WINNING the midfield battle will be crucial in Friday night's clash with Sydney, says Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson.
The Hawks have been much-improved in the contested ball area in the last two weeks, but Clarkson said that hadn’t been an explicit focus for the players.
“Over the course of the last three or four years we’ve never really looked at the stats and said ‘we need to be top four in contested ball’ – we just play,” he said.
“If the contests are there we try to win them as much as we can, but it hasn’t been a significant indicator for us”
“Albeit when we have lost that statistic significantly in a quarter or a game we’ve battled to win those games of footy, but as long as we can be competitive in that area we give ourselves a good chance.”
The four-time premiership coach said that the Hawks would have to be on their game to stop white-hot Swans’ forward Lance Franklin.
“We know ‘Bud’ pretty well, but that doesn’t mean we always get it right when we play against him,” Clarkson said.
“He’s been in fabulous form – he went through a battle of his own in the off season, so it’s good to see him playing good footy again.
“We just hope he doesn’t play too well tomorrow night against us.”
Clarkson also said the supply to Franklin would also play an important part in the game, and the Hawks would have to limit the Swans’ output further up the ground.
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“The midfield supply (is important), the Swans are averaging more inside 50’s than any other team in the competition, so if he gets a lot of supply it might be tough for us,” he said.
“But if we can go well in the middle of the ground it gives us a chance to kick a score and deny the Swans the chance to do the same.”
