Dermott Brereton says Hawthorn will beat Western Bulldogs but won’t get past GWS Giants

DERMOTT Brereton has cast doubt over the Hawks’ bid for a fourth straight flag, claiming they don’t have the ability to defeat one emerging side.

Luke Hodge’s Hawthorn take on the Western Bulldogs. Picture: Colleen Petch.

HAWTHORN champion Dermott Brereton has cast doubt over the Hawks’ bid for a historic fourth straight premiership, claiming they don’t have the ability to defeat one emerging side: The GWS Giants.

Hawthorn fell agonisingly short of advancing to a preliminary final against the Cats last Friday night, while the Giants confirmed their status as a future powerhouse of the competition the following day when they upset Sydney.

While both qualifying finals were gripping, Brereton said they were played at two different standards, claiming the Hawks-Cats was “a half-step back” from Swans-Giants match.

Brereton, who played 189 games for Hawthorn, expects his old side to narrowly defeat the Bulldogs on Friday night, but said it’d fail to overcome the rapidly-rising Giants at Spotless Stadium in the preliminary final next week.

“One thing I’ve said all along — and I’ve been going up there for a while — they’re the best collection of talent I’ve seen at a football club,” Brereton told SEN.

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“Any team that has to go and play them on their home dung heap, they’ve got a job ahead of them.”

GWS has built a formidable fortress at Spotless Stadium this season, winning six of its eight clashes there by an average margin of 64 points.

Both Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs made unsuccessful trips to Spotless Stadium this season, going down by 75 and 25 points respectively.

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“If they keep it all together on the day, they’re going to be the team to beat,” Brereton said of the Giants.

Brereton is also wary of the risk associated with landing wantaway Sun Jaeger O’Meara, who named Hawthorn as his preferred destination on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old has played 44 games in four seasons for the Gold Coast Suns.

“I just hope that they’ve done their due diligence. This kid (O’Meara) hasn’t played a full game for two years,” Brereton said.

Originally published as Dermott Brereton says Hawthorn will beat Western Bulldogs but won’t get past GWS Giants