The numbers that prove Hawthorn’s midfield is struggling early in the 2019 AFL season
They are the early season numbers that demonstrate the devastating effect of the loss of Tom Mitchell to Hawthorn’s engine room. NICK SMART looks at how things have gone so wrong in the middle.
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They are the early season numbers that demonstrate the devastating effect of the loss of Tom Mitchell to Hawthorn’s engine room.
After two rounds, Champion Data has the Hawks’ midfield ranked 17th for disposal differential, 17th for uncontested possession differential and 14th for contested possessions differential.
For clearance differentials they’re ranked dead last.
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They now also must contend with the loss of Shaun Burgoyne and Liam Shiels to hamstring injuries.
It is an early season conundrum for coach Alastair Clarkson, whose 1-1 side now meet North Melbourne on Sunday.
The midfield has been eroded, but Hawks forward Jack Gunston believed his side had the depth to cover the losses.
“Dan Howe is up and going again, and we’ve got David Mirra, who was pretty unlucky to miss on the weekend,” he said.
“Chad (Wingard) is going really well on the track at the moment.
“We’ve got a lot of guys ready to come in and our philosophy is always lose a soldier, replace one.
“We have a really strong system here and anyone can step in at any time.”
Clarkson threw recruit Tom Scully straight in last week without having played a practice game.
Gunston said he would have no issue if Wingard followed the same route as Scully.
“All the signs are that he’s training really well,” he said.
“It’s hard to bring a guy with that talent and not play him when he feels ready.
“He obviously had a setback a few weeks ago with that calf injury, so we’ve had to delay his debut with the club.
“We’ll make sure he’s right to go, and if he is ready then it is hard to keep a guy like that out.”
Hawthorn surrendered a five-goal lead at the final change to lose to the Bulldogs by 19 points last Sunday.
Gunston said it was a bitter pill to swallow.
“We only played only about a quarter-and-a-half of good footy,” he said.
“There’s a lot of positives in that but also a lot of negatives in that we let them kick nine goals to one in the last quarter.
“That hasn’t happened too many times in my time here and it was disappointing.”