Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson insists club’s era of dominance is far from over despite Crows defeat

THE footy world has gathered to declare Hawthorn’s era over, but Alastair Clarkson remains defiant he has a flag winning team despite being 0-2 for the first time since 2009.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — APRIL 01: Jarryd Roughead, Luke Hodge and Jack Gunston of the Hawks looks dejected after losing the round two AFL match between the Hawthorn Hawks and the Adelaide Crows at Melbourne Cricket Ground on April 1, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

ALASTAIR Clarkson has rubbished speculation Hawthorn is finished, insisting he has the players to win another premiership.

The Hawks were swept aside by Adelaide at the MCG, leaving them winless after two rounds for the first time since 2009.

To further salt the wound, Grant Birchall was taken to hospital with a suspected hairline fracture in his jaw.

The football world has gathered to declare Hawthorn’s incredible era over, but Clarkson remained defiant.

“All we look for as coaches is the next opportunity for us to win a premiership and we believe we’ve got a group of players who can help us deliver that,” Clarkson said.

The Hawks look dejected after losing the round two match against Crows

“We’re 0-2 so it’s easy to point the finger, but they were pointing the finger at GWS during the week too. Everyone, including half of you in this room, had them winning the premiership leading into the season.

“But they play a good side in Adelaide, get beaten, and (they) wonder whether Leon (Cameron) should get the sack.

“With anything in this game, it’s not always (that) great and it’s not always that bad either. It’s somewhere in between and we need to play better, but we feel there’s plenty of upside for our footy club.”

Clarkson pointed to the contributions of midfield recruits Tom Mitchell (38 possessions, eight clearances, six inside 50s) and Jaeger O’Meara (37 possessions — 19 contested), and young defender Ryan Burton (26 disposals, nine marks) as reasons for optimism.

“Despite what everyone else thinks about our more senior guys being past their best and all that stuff, we got some pretty formidable players,” Clarkson said.

Alastair Clarkson believes he has a flag winning team. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

“We’ve got two blokes who have come in from other clubs who are midfielders and as we saw today, they can win the footy. We’ve got a young fellow in Burton and some other young players who haven’t been given the same opportunities as they would at other clubs because of our good performances over the last three or four years.”

Hawthorn roared out of the blocks with a 6.2 to 2.2 first quarter, but were again overrun as the Crows methodically piled on 14.15 to 7.9 after quarter-time.

Clarkson said his side were a “bit stiff” with injuries to Birchall, Isaac Smith (corked leg) and Liam Shiels (corked leg) diluting their influence, but also lamented his players’ decision-making.

“If you look at ... the Champion (Data) stats suggested that we had 46 ineffective or clanger handballs compared to their 22. That gives a potential turnover to the Adelaide side on 24 occasions,” he said.

“In the first part of the game our ball use was really good and we were able to score goals, but once we started overusing the ball and had more handballs than kicks, which was part our decision making and part Adeaide’s pressure. That gave the game back in Adelaide’s favour a little bit.

“We still had 412 disposals ... so it just became more a question of what we did with the ball ... but at least we’re getting it.”

The Hawks were also belted in contested marks, with the Crows taking 22-6 and 9-1 inside 50m.