Alastair Clarkson says Hawthorn’s era of success is not done yet after loss to West Coast leaves finals hopes in tatters
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says people would be foolish to write off the Hawks, declaring the club can rise again to be a contender next season after an agonising loss to West Coast.
Hawthorn
Don't miss out on the headlines from Hawthorn. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Jamie Cripps kicked the goal that was as big a kick in the guts as Hawthorn could have received.
It was the West Coast forward’s third in a game on a wickedly wintry MCG day that needed effort until the end from the reigning premier to ultimately win by only that six points.
Five goals from Jack Darling and a stunning final quarter surge from Norm Smith medallist Luke Shuey potentially sealed Hawthorn’s finals fate as they slipped to 5-9.
In a last quarter marked by five lead changes the Eagles outlasted a Hawks outfit which only entered the contest at halftime, and couldn’t go all the way.
Down by 20 points at the main break, and staring down the barrel of his team’s season being over, Hawk coach Alastair Clarkson looked like he’d conjured something special.
Hawthorn didn’t kick a goal in the second term, and for the second half of the first term either.
But in the third term, after some halftime magic from the man who has crafted four flags and has committed to finding a fifth for the brown and gold, Hawthorn showed up.
In the premiership quarter, the premier wilted. The rain that had peppered the opening two quarters, in which West Coast was markedly better than its opponent, disappeared.
It was replaced by a hailstorm of Hawthorn pressure and, as if caught by complete surprise, the Eagles succumbed.
Hawthorn had 10 scoring shots to one as the Hawks upped their physical pressure and sacked the short-kicking strategy that was never going to work in the wet.
They banged the ball long again and again, and it lived in their forward 50.
KENNETT: FIXTURE COST HAWKS $1 MILLION
MAX GAWN: MY FAVOURITE LEFT-FIELD FOOTBALLERS
MALTHOUSE: THE CASE FOR RICHO
It was enough to snare the lead going in to a last quarter which was energy sapping for the 31,895 watching at the MCG, so triple that for those on the field.
Contest after contest required the purest of commitment.
No one committed more than Shuey. Evoking memories of his Norm Smith medal winning effort, he surged in the final 30 minutes, collecting 15 possessions and six clearances in a matchwinning effort.
IN THE NIC OF TIME
Nic Naitanui slipped at the first centre bounce in his comeback game.
But in the next three minutes, after the Eagles kicked the opening goal inside 30 seconds, he orchestrated the next centre clearance and found the footy three or four times including a snap on goal.
Time on the bench was arguably his biggest stat after that as the Eagles coaching staff eased back the man who could prove the recruit of the year.
When he was on the ground Naitanui showed all the old traits. He flew for hangers, smashed guys with the footy in all-body tackles and was a huge presence at the stoppages he got to.
West Coast has now won seven of its past eight games, and included Naitanui with more than enough games to have him at his best when it counts, in the finals.
Asked on Fox Footy after the siren how hard his return was on his lungs, Naitanui replied: “Real hard. Welcome back to footy.”
“We fought really hard in the last little bit there, but to get a win over a good team that we haven’t beaten here in a while is a really good feeling,” he said.
Naitanui played just 58 per cent of the game despite a hamstring injury to Mark Hutchings reducing the Eagles to just three men on the bench for the entire second half.
“We went a little bit over I think. But it wasn’t too far from what we planned at the start,” he said.
“I was getting a bit bored sitting on the bench for a while, but that’s the natural progression, I guess.
“That’ll continue to grow over the next few weeks.”
S ICILY IS BACK
James Sicily got what most would suggest he wants with a return to the backline after a short-lived and unproductive couple of weeks as a makeshift forward.
His return to defence brought with it a return to his angry man ways.
After a dirty first half Sicily found his groove in Hawthorn’s third term resurgence. It also livened up his umpire interaction.
A free kick against him for a block in the last quarter, which resulted in Jack Darling’s fourth goal, didn’t go down well.
“How do you blokes get a game,” he said to one of the whistleblowers.
It wasn’t quite “you sound like a girl”, but could earn Sicily a please explain from headquarters.
HOWE GOOD
The tagger is back in vogue and the value of a well-done lock down job just cannot be understated.
Elliot Yeo is a dual West Coast best-and-fairest, and his drive for his team’s midfield is so often a catalyst for their wins.
Hawk Daniel Howe was his permanent shadow on a day the sun refused to shine, and Yeo was a bit the same.
The possession tally at the end of the game was 16 to the Eagle and Howe had eight.
But the Hawk’s impact was massive, and not just because he kicked a crucial last quarter goal, but also because he stopped Yeo having the impact he normally would.
CLARKO: DON’T WRITE US OFF NEXT YEAR
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson and his players won’t “sook” after their 2019 campaign went on to life-support adamant recent history gives his team the perfect blueprint for a 2020 bounce back.
The Hawks have just five wins from 14 games ahead of a Friday night clash with Collingwood.
It’s unfamiliar territory for the Hawks who have played finals in 10 of the past 12 seasons.
But Clarkson, who this week put to bed any notion he would leave the Hawks, even spelling that out to his players, suggested the surge of Geelong this year, and even West Coast last year, was evidence no position was truly dire.
“We’ve been in this position plenty of times as a football club. Each of the past three premiers were in this position the year before they won a flag,” Clarkson said.
“You can sook about it but the competition is that close that sometimes it just takes a couple of players, some youngsters to emerge or a couple of guys you might secure from another club.
“You only have to look at the Cats. They re-jig the structure of their forward line … by bringing in (Luke) Dahlhaus and Gary Rohan, they play Joel (Selwood) out on the wing for a period of time and Gazza (Gary Ablett) at high half-forward, some sacrificial roles by really experienced players.
“Everyone thought they would be 0-6 … because they had a really tough draw. They were 6-0. They built that belief and now they are premiership favourites. It can turn very quickly.
“The West Coast Eagles, all the scribes thought they were going to finish in the bottom four last year and they won the flag.
“It feels like we are off the pace right at the minute and everyone is saying it’s the end of an era. But it was the end of an era after 2008 too when we were battling at 1-6 in 2010 and by the end of 2011 were in a prelim … and the next year we played in a Grand Final.”
HAWTHORN 3.3 3.6 7.13 9.17 (71)
WEST COAST 3.5 6.8 7.8 11.11 (77)
GOALS
Hawthorn: Breust, Nash, Gunston, Worpel, Burgoyne, Hanrahan, Smith, Henderson, Howe
West Coast: Darling 5, Cripps 3, Ryan 2, Shuey
BEST
Hawthorn: O’Meara, Worpel, Impey, Shiels, Howe, Frawley
West Coast: Shuey, Darling, Sheed, Hurn, Redden, Cripps
INJURIES
Hawthorn: Nil
West Coast: Hutchings (hamstring)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Stephens, Harris, Wallace
Official crowd: 31,895 at the MCG
Hawthorn takes over footy’s No.1 list
Three clubs have emerged from the 2024 season with the biggest stars in the AFL with a list of the top 50 players showing huge changes.
Trading places? How the biggest AFL deals will get done
Almost every AFL club is poised to get busy this trade period. See who your club is looking at, who they should be chasing and how they will get their deals done in our ultimate guide.