Round 3, Casey Fields
Sunday 13 April
A gutsy Box Hill Hawks never gave up as they suffered their third successive defeat at the hands of the Casey Scorpions.
In a rare night appearance the Hawks were outclassed by 33 points at Casey Fields but resembled nothing of the side that were handed a 129-point drubbing at the same ground in Round 2 last season.
Box Hill coach Barry Mitchell is still yet to get off the mark with a win in charge but was encouraged by the performance.
“We kicked maybe the last five goals (four) and finished off OK, it was also pleasing because we only had seven or eight Hawthorn-listed players to Casey’s 14 (St Kilda players).”
In fact, the Hawks went into the clash without Mark Williams, Beau Dowler (foot), Tim Clarke and hard-nut Josh Kennedy from last week which was always going to make the task all the more difficult.
“It was a good opportunity to give some of our younger guys a go but hopefully we’ll get some Hawthorn blokes back in the coming weeks to bolster (the side).”
Box Hill had the aid of a slight breeze to open proceedings and peppered the goals accordingly. However, they missed their early chances as they did last week and found themselves with six behinds.
“That’s been two weeks in a row that we’ve outplayed the opposition but haven’t put the score on the board,” Mitchell said.
Still the Hawks drove the ball inside F50 on numerous occasions as Casey opted to stack their backline.
The Scorpions got two goals against the run of play before Cameron Pedersen took a magnificent specky over two opponents. He finished it off with a deserved goal, one that was much overdue for the Hawks.
After dominating the first term the Hawks found themselves down by a point.
Barry Mitchell urged his players to make their tackles stick and ignore leads into the pocket at the quarter-time huddle. He also cited the need to push the Scorpions wide as they successfully did to the Hawks in the first quarter.
It was a case of men against boys at times with the Hawks’ little nippers – McGlynn, Nathan Batsanis, Steve Kenna and Adrian Papaluca - facing off with Casey’s big-bodied midfielders.
Casey rubbed salt in the wound with two early goals in the second quarter to lead by a 13 points; a lead they were fortunate to have.
Mitch Thorp stemmed the bleeding for the Hawks with two quick goals as the pressure ramped up a notch.
As Mitchell had forecast, the tackles were flying in with Papaluca leading by example. Kenna was also at his terrier-like best.
At half time the Hawks trailed by 11 points but probably did enough to deserve a small lead.
The game was played at break-neck speed in the third but Box Hill was unable to match a rampaging Casey.
Box Hill players continued to tackle and pressure the ball-carrier but Casey was getting first use from the stoppages and played some eye catching football.
“In the third quarter we lost a lot of the clearances which meant Casey was getting good supply to their forwards and they were also winning the hard ball,” Mitchell said.
The Scorpions posted the last three goals of the term and continued the trend in the last but for an early goal from Morton.
It was a great contest to watch. The Hawks of 2008 are nothing if not resilient, unlike the Hawks of 2007.
The side never gave up when Casey were well on top and playing with real confidence. Instead of rolling in a heap the Hawks kicked the last four goals of the game.
It was a tough ask for the young Hawks but as Mitchell mentioned the return of a few Hawthorn-listed players will do the world of good. It is always difficult playing with just a handful of AFL-listed players.
There were a number of positive signs indicating a win is just around the corner.
Ben McGlynn never stopped trying and amassed 25 touches while Batsanis had 26.
Captain Alistair Neville gave the Hawks real drive and purpose, mopping up across half back and through the midfield, but his disposal didn’t always hit the mark.
Likewise Morton put in a solid performance and kicked two goals. He did look rushed under pressure though at times and was guilty of a few costly turnovers.
After just the one kick last week veteran Digbey Morrell put in a much improved performance. He had 16 touches and pinch-hit in the ruck.
Lukas Markovic and David Marcius were also handy contributors.
The Hawks play Sandringham next Sunday at Box Hill City Oval.
Box Hill Hawks: 1.6 / 6.7 / 7.11 / 13.11 (89)
Casey Scorpions: 2.1 / 8.6 / 13.10 / 18.14 (122)
Goals: Thorp 3, Morton 2, Pedersen 2, McGlynn, Grima, Batsanis, Bayliss, Hunter, Gibson
Best: McGlynn, Batsanis, Neville, Morrell, Markovic, Marcius
Hawks in reserve
Ben McGlynn – Box Hill’s best, ran hard and put his body on the line courageously a number of times. Finished with 25 disposals, eight marks and five tackles.
Garry Moss – Had a handy 17-possession game but failed to trouble the scorers.
Jarryd Morton – Found a fair bit of the footy (22 touches) and kicked two late goals. Used as a utility. His disposal and decision making under pressure needs work though.
Beau Dowler – Trained during the week but succumbed to a foot injury.
Josh Kennedy – Traveled down to Tassie as an emergency for Hawthorn.
Alex Grima – Used on and off the bench, had 12 possessions and kicked a goal.
Brendon Whitecross – Only the seven possessions but showed his leap taking a couple of nice marks.
Brent Renouf – Not his best game for the club. Played mainly in the ruck but also up forward in the absence of Dowler. Finished with 10 disposals.
Mitch Thorp – Didn’t have a sustained impact. Only had the five touches but kicked three goals, two of which were “cheapies”. Plays from behind too often and needs to work harder.
