James Sicily brain fade costs Hawks dearly in loss to Western Bulldogs
As Hawthorn choked away its five-goal lead in the final term, hothead James Sicily imploded, giving away a silly freekick with minutes to go that would surrender any hope of victory.
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James Sicily got sucked in.
Of all his hot-headed moments, this was the most costly yesterday.
Scores were tied with only a few minutes left when the fiery Hawk shoved Josh Schache in the chest, giving away a free kick from directly in front of goal — and gifting the lead to the Western Bulldogs.
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The Hawks will be filthy, as they led by 30 points at the last change, but had lost Liam Shiels and Shaun Burgoyne to hamstring injuries.
But the Bulldogs slammed home the last eight goals of the game to chalk up one of their best wins since the 2016 premiership.
Significantly, that Bulldogs’ spirit which was central to the flag a few years ago but had mysteriously vanished was back.
You saw it when Tom Liberatore kicked a miracle snap in the barnstorming finish and was mobbed by teammates.
He’s back in a big way, Libba, and Schache took a huge step forward slotting four goals in the come-from-behind 19 point win.
The big moment, though was Sicily’s brain-fade, even if the free kick was a bit harsh.
Sicily will be fuming, because there wasn’t much venom in the shove which he was pinged for.
But it was an off the-ball-hit and the AFL wants to crack down on these sorts of behind-play whacks.
To be fair, the Dogs had all the running in the last term and with the Hawks already two down, the red white and blue looked the most likely.
But Sicily has been in hot water for this sort of ill-discipline before and this one will stay with him because it hurt the Hawks in the thrilling finish.
The Dogs were in his face when the ball went back to the middle and the whistle was blown.
It was as if the Dogs thought he was a chance to do something silly, and were deliberately baiting him.
Whether it should have been paid will be debated for days and Wayne Carey said it was a soft free on Triple M.
But it was not the only controversy.
Only moments before Sicily, James Worpel gave away a free kick in the centre square as the momentum turned sharply in favour of the Dogs.
Gun midfielder Jack Macrae capitalised with a magnificent left foot snap to tie scores.
He was outstanding, Macrae, gathering 36 possessions to lead a midfield brigade which fought back from the dead.
Premiership coach Alastair Clarkson said the Hawks got what they deserved, declaring his team should not have been in winning position in the first place.
“I’ve seen lots of games like that and you get what you deserve in footy and we didn’t deserve to win today,’’ Clarkson said.
“Western Bulldogs were the better side and they deserved their win. We didn’t deserve to be five goals in front at three-quarter time, but you take it when it appears for you.
“But we got our just desserts, the best side won today.
“We were lucky it was only within a goal’s margin at half-time. The differential was nearly three times as many inside 50s as what we had in the first half, so we were lucky we were anywhere within a bull’s roar at half-time.
“It was a disappointing day for us overall. We put ourselves into a winning position strangely enough when we never should have been in that position to be fair.
“But once we did get into that position, to succumb like we did was really disappointing. We have got some work to do ... we will rue this missed opportunity.”
They’ve been nowhere for two years, the Dogs, but, after an admirable win against Sydney last week, and this miraculous effort, they’ve got some confidence back.
That intensity, toughness and camaraderie has returned, and this win will go a long way to restoring some belief.
HAWKS’ CALAMITY
The Hawks could have put this one beyond the Bulldogs’ reach late in the last term.
Up by 12 points, Tom Scully had the ball at half forward and kicked long into the forward line.
But Jon Ceglar and Jarryd Roughead got in each other’s road and the ball went streaming down the other end for a Bulldogs goal as Schache, Tory Dickson and Toby McLean fired late.
The Dogs have been wanting to find more avenues to goal and Schache’s form will delight the Dogs’ coaching staff after a slow start at the kennel.
The Bulldogs had all the legs late, and the Hawthorn injuries to Shiels and Burgoyne are going to significantly test the Hawk’s midfield depth over the next month.
Shiels (left hamstring) went off in the second term and Burgoyne (right) lasted only one minute in the third term when he headed downstairs with the club doctor.
BUTCHERING BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs dominated possession in the second term but failed to capitalise on the scoreboard.
Beveridge would have been pulling his hair out as his troops amassed a whopping 23 forward 50m entries but managed to score only two goals for the second term.
Brilliant youngsters Ed Richards and Bailey Smith were two who hit their targets with beautiful spearing passes inside 50m.
The blue-chip wingmen could make a lethal combination in red white and blue for the next decade.
But as a whole, there were many opportunities wasted. Hawthorn did well to absorb the barrage and trail by only four points at the main change.
Sicily stood up for the Hawks on the last line early, but was the talking point late.
But there was a lack of run between the arcs as they struggled to get the ball past the wing for the term.
UNSELFISH HAWKS
This was so unselfish from Jack Gunston.
The premiership forward was hemmed in tight on the boundary line midway through the third term when he saw something out of the corner of his eye.
Instead of blazing away at goal, Gunston curled a pass to Jaeger O’Meara who was standing all alone 20m out directly in front.
O’Meara goaled, but this was magic from Gunston, as the Hawks wrestled back momentum in the third term.
Minutes later Roughead produced a similarly clever snap, lobbing one perfectly into the path of Gunston, who put the Hawks up by three points.
At the same time, the Dogs were butchering the ball out of the back half.
Hawthorn slammed home seven goals for the term, six of them from Bulldogs’ turnovers.
Amid that streak, the shortest man on the ground Caleb Daniel was twice beaten in the air by taller opponents for Hawthorn majors.
INJURIES NO EXCUSE
The Hawks finished the match with Burgoyne and Shiels on the bench, cutting their fit interchange players in half for the final quarter. But Clarkson refused to use the injuries as an excuse. He said he was not yet sure of the severity of the injuries to the pair until they had scans.
“We had them up and going early on and it had very little determination on the result on my view,’’ Clarkson said.
“We were beaten up by a side that wanted the ball more and used it better and we played into their hands a little bit, so we have got to learn from it and lick our wounds a bit.
“Get some fresh guys in if we have got a couple that are going to be out and get ourselves better for the Kangaroos next week.
“I just know their soft-tissue stuff that they couldn’t come back on the ground ... once the call comes from the docs that they’re out, we don’t worry about what it is.’’
SCOREBOARD
HAWTHORN 13.9 (87)
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WESTERN BULLDOGS 16.10 (106)
GOALS
Hawthorn: Gunston 4, Roughead 2, Puopolo 2, Breust, Smith, O’Meara, Cousins, Henderson
Western Bulldogs: Schache 4, Dickson 3, Gowers 3, McLean 2, Naughton, Wallis, Macrae, Liberatore
JAY CLARK’S BEST
Hawthorn: Henderson, O’Meara, Gunston, McEvoy, Worpel, Sicily
Western Bulldogs: Macrae, Liberatore, Daniel, Suckling, Schache, Bontempelli, Daniel, Hunter, Wallis
JAY CLARK’S VOTES
3 — Macrae
2 — Liberatore
1 — Henderson
INJURIES
Hawthorn: Shiels (hamstring), Burgoyne (hamstring)
Western Bulldogs: Williams (rested) replaced in selected side by Young
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Donlon, Mollison, Power
Official crowd: 39,368 at the MCG
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