JORDAN Lewis says he expects the Hawks to bounce back against West Coast Eagles this week after their Round 1 loss to Geelong.
Lewis, who will captain the Hawks in the absence of skipper Luke Hodge and fellow vice-captain Jarryd Roughead, said the team’s track record of responding after a loss would give them confidence going into the game against the Eagles on Sunday.
“It’s exciting, it presents a really good challenge for us. As a side we typically bounce back well after a loss,” he said.
Hawthorn has made a habit of not losing two consecutive games in recent years, suffering only two cases of back-to-back losses since the start of 2012.
“I know the guys will be hurting, unfortunately we have to review the game (against Geelong) and work out what we didn’t do well and then it’s all about West Coast,” he said.
“You use that anger that builds up after a loss to really drive your performance the next week.”
The four-time premiership Hawk said he expects the Eagles to back-up their strong 2015 season to be a contender again this year.
“Their performances over the last two years says that they’re going to be right up there again,” he said.
“Simmo (Adam Simpson) is a fantastic coach and he’s got them playing really well.
“They had a really good game on the weekend, they scored heavily. That provides a big opportunity for us this weekend and we’re looking forward to it.”
After beating the Eagles in the 2015 Grand Final, Lewis said he expects West Coast to channel the disappointment of losing the Grand Final last year and come out firing on Sunday.
“Any loss that we have throughout the year, when we come up against that side again we want to redeem ourselves,” he said.
“That’s certainly the way that I think they would be approaching the game so we need to be really on our game this week.”
