AFL: Hawthorn claim seventh MCG win in a row against Essendon as Karl Amon stars

Much has been made of James Sicily’s new-found freedom after Hawthorn traded in Tom Barrass and Josh Battle. But another Hawk is flying under the radar without much attention at all.

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The Hawthorn mosquito fleet was never going to stay quiet for a second week.

Hawks coach Sam Mitchell could have turned to veteran Jack Gunston in conditions far friendlier to key forwards than the week before, but he backed in his smaller charges and they delivered.

Nick Watson and Jack Ginnivan combined for five goals in a superb first half, and when Essendon came knocking late in the third quarter, it was the Wizard and Dylan Moore who popped up to relieve the pressure.

Seven teams have to face Hawthorn at the MCG (Carlton, Collingwood and Melbourne have to do it twice), and the other 10 sides will not be envious.

Since they were thumped by Sydney in round 7 last year, the Hawks have won seven consecutive matches there by an average margin of 49 points.

The Hawks’ foot skills and spread on the vast expanses of their home ground have brutally exposed any chink in their opponent’s armour, and Essendon was cut to pieces in a 15-minute burst that yielded six unanswered goals.

Brad Scott and the Bombers were able to slow the game and trap the Hawks in their back half for significant periods after quarter-time, but how many sides will be capable of doing that for long enough to beat them?

Nick Watson hit back in a big way after being well held in Opening Round.

His partner in crime Jack Ginnivan also got in on the act.

The ringleader of the first-term onslaught, Karl Amon, waltzed off halfback with an inexplicable lack of attention from Essendon’s forwards to rack up nine effective disposals with 311m gained and two goal assists.

It was his best game in brown and gold, and so far he appears to have been the main beneficiary of the arrivals of Tom Barrass and Josh Battle.

Blake Hardwick dedicates his goal to his newborn baby, Zoe 🥰#AFLHawksDonspic.twitter.com/DYl9U0uUje

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Mabior Chol celebrates a goal during Hawthorn’s first-half surge.

Barrass, Battle and Sicily were top-three on the ground for intercept possessions, and their cohesiveness in their first fortnight as a trio would be beyond most line coaches’ wildest dreams.

The loss of Jack Scrimshaw to concussion may have thrown the balance of the backline, and the Hawks could look smaller than Sam Frost to replace him while he is sidelined.

If Hawthorn felt Scrimshaw’s absence, Essendon was affected far more by his stray forearm to the head of Jordan Ridley, which rubbed the defender out of the second half and out of next week against Adelaide and its trio of key forwards.

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Skipper Zach Merrett did his best to inspire the Bombers.

The Bombers will be asked why they left Ridley on the field and failed to give him a SCAT6 test before he was removed at halftime, but Brad Scott and his coaching staff have other questions to answer.

Ben McKay – all 202cm of him – spent most of his time opposed to Blake Hardwick and Finn Maginness, yet failed to have any aerial impact.

McKay did not register a touch until midway through the second term and finished with just seven disposals to his name, while the Hawks’ lone tall Mabior Chol was all over an understandably rusty Zach Reid.

Ben Hobbs was one of the Bombers who struggled for game time.

Dylan Shiel’s first game as a halfback could be his last, after he repeatedly torched the ball by foot.

Mason Redman was sent into the midfield in a surprise move and had some success curtailing opening round star Will Day (16 touches), but it came at the expense of opportunities for Ben Hobbs, who was kept to the periphery after a strong pre-season.

Hobbs spent just 64 per cent time on ground, while Nick Bryan (63 per cent) and Elijah Tsatas (57) were not given secondary roles outside of their centre-bounce duties.

Sam Draper pushed forward regularly, but was rarely trusted by Essendon’s midfielders with long deliveries as they became increasingly conscious of Barrass, Battle and Sicily.

It could be a long few weeks without Kyle Langford for the Bombers if they cannot make their two ruckmen relevant forward of the ball.

Josh Battle, Jai Newcombe, Sam Mitchell, Will Day and Jarman Impey sing the song. Picture: Getty Images

MITCHELL: LOTS TO IMPROVE ON FOR HAWKS

- Tyler Lewis

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says the way his side defeated Essendon on Friday night is “not sustainable” across the length of the season.

Despite their 26-point win over the Bombers, making them 2-0, Mitchell is adamant the Hawks still have work to do.

He referenced their losses in key statistical areas like clearance, contested possession and tackles post game.

“I think Essendon, I haven’t heard any of Scotty’s press conference, but I imagine some parts of the game they would have been pretty happy with,” Mitchell said.

“We had enough of a lead to be able to hold them off but we had some key moments that were important.

“In seasons like this you’re going to have to win games where you lose some stats but it’s not sustainable to keep winning in that style.”

Sam Mitchell was happy with the win, but admits there’s plenty to work on. Picture: Getty Images

The Hawks were lifted by 20 intercept possessions between Josh Battle, Tom Barrass and James Sicily as well as 10 goals between small forwards Nick Watson, Blake Hardwick, Dylan Moore and Jack Ginnivan.

Mitchell believes his side is good enough to challenge the best teams in the competition but says “there’s a lot of areas that need attention”.

“The story we’ve sort of thought about is that we’ve got a fair bit of work to do but our best is pretty good,” he said.

“We saw probably a bit of both of those tonight, we lost a lot of statistics that said we shouldn’t win that game.

“We got a touch up at clearance, we lost inside 50 by 10, we not only lost contested possession by 20 but we also lost tackles by close to that as well.

“There’s a lot of areas that need attention for us but we were able to kick 111 points and win the game.

“That part (the score) makes me happy but some of the underlining stuff, we’ve got some work to do.”

Jack Scrimshaw was subbed out of the game with concussion and will miss next Thursday’s match against Carlton.

Scrimshaw was able to leave the field but was bleeding excessively from his face after clashing heads with Battle.

Mitchell couldn’t detail the severity of Scrimshaw’s injury but confirmed the defender was verbal in the rooms at half time.

“He (Scrimshaw) will certainly miss the next game, he had some other stuff going on but nothing has been confirmed at this stage,” he said.

“He will get checked out over the next couple of days, it was pretty hard for his family to see injuries like that, it’s just unfortunate in the game we play.

“We were fortunate that he was still talking and chatting away in the rooms, he said to me at half time ‘make sure you get the win’.”

Originally published as AFL: Hawthorn claim seventh MCG win in a row against Essendon as Karl Amon stars