownlow Medal winner, Tom Mitchell, turned the momentum of the contest.
Mitchell had 18 possessions and kicked a goal in the quarter and the Hawks reduced the margin back to 13 points at halftime.
The Dockers didn’t help their cause, recording 6.12 for the break; Fyfe with four behinds next to his name.
Mitchell’s stats at that stage of the game, 25 possessions and one goal, matched his career best. He finished the game with 37.
Mitchell and 10 other Hawks had eight possessions or more in the second term, with Fyfe leading the Dockers ball-winners for the quarter with seven.
At halftime, the Hawks had had 70 more possessions than Fremantle.
Stopping the playmaker
Fyfe is enjoying some of his young teammates getting the attention from opposition taggers. Lately it seems to be Andrew Brayshaw who is getting the focus.
After being kept to 19 possessions against Carlton in Round 3, the Hawks ran James Worpel with the young Docker with good effect on Sunday.
Brayshaw was kept to just three touches in the opening half and was clearly frustrated, dragging Mitchell to the ground early in the third term, resulting in a free kick.
Michael Hartley took his opportunity to kick the goal to take the margin back to just seven points.
Brayshaw got lose in the final term, with nine important touches and finishing with 15.
BRAYSHAW PUTS BRAKES ON MITCHELL
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir believes youngster Andrew Brayshaw should wear the fact that has started to attract the attention of opposition taggers as a badge of honour.
But he admitted that the 21-year-old, who Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said was probably the best player in the competition in the opening two rounds, needed to learn how to deal with that extra attention.
In the past two weeks, the midfielder has had a player run closely with him from the opening bounce in a bid to curb his influence on games.
After averaging more than 31 touches in the opening two rounds of the season, Brayshaw was kept to just 19 possessions by Carlton’s Ed Curnow in Round 3. He had only three touches at half-time against Hawthorn on Sunday before finishing with 15.
Longmuir said Brayshaw needed to work through the close attention.
“I thought he went away from his role when he first got tagged,” the Dockers coach said.
“Then once he thought about executing his role for the team he got himself into the game.
“But in the last quarter it was just getting back to what he does best.
“He’s going through a phase now where he’s going to have to learn to deal with attention.
“That’s a credit to him, because he started the year really well and teams are identifying him to put time into.
“He should wear that as a badge of honour and embrace it.”
Brayshaw struggled with a tag from Hawk James Worpel in the first half, before being moved into a run-with role of his own, on Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell.
The move influenced the final result.
Mitchell had 25 possessions in the first half, including 20 in the second quarter where he helped get the Hawks back into the game after another slow start.
But Brayshaw kept Mitchell just six touches in the third term and he had only five in the last.
SCOREBOARD
DOCKERS 5.6 6.11 10.12 13.18 (96)
HAWKS 0.2 5.4 8.8 12.9 (81)
ELBOROUGH’S BEST
Dockers: Fyfe, Mundy, Darcy, Cerra, Acres, Taberner.
Hawks: Mitchell, Jiath, Worpel, Wingard, Impey, O’Meara.
GOALS
Dockers: Darcy 3; Taberner 2, Colyer 2; Frederick, Acres, Sturt, Mundy, Walters, Chapman. Hawks: Moore 3; Wingard, Phillips, Lewis, Mitchell, Hartley, Howe, Brockman, Morrison, O’Brien.
INJURIES
Dockers: Nil.
Hawks: Howe (shoulder)
Venue: Optus Stadium.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BRAD ELBOROUGH VOTES
3 Mitchell (Hawks)
2 Fyfe (Dockers)
1 Mundy (Dockers)
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