AFL round 8 Hawthorn v Richmond: Hawks too strong for Richmond in club’s 100th anniversary
In a day which brought some of the greatest goalkickers in the game’s history back to Hawthorn, Jack Gunston kicked his 500th goal. Here’s why he deserves to walk alongside Dunstall and co.
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Jack Gunston began the season in the Hawthorn coaches’ box, but after a golden six-week run finds himself in the hunt for the most unlikely of maiden Coleman Medals.
The 33-year-old Hawks veteran brought up his 500th career goal with a crisp snap across his body and added two more to pull into equal third alongside Nick Larkey, Riley Thilthorpe and Josh Treacy in the league goalkicking.
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Coach and former teammate Sam Mitchell said it was “phenomenal” that Gunston, who stands at 193cm and is just as lean as he was 10 years ago, was matching the output of the game’s giant key forwards in his 16th season.
“You see how good he is, when every draft, (the player profiles read) ‘who does he play like? Jack Gunston’. And I’m like, ‘if it’s not Jack Gunston, who is it’? There’s only a handful of players who can play the role he does across a generation,” Mitchell said after the Hawks’ 65-point win over Richmond on Sunday.
“You look at how many players his height and build who have kicked a lot of goals and have that position in a team … it’s not a usual position that he plays, and I think he’s really created something in the game.”
Plaudits were coming for Gunston’s training standards and intraclub game performances over the pre-season, but he still found himself out of the side when the Hawks travelled to face Sydney in opening round, and again when they played Essendon.
With Calsher Dear and Mitch Lewis recovering from long-term injuries, it signalled Gunston was set to be only used sparingly through the season, but instead he seized his chance in round 2 and is proving a distinct threat to opponents.
Gunston’s season tally of 20.8 from six games gives him the highest goals per game of his career and has put him on a trajectory to topple his best ever haul of 58 goals in 2014.
His disposals and tackle numbers have also returned to levels that have not been seen since he won Hawthorn’s best and fairest in 2020.
“It’s been unreal. To start the year like that. I think he’s just a great role model for everyone at the club. He always looks to improve others around him, and he makes the team better, so it’s just great to have him at the club and have him hitting the scoreboard like that,” teammate Massimo D’Ambrosio said.
“I think he’s just such a selfless human being – he gives back to others, and he’s just getting repaid for the work he’s doing during the week.
“He had a great pre-season, it set him up to be playing good footy like he is now, and he deserves the accolades that he’s getting, because he works bloody hard.”
Hawthorn’s centenary celebration on Sunday brought goalkicking greats including Jason Dunstall and Peter Hudson back around the players as they prepared to walk up the race before the game, and Mitchell said Gunston could comfortably stand among them.
“At the next version of whatever today was, he’ll fit quite comfortably in the group that was here today,” Mitchell said.
CELEBRATION TO REMEMBER FOR HAWKS
It was a celebration to remember but a game to forget for Hawthorn as it brushed aside Richmond in an error-riddled affair to remain in the top four.
The club that prides itself on taking “the hard way” found the most unattractive route possible to secure a 65-point win over the Tigers, who were toothless in front of goal and failed to score a major until time on in the second term.
AFL fixture staffers will sleep easier over their Friday night scheduling decision after there were more turnovers in the first half of the Sunday afternoon clash than when St Kilda thumped Fremantle.
Richmond pumped repeat entries inside 50 during the first term only for Hawk recruits Tom Barrass (who finished with three contested marks) and Josh Battle (10 intercepts) to pluck everything out of the skies and send the ball back to halfway.
The match followed an exhausting pattern before Hawthorn finally broke the shackles and returned the ball to their forward half, scoring immediately out the back through Finn Maginness to punish the less experienced side.
After a superman dive by Barrass on the goal line again denied the Tigers their first goal midway through the second term, coach Adem Yze rose from his seat and stormed out of the box.
His frustration lay as much with his senior players as the Tigers’ younger forwards, with Tom Lynch enduring a dirty day to finish with 0.3 from seven disposals.
Under pressure to step up with Karl Amon sidelined by concussion, Massimo D’Ambrosio played his best game of the season for two goals and 796m gained to lead Hawthorn’s assault in the second half as they piled on nine goals to four.
SICILY SPARKS MELEE
The AFL will be able to put down a deposit on a four-bedroom in Fitzroy North with the fines it will receive from a brawl involving a dozen players after James Sicily dragged down Maurice Rioli Jr in a tackle late in the first term.
Sicily showed the ball back to Rioli after winning the free kick following a comical stand-off against the boundary on Richmond’s halfback line, angering Tim Taranto to the extent he barged over the mark and knocked the Hawks skipper to the ground.
More than a dozen players rushed in, including a furious Jarman Impey and Jayden Short who continued to trade barbs after Sicily was escorted to the goalsquare for an easy major.
BOOS AND BREUS
Returning from his curfew-enforced week off, Noah Balta began strongly but was showered with boos by Hawthorn supporters every time he gained possession.
The crowd response to his return might be the least of his worries though after he limped off in the dying moments of the game with an injury concern and slumped down in a seat away from the bench next to the Richmond trainer.
The volume of the boos did not match the reception for veteran forward Luke Breust, who surprisingly returned for the full game and had his trademark shimmy up and running as he finished with 1.1 and five score involvements.
HAWK ERAS TOUR
The bright yellow daytime fireworks were an unusual choice, but the Hawks – and special guest team song performer Kate Ceberano – celebrated their centenary in high spirits with about 200 past players and coaches accepting invitations to attend the game.
Among them was four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson, who would have enjoyed seeing his former charge Jack Gunston continue to wind back the clock.
The 33-year-old kicked three goals and easily could have had two more to push into the top three for the Coleman Medal despite missing the first fortnight of the season.
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Originally published as AFL round 8 Hawthorn v Richmond: Hawks too strong for Richmond in club’s 100th anniversary
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