Round 16, Sunday 2 August
Box Hill City Oval
A full-strength Box Hill outfit upstaged the Casey Scorpions with a storming performance in the final three quarters to run out 14.10.94 to 8.13.61 winners.
The Hawks looked stagnant early but quickly reversed the trend, thrashing the fourth-placed Scorpions in the third quarter to set up an impressive fourth win of the campaign.
The win was the Hawks fourth in seven games and marks a very encouraging turnaround in form in the second half of the year.
It was the first time this year the side went in with a near full-strength lineup with Clinton Young, Tim Clarke, Brent Renouf, Jarryd Morton and Travis Tuck gracing the park.
Barry Mitchell stressed the importance of playing man-on-man in the second half and finally getting a full compliment of players on the park.
“We probably went a little bit more one-on-one, we were a little bit lax defensively in the first quarter so they kicked some easy goals in the first half and they probably had their chances to put us away but they didn’t,” Mitchell said.
“We probably didn’t capitalise early on in the year but we had a number of good players today (13 AFL-listed players) and it was good to have two ruckman in the side especially when they had (Michael) Gardiner in there,” he said.
It was a congested opening with neither side able to break free at the stoppages. There were large numbers around the ball leaving both forward lines very open.
Brendan Whitecross and Morton interchanged at full forward with the latter marking strongly in the second term to finish with three goals for the game.
The Hawks started to win their share in the middle and that, paired with Ben Smithwick’s lively performance as a crumbing forward in the second quarter, combined to see the Hawks close the gap to 12 points at half time.
The third quarter was what set up the win for the Hawks. After a serious injury to Casey’s Alex Silvagni, Box Hill went on a scoring rampage, dominating at the centre clearances while piling on seven goals for the quarter.
Zac Dawson switched forward with Digby Morrell going the other way, a move Mitchell said worked quite well.
“That was a pretty good move, he’s (Dawson) shown what he can do up forward this year and Diggers was solid down back.”
Dawson ended up with three goals to his name and kicked the crucial opening goal of the last term to snuff out any comeback the Scorpions had in mind.
Young sealed the deal with the next goal to make it 31 points and although he didn’t get a great deal of the ball Mitchell liked his work.
“I thought Young was good coming in and it was a pretty even performance across the board. I thought M&M played a great game, he shut out Charlie Gardiner which was really important.”
Highly-touted prospects Beau Dowler and Mitch Thorp are finally knocking on the door for the selection table at Hawthorn.
Since both have started playing a more general role across the ground their confidence has risen sky high, which will please Hawthorn and Box Hill supporters alike.
Dowler had 28 disposals, seven marks and six tackles in a very ‘complete’ performance while Thorp with (28, nine marks, one goal) did everything asked of him and more.
Time Clarke (30, seven) was ghosted as usual, while Steve Kenna (26, one goal) terrorised Casey’s defence and Tuck (22, seven tackles) was classy through the middle.
In addition, Renouf was outstanding on return in the ruck and McQueen-Miscamble hardly put a foot wrong down back.
It was a great day for Box Hill and looked to be a large stepping stone to future success.
The Hawks travel all the way to Bendigo next week to face the lowly Bombers, in a game the Hawks could well enter as favourites, but Mitchell says you never know what to expect.
“Who would know, we’re playing a lot better and we’re on a bit of a high but we’ll get over this one and see how we go next week,” he said.
Box Hill Hawks: 1.0 / 4.4 / 11.6 / 14.10 (94)
Casey Scorpions: 3.4 / 5.10 / 7.12 / 8.13 (61)
Goals: Dawson 3, Morton 3, Neville 2, Young 2, Kenna, Thorp, Pedersen, Smithwick
Best: Tuck, Markovic, Kenna, McQueen-Miscamble, Thorp, Renouf
Hawks In Reserve
Clinton Young – 12 touches, 2 goals. Frustrating first game for Box Hill. Didn’t get the same supply he normally relies upon, in a very congested game. Rallied the side when a Scorpions player was stretchered off and kicked two good goals.
Tim Clarke – 30 touches, 7 marks: Was tagged pretty heavily and copped a few big hits which he got straight back up from. Still racked up the touches and was one of the Hawks’ best.
Mitch Thorp – 27 disposals, 9 marks, 1 goal: Thorp played predominantly as a forward but, whether ordered to, or of his own accord, has being moving much further up the ground. As a result he has been finding a lot more of the ball like Dowler and has been able to throw his body around at the stoppages.
Jarryd Morton – 12 touches, 9 marks, 3 goals: Played in an advanced forward role usually one-out in the square. Took a couple of good grabs and contributed well with three goals. Showed that he could adapt to a forward role much like his brother Mitch at Richmond.
Alex Grima – 6 possessions: Was rarely sited and didn’t have a great impact on the game.
Matt Suckling – 16 touches, 2 marks, 3 tackles: Had a reasonable game with three I50’s to add to his 16 touches.
Brent Renouf – 15 touches, 5 marks, 21 hit outs: Such an important inclusion for the previously ‘ruckless’ Hawks. More than took it up to Michael Gardiner and offered strength and a tall marking option around the ground.
Beau Dowler – 28 disposals, 7 marks: Dowler’s upturn in form continued followed his move to defence and across the wing. Won a lot of the ball especially on the wing and showed his aptitude at ground level.
Travis Tuck – 22 disposals, 7 tackles: Ball use was very good and played a key role in the midfield with his hardness and willingness to tackle. Was targeted by the opposition as one of the most damaging players on the field.
Josh Kennedy – 13 possessions, 4 marks: Down on his usual output despite the congested game suiting his style of play. Unusually, didn’t win a clearance for the game.
Zac Dawson – 18 touches, 11 marks, 3 goal. Played a vital role, was used as a defender for the first half acquitting himself well before moving forward to snag three goals and the all important first of the final term. Looked dangerous deep in the forward line.
Brendan Whitecross – 12 possessions, 3 marks: Played a deeper role in the forward line for stages but didn’t manage a major. May struggle to find a spot back in the midfield with the quality players that have returned.
Timothy Walsh – 9 disposals, 19 hit outs. Played back-up to Brent Renouf, who returned from injury to boost the Hawks. Got his fair share of hit outs for the time he was on against a quality ruckman in Michael Gardiner.
