Hawthorn back in premiership contention after demolition of Melbourne at the MCG

A YEAR ago Hawthorn was 0-4 and Alastair Clarkon declared ‘catastrophic change’ was needed. After the quickest rebuild in history, Hawk fans can gear up for another shot at a flag.

Jaeger O’Meara of the Hawks kicks a goal against Melbourne.

IT WAS almost one year ago Alastair Clarkson dropped the c-words.

“Catastrophic change”.

The Hawks had lost their first four games of last season, the Jaeger O’Meara trade was supposedly a bust and they could forget about playing finals, Clarko said.

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Time to go down the bottom of the ladder, right, after a decade of dominance?

Wrong.

In what might be the quickest rebuild in history, the Hawks brushed past a pitiful Melbourne, slamming home 10 straight goals either side of halftime, despite a slew of injuries, to sit pretty at 3-1.

Recruiting Jaeger O’Meara is starting to pay off for the Hawks. Picture: Michael Klein

The 67-point win at the MCG was a big statement from a reborn Hawthorn.

If the Hawks can get the chocolates over North Melbourne and St Kilda over the next fortnight (and you would think they would start favourite), the Hawthorn army can gear up for perhaps another crack at a flag.

We’ll get to the Dees in a second, because this was a dirty day for the club, and the backline finished the match in disarray.

They’re not much more than a tease right now, the Dees.

And you have to feel for the fans who probably feel like they have sat through a perpetual 10-year rebuild and were forced to look enviously upon a rival which can slingshot back into September quicker than you can say Jiminy Cricket.

But maybe that’s just the genius of ‘Clarko’.

And when you consider Hawthorn had lost Cyril Rioli (knee) in the second term, Paul Puopolo (hamstring) in the third, and James Frawley had a migraine and was playing full-forward for one of the few times in his career, there was plenty of ticker in this brown and gold victory.

One of their best in a while, you would think.

Nathan Jones shadowed Tom Mitchell.

And Tom Mitchell did not have a huge impact, shut down by Nathan Jones. Yes Mitchell still had 13 clearances, but in his absence, Liam Shiels took charge, riding shotgun alongside O’Meara.

Shiels has been dubbed a future Hawthorn skipper and he played one of his best games in years, gathering 31 possessions in wet conditions.

You know Clarkson would have loved that the Hawks’ engine room could emerge triumphant without another truckload of possessions from Mitchell.

That’s the balance the coach has been banging on about.

But the most outstanding part of this victory for Hawthorn, to be fair to the blue-collar backmen, was the suffocating defensive setup.

We’ve seen the hallmarks of it all year, but the Hawthorn setup behind the ball was as well-organised as you would want to see.

It’s a credit to James Sicily, Ben Stratton and Ben McEvoy, who ran the show back there and helped restrict the Dees to only five goals from their first 47 forward entries early in the fourth term.

Jarman Impey takes a strong contested mark. Picture: Michael Klein

Angus Brayshaw collars James Sicily. Picture: Michael Klein

They might not be the most talented side in the comp, the Hawks, but neither were the Tigers last year, either, and they went all the way.

So can the Hawks pinch another flag? The first month of the season is a big tick.

So what was catastrophic about this one? The other mob.

Melbourne produced a stinker and Simon Goodwin needs to act at the selection table ahead of next week’s Anzac Day eve blockbuster against Richmond.

Max Gawn had 66 hitouts but it was largely irrelevant as the Hawks piled on 17 of the last 18 goals.

Wayne Carey was damning in his assessment of the Demons’ ball movement.

“They have been rubbish (forward) entries”,” Carey said on Triple M.

“There’s been no fluency at all between the midfield and forward line.”

Then there was the workrate factor.

Hawthorn had 30 more tackles than Melbourne. If that’s not bruise-free footy from the Demons, it’s mighty close.

Melbourne skipper Nathan Jones leads the Demons off the MCG. Picture: Michael Klein

Considering this is the meant to be the year Melbourne was meant to make the quantum leap inside the eight, this was a bitterly disappointing performance.

They’re a lot better than this, but how long can we keep saying it?

It feels like every week they get more inside-50m entries than their opposition and it was the case again today, but for a team that wants double-figure goalkickers they had only three by three-quarter time.

Down the other end, Melbourne added Jake Lever to help bolster a fragile defence but teams have found it remarkable easy punishing the Demons’ back line this year.

Lever does not look like the same player he was in the Adelaide system last year, but even Jordan Lewis had a dark day against his old Hawthorn mates.

“The defensive coach of the Demons’ has got work to do,” Sydney premiership coach Paul Roos said.