IN NEWS unlikely to surprise Hawthorn fans, the Hawks have given up three leads of at least four goals to lose matches this year.
The rebuilding side went through a particularly rough patch between rounds six and nine, coughing up significant leads against Sydney, Essendon and Richmond to record losses.
The Tigers themselves have coughed two 24-point-plus leads, including last week's thriller against Sydney.
Losses from a lead of at least 24 points in 2022
|
Round |
Club |
Opponent |
Biggest lead |
Final Margin |
|
1 |
Port Adelaide |
Brisbane |
24 |
-11 |
|
2 |
Essendon |
Brisbane |
24 |
-22 |
|
3 |
Collingwood |
Geelong |
37 |
-13 |
|
3 |
Richmond |
St Kilda |
25 |
-33 |
|
6 |
Hawthorn |
Sydney |
32 |
-41 |
|
8 |
Hawthorn |
Essendon |
25 |
-27 |
|
9 |
Hawthorn |
Richmond |
25 |
-23 |
|
11 |
Richmond |
Sydney |
33 |
-6 |
|
11 |
Melbourne |
Fremantle |
30 |
-38 |
|
11 |
GWS |
Brisbane |
30 |
-14 |
"You can look at that last incident, but the fact of the matter is we were up by 30 (33) points, it's easy to look at the last game, but we should have iced the game," Hardwick said after the Swans loss.
"Seventy-five per cent of the time I thought we were pretty good, 25 per cent lapse – especially in the third quarter – there were some things we thought we could have done a bit better.
"Everyone will always look at the last play and the what-ifs, but the fact of the matter is, if you're 33 points up, you shouldn't lose."
On the flip side, if there's a lesson to be learnt from the first half of the season, it's to never write off Brisbane.
The Lions have come back to win from at least four goals down on three occasions, knocking off Port Adelaide, Essendon and GWS.
Geelong has come back from the largest margin (37) to win this year, while Sydney completed an astonishing 73-point turnaround against the Hawks after giving up a 32-point head start in Launceston on Anzac Day.