Hawks supporter Simon Morawetz reviews the Semi Final clash between Hawthorn and the Kangaroos.
To Hawthorn’s credit – or perhaps due to the failure of the Roos to put us away until then – it was only midway through the final term when I truly realised that these would be the last minutes of Hawks action I would witness for Season 07. The decisive blow was not a courageous Kangaroo tackle, or goal against the flow, but rather one incident at the 14 minute mark (yes – I was taking notes!) of the last period. A long ball went inside 50, but my racing heart quickly sank when I noticed it was heading to a 3-on-1. Never fear, Robbie “More-than-just-gets-the-job-done” Campbell brought it down – a chest mark! – inside the 3 defenders. Outstanding! Less spectacular than the first quarter speccie, but far more talented and level-headed. However, the resultant kick from 25 metres missed the lot. It was a tired kick, and it seemed to sum up the look of the boys after half time. It’s been a long season, and it just seemed a bit beyond the young lungs and legs. It was telling that, in the last quarter alone, at least three times, a Kangaroo picked up the ball, sized up the situation, and decided he could take on his opponent in a footrace. And won.
In the very first minute, #27 for the Kangaroos had us all scrambling for the Footy Record to find out who this guy actually was. Turns out we were to become quite acquainted with one Aaron Edwards, particularly over the next 10 minutes. “It’s his day,” murmured my neutral friend next to me, after an impressive hanger. The Kangas were winning clearances early, on account of the loose players behind the pack that my sister had warned me the Hawks needed to man up, but Jarryd Roughead kept the goal tally level with a cheeky snap from the behind post. The Hawks were matching their opponents for Inside 50s, but the umpires seemed hellbent on clipping Buddy Franklin’s ever-expanding wings, penalising him five times in the first quarter alone. Brad Sewell was winning the ball prolifically, and Brent Guerra was providing plenty of run. But the Kangas’ defence was as tight as a pair of footy shorts, and was all night, keeping up with our forwards’ leads and spoiling effectively. Combined with some sprayed shots at goal, the Hawks were down by eight at the first change.
There was a sense of urgency emanating from the Hawks, which led them to create phantom pressure and rush disposals. The error count was rising, and it was the Kangas’ poor kicking that kept us within striking distance. Buddy Franklin’s first mark-kick-goal from a tight angle, followed by one more to “Take A” Chance Bateman after an inspirational holding the ball saw the margin ten points. The Hawks needed just two more kicks… but they also needed those kicks to be goals, which they weren’t, and the margin at half time was eight points again, effectively leaving the second term completely redundant. I was impressed enough with the boys’ endeavour in the first half. They were still in front of the Inside 50s, but the engine room was being beaten as comprehensively as I can remember, unable to get first hands to it or clear the ball with any effectiveness. Sewell and Ricky Ladson were disposal-happy and Shane “Play-of-the-Day” Crawford was popping up everywhere, but too many of us were letting too few do the work. Still, the air was tense with an impending Hawk charge, surely not too far away…
An explosive start to the second half saw Guerra kick the opener from beyond the arc after a WonderTackle by Roughead. The Hawks’ pressure was intense, with solid second efforts, smothers and at times laying chains of up to four tackles in a row, but the Roos managed to do just enough to withstand it. After an assault like that, ending up without the ball is deflating. Ladson did capitalise on one Kanga Clanga and helped Buddy slot his second, and the margin was eight again. But the Roos had two more in the bag to take a 17 point lead at the last change. Mr Neutral next to me was blue in the face justifying the umpiring – which gifted three goals to the Roos in the third quarter alone – until he couldn’t possibly come up with anything for Trent Croad’s “high contact” on Edwards. The quarter (and, to an extent, the game) could be summed up nicely by one event: I’m talking about Croad’s entertaining, high-flying “fresh-airy” on defensive 50m. It was ambitious, intense and technically proficient, just poorly executed. And it resulted in a Kangas free kick. As the team huddled, the Hawks faithful prayed to Clarko to weave some magic.
An opening minute goalmouth scramble gave the perfect start to the Hawks, with Buddy’s soccer curving painfully close the post but through for a goal. Three minutes later, all was forgotten as the non-officiating umpire gave the Kangas the reply. A fatal error, another goal, and it was goodnight, the lead 27 points heading into time on. Jordan Lewis did his bit, dribbling a goal after a long, solid buildup. But it was all academic, and a few late ones to the Roos blew the game out to an unbecoming 33 points. It was a game won by the better team – the Hawks had the game’s two top possession-getters despite having 50 fewer touches than the Kangas, but the Kangas had far more contributors. The positives were the tackling and pressure, which never let up, and the inside 50 count which forced the Roos defence to earn their wages. Sewell was the Hawks’ best, Guerra ran harder than 24 weeks of footy would suggest, and Rob Campbell won hardball better than anyone on the ground. The major downside was that we only managed two goals in each quarter, hardly enough to consider a winning score.
OK, I’ll admit it: I did not think the Hawks would make the finals this year, let alone make a convincing push for the top four. I was thinking longer term (Hawks 08!). But the boys were mighty impressive, exceeding expectations and playing a praiseworthy brand of exciting running football. I’m excited to see how they will learn from this experience and how unstoppable our forwardline will be with Mark Williams thrown back in there.
Simon Morawetz
*************
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author andnot necessarily those of the Hawthorn Football Club. hawthornfc.com.auwould like to acknowledge the contribution of supporters to theOfficial Club website. If you would like to sign up to write forhawthornfc.com.au click here for more details.
* The Hawks raised $800 for HSBCkids after kicking 8 goals against the Kangaroos.
To Hawthorn’s credit – or perhaps due to the failure of the Roos to put us away until then – it was only midway through the final term when I truly realised that these would be the last minutes of Hawks action I would witness for Season 07. The decisive blow was not a courageous Kangaroo tackle, or goal against the flow, but rather one incident at the 14 minute mark (yes – I was taking notes!) of the last period. A long ball went inside 50, but my racing heart quickly sank when I noticed it was heading to a 3-on-1. Never fear, Robbie “More-than-just-gets-the-job-done” Campbell brought it down – a chest mark! – inside the 3 defenders. Outstanding! Less spectacular than the first quarter speccie, but far more talented and level-headed. However, the resultant kick from 25 metres missed the lot. It was a tired kick, and it seemed to sum up the look of the boys after half time. It’s been a long season, and it just seemed a bit beyond the young lungs and legs. It was telling that, in the last quarter alone, at least three times, a Kangaroo picked up the ball, sized up the situation, and decided he could take on his opponent in a footrace. And won.
In the very first minute, #27 for the Kangaroos had us all scrambling for the Footy Record to find out who this guy actually was. Turns out we were to become quite acquainted with one Aaron Edwards, particularly over the next 10 minutes. “It’s his day,” murmured my neutral friend next to me, after an impressive hanger. The Kangas were winning clearances early, on account of the loose players behind the pack that my sister had warned me the Hawks needed to man up, but Jarryd Roughead kept the goal tally level with a cheeky snap from the behind post. The Hawks were matching their opponents for Inside 50s, but the umpires seemed hellbent on clipping Buddy Franklin’s ever-expanding wings, penalising him five times in the first quarter alone. Brad Sewell was winning the ball prolifically, and Brent Guerra was providing plenty of run. But the Kangas’ defence was as tight as a pair of footy shorts, and was all night, keeping up with our forwards’ leads and spoiling effectively. Combined with some sprayed shots at goal, the Hawks were down by eight at the first change.
There was a sense of urgency emanating from the Hawks, which led them to create phantom pressure and rush disposals. The error count was rising, and it was the Kangas’ poor kicking that kept us within striking distance. Buddy Franklin’s first mark-kick-goal from a tight angle, followed by one more to “Take A” Chance Bateman after an inspirational holding the ball saw the margin ten points. The Hawks needed just two more kicks… but they also needed those kicks to be goals, which they weren’t, and the margin at half time was eight points again, effectively leaving the second term completely redundant. I was impressed enough with the boys’ endeavour in the first half. They were still in front of the Inside 50s, but the engine room was being beaten as comprehensively as I can remember, unable to get first hands to it or clear the ball with any effectiveness. Sewell and Ricky Ladson were disposal-happy and Shane “Play-of-the-Day” Crawford was popping up everywhere, but too many of us were letting too few do the work. Still, the air was tense with an impending Hawk charge, surely not too far away…
An explosive start to the second half saw Guerra kick the opener from beyond the arc after a WonderTackle by Roughead. The Hawks’ pressure was intense, with solid second efforts, smothers and at times laying chains of up to four tackles in a row, but the Roos managed to do just enough to withstand it. After an assault like that, ending up without the ball is deflating. Ladson did capitalise on one Kanga Clanga and helped Buddy slot his second, and the margin was eight again. But the Roos had two more in the bag to take a 17 point lead at the last change. Mr Neutral next to me was blue in the face justifying the umpiring – which gifted three goals to the Roos in the third quarter alone – until he couldn’t possibly come up with anything for Trent Croad’s “high contact” on Edwards. The quarter (and, to an extent, the game) could be summed up nicely by one event: I’m talking about Croad’s entertaining, high-flying “fresh-airy” on defensive 50m. It was ambitious, intense and technically proficient, just poorly executed. And it resulted in a Kangas free kick. As the team huddled, the Hawks faithful prayed to Clarko to weave some magic.
An opening minute goalmouth scramble gave the perfect start to the Hawks, with Buddy’s soccer curving painfully close the post but through for a goal. Three minutes later, all was forgotten as the non-officiating umpire gave the Kangas the reply. A fatal error, another goal, and it was goodnight, the lead 27 points heading into time on. Jordan Lewis did his bit, dribbling a goal after a long, solid buildup. But it was all academic, and a few late ones to the Roos blew the game out to an unbecoming 33 points. It was a game won by the better team – the Hawks had the game’s two top possession-getters despite having 50 fewer touches than the Kangas, but the Kangas had far more contributors. The positives were the tackling and pressure, which never let up, and the inside 50 count which forced the Roos defence to earn their wages. Sewell was the Hawks’ best, Guerra ran harder than 24 weeks of footy would suggest, and Rob Campbell won hardball better than anyone on the ground. The major downside was that we only managed two goals in each quarter, hardly enough to consider a winning score.
OK, I’ll admit it: I did not think the Hawks would make the finals this year, let alone make a convincing push for the top four. I was thinking longer term (Hawks 08!). But the boys were mighty impressive, exceeding expectations and playing a praiseworthy brand of exciting running football. I’m excited to see how they will learn from this experience and how unstoppable our forwardline will be with Mark Williams thrown back in there.
Simon Morawetz
*************
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author andnot necessarily those of the Hawthorn Football Club. hawthornfc.com.auwould like to acknowledge the contribution of supporters to theOfficial Club website. If you would like to sign up to write forhawthornfc.com.au click here for more details.
* The Hawks raised $800 for HSBCkids after kicking 8 goals against the Kangaroos.
